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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi
@acerbialberto.com
2.8K followers 1.1K following 730 posts

I am an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento (Italy): cognitive anthropology / cultural evolution / digital media / cultural analytics More info in the pinned post. .. more

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Political science 19%
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · Mar 23
Tecnopanico: www.mulino.it/isbn/9788815...

Cultural evolution in the digital age: bit.ly/2McstmR

Individual-based models of cultural evolution. A step-by-step guide using R: bit.ly/3MQBjT4 (free: acerbialberto.com/IBM-cultevo)

Substack (italiano): bit.ly/3lDERMq

web: acerbialberto.com
A. ACERBI, Technopanic. New Media, Reasonable Caution, Unfounded Fear
The spread of fake news, the power of conspiracy theories, the influence of algorithms on our choices and behaviour, the impact of social media on youth’s mental health, and other similar phenomena al...
www.mulino.it
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Reposted by Hugo Mercier

acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 59m
More null results in relationship between smartphone usage and mood (US adults)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Smartphone use in a large US adult population: Temporal associations between objective measures of usage and mental well-being | PNAS
Smartphones are essential tools in daily life yet concerns persist about their potential effects on mental health and well-being. Research on these...
www.pnas.org
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 13h
I am completely impartial, for a treatment of Dunbar's number and social media you should read the first chapter of "Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age".
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 18h
Humans are humans on TikTok too.
psypost.bsky.social
PsyPost @psypost.bsky.social · 18h
Negativity drives engagement on political TikTok
Negativity drives engagement on political TikTok
TikTok users are more likely to interact with political videos that target out-groups, express negative emotion, or call for action. Engagement patterns differ by political leaning, but conflict-driven and emotionally charged content consistently performs better across the ideological spectrum.
www.psypost.org
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Reposted by Alberto Acerbi

psypost.bsky.social
PsyPost @psypost.bsky.social · 18h
Negativity drives engagement on political TikTok
Negativity drives engagement on political TikTok
TikTok users are more likely to interact with political videos that target out-groups, express negative emotion, or call for action. Engagement patterns differ by political leaning, but conflict-driven and emotionally charged content consistently performs better across the ideological spectrum.
www.psypost.org
1

acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 1d
Call me *associate* professor Acerbi!
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 1d
Tomorrow I will be in Padova for "Methods and Misconceptions: Refining Methods and Narratives in the Behavioral Sciences" together with Marco Del Giudice.
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 4d
I link della settimana (#112)
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
I link della settimana (#112)
(i) Dan Williams (sempre lui) argomenta che il problema dei social media è che ci danno troppa democrazia e non troppo poca. Naturalmente sono d’accordo, ma come bonus link vi metto anche una risposta...
open.substack.com
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 4d
...topic (William, the first author is) so I would tend to trust him! (Also, in any case, our main argument is independent from the claim in question).
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 4d
...the question is how robust is the current empirical evidence. We cite some support in the paper, but I saw the blogpost you mention claims that this support come from WEIRD samples (but, on the other side, we cite some cross-cultural experiments...). I am not really an expert on the specific...
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 4d
...is reported that something similar to X does not happen does not necessarily show that there is not a evolved cognitive predisposition towards X. One should look for patterns in the ethnographic literature and see if it is possible to conclude something. Said so...
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 4d
The ethnographic evidence is interesting, but I do not think it is sufficient to disprove a claim. For any non-obvious behaviour X we would expect some cross-cultural variance, as many cultural forces (including drift) act. So showing that in some culture...
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Reposted by Ruth Mace, Rebecca Sear, Alberto Acerbi , and 1 more

ehbea2026.bsky.social
EHBEA 2026 @ehbea2026.bsky.social · 4d
🚨𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026
Overview | EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com
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Reposted by Martín Haspelmath

acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 7d
“It is precisely because social media has democratised the public sphere that it has contributed to trends liberals (including myself) are so worried about.” 👏
www.conspicuouscognition.com/p/is-social-...
Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard?
It’s easier to blame the algorithm than the bewildered herd.
www.conspicuouscognition.com
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 11d
I link della settimana (#111)
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
I link della settimana (#111)
(i) Francis Fukuyama, che non è l’ultimo arrivato, dice che il colpevole per l’ondata populista degli ultimi anni è…tadà…Internet! Non sorprendentemente non sono convinto. Del resto c’aveva preso male...
open.substack.com
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
Society adapts to technology.

Link to Financial Times article: www.ft.com/content/a072...
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
Bottom line: Incel stories stick not because they reflect reality, but because they resonate with evolved cognitive biases.
Understanding this is crucial for journalists, policymakers & educators to avoid counterproductive responses.

Link again: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
But exaggerated and sensationalist portrayals of incels could backfire by:
- Reinforcing incels’ persecution narratives and their own tribal psychology
- Fueling moral panic
- Distracting from other important issues (e.g., mental health, loneliness, suicidality)
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
Why it matters: cultural virality ≠ empirical accuracy.
The Netflix drama Adolescence was so powerful that UK policymakers discussed showing it in every school, despite it being misleading fiction.
That’s cultural attraction in action.
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
Incel narratives press many of these “buttons” at once:
We attend to sex & status
We feel disgust about moral violations
We're alert to coalitional threats
We have a negativity bias
We’re morbidly curious about dangerous men
We’re protective of women
...
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
Our paper argues the answer lies in cultural attraction theory.

Certain stories “stick” because they align with our evolved cognitive biases.
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
The gap between incels’ relatively small community/limited violence and their huge cultural visibility raises two questions:
1. Why are incels so interesting to us?
2. What might be the consequences of elevating such a marginal group to such cultural prominence?
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
New preprint!

You may have seen Netflix’s Adolescence. It quickly became their most-watched mini-series ever, even prompting roundtable discussions between writers & the Prime Minister.

osf.io/preprints/ps...
Why Incels Capture Attention: A Cultural Attraction Theory Perspective AUTHORS William Costello and Alberto Acerbi
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
Here the bsky of the new project I’ve just started working on with @chiara-bonacchi.bsky.social, @zachhorne.bsky.social, and @johnmartindale.bsky.social at the University of Edinburgh! We will investigate, from a cultural evolution perspective, the spread of heritage-based hostility on social media.
weaponisedpasts.bsky.social
Weaponised Pasts @weaponisedpasts.bsky.social · 12d
Welcome to Weaponised Pasts! The website for our investigation into heritage-based hostility is now live at weaponisedpasts.org. Find out more about the project there.
Weaponised Pasts
weaponisedpasts.org
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Reposted by Alberto Acerbi

weaponisedpasts.bsky.social
Weaponised Pasts @weaponisedpasts.bsky.social · 12d
Welcome to Weaponised Pasts! The website for our investigation into heritage-based hostility is now live at weaponisedpasts.org. Find out more about the project there.
Weaponised Pasts
weaponisedpasts.org
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 13d
Alle 18:30 sarò live qui per un dialogo con il gruppo di lettura di "Tecnopanico" promosso dall'AIB (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche). Tutti benvenuti!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4a2...
BIBLIOLETTURA Alberto Acerbi Tecnopanico.
YouTube video by AIB Associazione Italiana Biblioteche
www.youtube.com
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 14d
...and results in a narrow policy script of platform crackdowns + literacy “vaccines.” What’s sidelined are deeper issues, such as trust, accountability, and democratic dialogue.

Here the link again!
osf.io/preprints/so...
OSF
osf.io

acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 14d
We believe this narrative is both self-absolving (blame shifted to platforms, hostile states, gullible citizens) and fatalistic (disinfo is everywhere, dangerous, and inevitable)...
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 14d
Epidemic (virus and poison) and battle (weapon) metaphors, as well as misconceptions (it is a social media problem, "spreads faster than truth", etc.) abound.
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 14d
We analysed 238 European Commission speeches with topic modelling, text community detection and qualitative thematic analysis to understand how disinformation has been framed in the official EU discourse.
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acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 14d
New preprint!

"Weapon and Poison: Framing Disinformation in European Commission Speeches, 2016–2024"

osf.io/preprints/so...
OSF
osf.io
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