Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam @ahrabhikat.bsky.social · 38m

What are threats to academic freedom, and what can we do to strengthen it?

We will explore these questions with Ina Brandes (NRW), @kwelle.bsky.social (GESIS), Manfred Bayer (TU Dortmund), and Tim Majchrzak (CAIS) at the panel that I am hosting this Friday 🙌

Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · 1d

It’s almost time! This Thursday, our conference “Creating Spaces for Digital Futures” starts at the Makerspace of Ruhr University Bochum.
📺 Join the livestream of our panel "Academic Freedom: Foundations for the Future" on Friday, 9:30 AM: www.cais-research.de/creating-spa...
#CAISdigitalfutures2025

Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Axel Bruns @snurb.info · 1d

My great colleague @tariqchoucair.bsky.social doing the @qutdmrc.bsky.social proud at his alma mater UFMG today.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 4d

In order to receive federal funds, Trump has set out numerous requirements, many of them contradictory, including a demand that universities refrain from allowing 'speech relating to societal and political events.' arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Trump offers universities a choice: Comply for preferential funding

Who needs peer review? Plan offers easier grants to schools that agree to limits.

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Jochem Vanagt @jochemvanagt.bsky.social · 7d

🚨 New publication out @jeppjournal.bsky.social w/ Katrin Praprotnik @luanarusso.bsky.social @markuswagner.bsky.social

We show that coalition signals from the mainstream right to the radical right shift, rather than reduce, existing political divisions.

Open-access article: doi.org/10.1080/1350...

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Justin Yeung @justinyinnl.bsky.social · 19d

Our project on comparing rule-based, classical machine learning, transformers and #LLM to measure debate quality on social media is finally out at Communication Methods and Measures! ✨✨✨

@ascor.bsky.social @nunetsi.bsky.social

Link here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Can we use automated approaches to measure the quality of online political discussion? How to (not) measure interactivity, diversity, rationality, and incivility in online comments to the news

This article explores the (in)ability of automated tools to measure the deliberative quality of online user comments along the standards set out by Habermas: interactivity, diversity, rationality, ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Azade Kakavand (she/her) @azadekakavand.bsky.social · 12d

Last week, I defended my dissertation! 🎉

A big thank you to everyone who made this possible—especially (but not exclusively) @anniewald.bsky.social, @nicolarighetti.bsky.social & the whole @compcommlab.bsky.social! 🫶

Computational Communication Science Lab (CCL) @compcommlab.bsky.social · 19d

Proud to congratulate you, @azadekakavand.bsky.social, on your PhD defense –
“Technology Affordances, Social Media Platforms & the Networked Far Right.”
A remarkable achievement that combines years of hard work & building of skills that you now use at @bredowinstitut.bsky.social. Missing u already🥳

Picture of the committee, from left to right. Annie, Nicola, Azade, Eva, and Hajo.

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Dominika Betakova @dbetakova.bsky.social · 13d

🚫📰 Can we use nudges to mitigate news avoidance?
Yes and no — it depends on what nudges we use!
Together with @hajoboo.bsky.social & @solecheler.bsky.social I wanted to test whether nudges can reduce news avoidance as limited news consumption—and to do so beyond established Western democracies. 🧵👇

The Role of Choice Architecture in Mitigating News Avoidance

News avoidance has become more common and is associated with negative democratic outcomes. However, only a handful of studies have explored solutions to reduce news avoidance, with nudges offering ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 11d

Since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, HBCUs received terroristic threats. Black students have been expelled or forced to withdraw. Black professors and teachers have been fired and placed on leave. A Black firefighter was placed on leave. A Black journalist was fired

thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/26/f...

The Free Speech Crisis for Black Americans Is Worse Than You Think

Don’t let Jimmy Kimmel’s return fool you: Black academics are more frightened of talking to the press than I’ve ever seen.

thebarbedwire.com

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Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam @ahrabhikat.bsky.social · 11d

Absolutely looking forward to having Laura Vodden from @qutdmrc.bsky.social at CAIS next week 🙌

Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · 12d

Join us for a #LunchtimeTalk at CAIS by Laura Vodden from QUT Digital Media Research Centre on Oct 1, 1:30–2:30 PM.
🔎 Topic: “AI-assisted frame analysis, and reflections on the value of disagreement in human-LLM collaboration”
🔗 www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...

Visual announcing the talk on "AI-assisted frame analysis, and reflections on the value of disagreement in human-LLM collaboration" by speaker Laura Vodden, including the date, time, and location.

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Jamie Cummins @jamiecummins.bsky.social · 20d

Can large language models stand in for human participants?
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.

One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.

THREAD 🧵

The threat of analytic flexibility in using large language models to simulate human data: A call to attention

Social scientists are now using large language models to create "silicon samples" - synthetic datasets intended to stand in for human respondents, aimed at revolutionising human subjects research. How...

arxiv.org

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Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · 13d

Im Interview erklären Johannes Breuer und Marco Wähner, wie das #TeamRDM Forschende unterstützt, digitale Daten nutzt, Methodeninnovationen vorantreibt & Transparenz sowie Vertrauen in der Forschung stärken möchte.
👉 www.cais-research.de/news/intervi...
@marco-waehner.bsky.social @johannesbreuer.com

Foto von Marco Wähner und Johannes Breuer, die an einem Tisch sitzen und in die Kamera blicken. Auf der Grafik steht der Text: "Im Interview: Marco Wähner & Johannes Breuer über Research Data & Methods am CAIS".

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 13d

Now out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. In our new article, @denis-cohen.bsky.social @thmskrr.bsky.social and I show that where local rent prices increase more, residents with lower incomes become more likely to support the radical right AfD.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Jakob-Moritz Eberl @jamoeberl.bsky.social · 19d

Wir haben an den österreichischen Universitäten ausgezeichnete Panel-Befragungen dazu, wie Österreich lebt, denkt und fühlt – alles in Datenarchiven frei zugänglich. Dafür braucht es keine Website-Umfrage im #Boulevardstyle. Mag mir das jemand erklären? Rausgeschmissenes Geld.

ORF FRAGT - Die große ORF-Umfrage 2025

www.orffragt.at

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · Sep 1

🎉 As of today, September 1, 2025, Prof. Dr. Johannes Breuer heads the "Research Data & Methods" team at CAIS. Together with the University of Duisburg-Essen, he has been appointed Professor of Digital Social Sciences. 🎉
🔗 www.cais-research.de/en/news/joha...
@johannesbreuer.com @unidue.bsky.social

Portrait of Johannes Breuer + Text "Prof. Dr. Johannes Breuer,
New Professor & Head of the Team Research Data & Methods at CAIS"

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Sean Hamilton Palicki @seanhp.bsky.social · Aug 18

📢 New Preprint: "Don’t Look Up: Evaluating the Tradeoff between Performance and Sustainability of LLMs for Text Analysis."

Providing guidance for social scientists, we challenge the "bigger is better" narrative, instead encouraging social and environmental responsibility.

osf.io/preprints/so...

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Weizenbaum-Institut @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social · Aug 27

Who is really fueling your #AI? 🤔 It's not just code & algorithms. Behind every LLM are millions of people, often in invisible roles. Join us, @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social, @milamiceli.bsky.social @superrrnetwork.bsky.social & on Sept. 17 to hear directly from data workers!
🔗 buff.ly/2ug32Bx

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Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam @ahrabhikat.bsky.social · Aug 26

In beautiful Thessaloniki to talk about salience and patterns of racist language in German news media (yeah… 🥳) at #ecpr25

Catch the last chapter of my PhD work in this exciting panel put together by @stefaniewalter.bsky.social on Thursday, 3.45pm

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Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam @ahrabhikat.bsky.social · Aug 22

Congrats, Johannes! Very much looking forward to having you here at CAIS! 🥳

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Johannes Breuer @johannesbreuer.com · Aug 21

I guess I can make it official now: On September 1st, I will start a new position as professor of "Digital Social Science" @unidue.bsky.social ( @ifp-ude.bsky.social ) and leader of the team "Research Data & Methods" at @cais-research.bsky.social ! I am looking forward to many exciting new projects!

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

AlgorithmWatch @algorithmwatch.org · Aug 20

For people with darker skin, that means even less accuracy, delayed treatment, and a higher risk of deadly outcomes.

Read the full story here: civio.es/sanidad/2025...

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

AlgorithmWatch @algorithmwatch.org · Aug 20

@civio.es's recent investigation reveals the case of #QuantusSkin, an AI system for early #skincancer detection. The Basque Health Service plans to roll it out in 2025, promising faster diagnoses. But it misses nearly 1 in 3 melanoma cases, and was trained almost entirely on images of white patients

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Valerie Hase @valeriehase.bsky.social · Aug 8

Very excited to be at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social this week to talk about bias in CSS.

Thanks to @ahrabhikat.bsky.social for hosting us 👩‍💻.

Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · Aug 8

🔍 A glimpse into research life at CAIS
This week, @ahrabhikat.bsky.social is hosting three fantastic guests at CAIS – all experts in Computational Social Science (CSS):
@aytalina.bsky.social - University of Vienna
@janabernhard.bsky.social - University of Vienna
@valeriehase.bsky.social - LMU Munich

Picture of the participants sitting around a table at a conference room at CAIS

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

Jana Bernhard-Harrer @janabernhard.bsky.social · Aug 8

I had a great time at @cais-research.bsky.social, everyone was so welcoming, and it was a pleasure to visit and work on this incredibly important and inspiring paper with @ahrabhikat.bsky.social, @aytalina.bsky.social, and @valeriehase.bsky.social !

Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · Aug 8

🔍 A glimpse into research life at CAIS
This week, @ahrabhikat.bsky.social is hosting three fantastic guests at CAIS – all experts in Computational Social Science (CSS):
@aytalina.bsky.social - University of Vienna
@janabernhard.bsky.social - University of Vienna
@valeriehase.bsky.social - LMU Munich

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

aytalina @aytalina.bsky.social · Aug 8

It was a truly precious experience to talk and write about social bias in CSS in a safe and inclusive space @cais-research.bsky.social generously provided 🙏
Grateful to these badass scholars @ahrabhikat.bsky.social, @janabernhard.bsky.social, and @valeriehase.bsky.social for the amazing collab 🙌

Center for Advanced Internet Studies @cais-research.bsky.social · Aug 8

🔍 A glimpse into research life at CAIS
This week, @ahrabhikat.bsky.social is hosting three fantastic guests at CAIS – all experts in Computational Social Science (CSS):
@aytalina.bsky.social - University of Vienna
@janabernhard.bsky.social - University of Vienna
@valeriehase.bsky.social - LMU Munich

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Reposted by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam

AlgorithmWatch @algorithmwatch.org · Aug 9

The Industrial Revolution produced not only technical innovation, but also social disruption. What is the situation with the current “AI revolution”? This report by our fellows examines working conditions in this context:
EN: algorithmwatch.org/en/ai-revolu...
DE: algorithmwatch.org/de/die-ki-re...

The foreground text reads: “Story – The AI Revolution Comes With the Exploitation of Gig Workers.” Background: Illustration showing people working at computers in a watercolor-like, artistic style. The individuals appear tired or focused, seated at desks with monitors and headsets. Image credit: Kathryn Conrad & Digit – Better Images of AI – CC BY 4.0.

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