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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · 3d

These are the only three exercises I recommend for staying healthy until you are 100. Follow me for more, because tomorrow I will describe 4 different exercises that are the only ones I recommend to stay healthy until 100

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · 12d

“Is it something we did?”

I received another one of these annoying emails from a company I once bought something from. Do they think they can guilt-trip me into buying more stuff? It is so off-putting.

“No, it wasn’t anything you did… until you sent me this message!”

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · 15d

I learn new media effects phenomena from my students. One anecdote is not a theory, but can be a signal worth studying. Yesterday, I learned that social media currently focuses a lot on “micro-imperfections” you didn’t realize you had. Are you sure your elbows look normal? You looked, didn’t ya?!

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · 16d

Are you sharing memes, jokes, and reels incessantly? Guess what, so do I. Somebody called it "pebbling," and I am here for it!

open.substack.com/pub/mediated...

Pebbling: How sharing memes can get us in touch with our inner penguin

Jokes as relationship maintenance

open.substack.com

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · 19d

Summer’s best find: Parker novels. Richard Stark’s prose is like his main character: mean, fast, no ballast, no emotion.

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · 22d

I am currently conducting an unintentional self-experiment. After an Android update, I moved my social media folder from the second to the opening page of my phone. It is scary how often I automatically swipe to my social media, which I notice each time because the folder is no longer there!

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Aug 24

Welcome to another year of "I've done it before, but I don't remember how" on Canvas/Blackboard/Your Institution's Online "Learning" "Environment". Don't worry, they've changed everything over the Summer anyway

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Aug 20

Phone spam is the most remarkable thing ever: phone companies enabling or letting or being unable to prevent the total destruction of their own service. Are there other examples like this? Horses delivering the first cars?

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Aug 19

Our department is hiring an open-rank professor in media industries. Deadline 8 September. lnkd.in/emRKfibd

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Aug 19

Easy media effects prediction: Jason Momoa’s Chief of War will lead to a considerable increase in people interested in and learning Ōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Aug 8

Communication is hard and every message can be interpreted in more than one way. Or is a fire alarm an exception?

open.substack.com/pub/mediated...

Is a fire alarm the purest form of communication?

The hidden complexity of everyday communication

open.substack.com

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 25

Lee Child's Reacher books are underappreciated wordsmithing works of art. He keeps chipping away at the non-essentials until pretty soon an entire book will consist of three-word sentences:

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 24

I am now so old I get carpal tunnel syndrome from simply scrolling down to my birth-year

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 23

Caught in a conflict loop? Communication theory has a suggestion open.substack.com/pub/mediated...

Having a big argument with a loved one? Ask a dolphin

Couples, Conflict, and Communication

open.substack.com

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 20

Critics mock Gen Z’s fascination with astrology: how could anyone believe there are only twelve kinds of people? Fair enough. But then why do we treat entire generations as if they each have a single personality type? We don’t even have twelve generational labels for all the people alive today.

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 19

For the sake of us Murderbot fans: will somebody please produce “The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon“?!

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 18

My latest newsletter, about reality, fiction, and perceived realism.
mediatedmessages.substack.com/p/what-a-pop...

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jul 8

AI often misunderstands us, but so do people...
open.substack.com/pub/mediated...

What booking a hotel taught me about AI and prompt engineering

Why a simple request can confuse both humans and AI

open.substack.com

janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jun 26

I sometimes think about leaving social media, but then I see silliness like this, and I can't

Citizen Paul Templeman @paultempleman.bsky.social · Jun 25

I don't think a penguin wrote all those classics.

#WritingCommunity

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jun 26

I overheard a few of my students talking to each other in class several years ago: "My mom is so weird, she posts pictures of her food on FB. Like an old person." And there I stood, still thinking that was a young person's thing

Katy Pearce @katypearce.bsky.social · Jun 26

As we get further away from FB being the dominant platform, I'm coming to a realization. For a number of years now, I've known that American undergrads view FB as "old people social media" but I also knew that they were generally familiar with how it worked. But I think that that era is over.

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jun 26

How did people learn about nu songs before the advent of radio? And are TikTok or Taylor Swift really that different? A thought experiment
mediatedmessages.substack.com/p/what-my-gr...

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jun 23

Sounds familiar. And then it gets baked into the upholstery, meaning that every summer inevitably leads to the release of a new level of horrors

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jun 23

This post made my day, even though I feel deeply for all involved (including the dogs). One of my kids was so sensitive to carsickness for a while that any sound from the backseat would make me slam on the brakes, swerve to the shoulder, and rush out the kid.

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · Jun 23

I know stuff with Iran is scary, but last night, my dogs tore open an Amazon box and ate 120 chewable probiotic dog treats. Tomorrow we have an 8 Hour road trip.

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janvandenbulck.bsky.social @janvandenbulck.bsky.social · Jun 20

If people or institutions say they are “in the Top Seven,” it always means they come seventh, never third or sixth.

Reposted

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jun 20

We’re hiring at Princeton on AI and society, working with Arvind Narayanan or me depending on fit.

I think current AI developments are all a huge deal but am very unexcited by current state of the AGI and/or AI safety discourse.

Please share as you see fit.

puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...

puwebp.princeton.edu

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