Phillip H. Roth
@preprintculture.bsky.social
Postdoc @core-rwth.bsky.social / media sociology / science studies / interested in the socio-cultural history of communication infrastructures / currently writing a history of preprints in physics: https://preprint-culture.net / also: modular synthesis
Pinned
Formalizing Informal Communication: An Archaeology of the Early Pre-Web Preprint Infrastructure at CERN
This article deals with the early development of preprint communication in high-energy physics, specifically with how preprint communication was formalized in the early 1960s at CERN. It employs a soc...
arxiv.org
Just posted this paper to the archive! It explores the socio-cultural factors of physics communication that were inscribed into the first formal preprint infrastructure set up in the 1960s at @cern.bsky.social.
(@carlbergstrom.com thanks for endorsing!)
(@carlbergstrom.com thanks for endorsing!)
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
Die PDFs von "Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe", Band 1-7: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
December 19, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Die PDFs von "Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe", Band 1-7: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
One particular important aspect of this phenomenon is how the promotion of generative AI has inculcated into people that such programmes contain knowledge, & has access to or the ability to find knowledge inaccessible to human beings. Trust is being rerouted from human expertise to digital gods.
More coverage. The Library of Virginia says 15% of patron requests are AI hallucinations. What's worse, patrons get mad & think they're lying & hiding books! Even worse yet, these are creeping into scientific and MEDICAL studies & reports. Hmm...what could go wrong? 😵
gizmodo.com/librarians-a...
gizmodo.com/librarians-a...
December 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
One particular important aspect of this phenomenon is how the promotion of generative AI has inculcated into people that such programmes contain knowledge, & has access to or the ability to find knowledge inaccessible to human beings. Trust is being rerouted from human expertise to digital gods.
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1
/1
November 27, 2025 at 2:54 PM
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1
/1
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
This isn't really a judgment on Openrxiv, which just reflects the reality of sustaining non-profit infrastructure right now, but it probably shows the need for institutions to get involved in funding the preprint landscape before it's all commercialised rather than community governed.
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
This isn't really a judgment on Openrxiv, which just reflects the reality of sustaining non-profit infrastructure right now, but it probably shows the need for institutions to get involved in funding the preprint landscape before it's all commercialised rather than community governed.
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
I wonder if the differing responses to AI are down to arXiv having a sustainability model that's more mature and dependent on institutional funding, while Openrxiv is newer and looking to more to commercial services and partnerships for sustainability.
A week after the arXiv was forced to tighten down on submissions because of overwhelming volumes of AI slop, bioRxiv is throwing the doors wide open.
disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
November 8, 2025 at 8:54 AM
I wonder if the differing responses to AI are down to arXiv having a sustainability model that's more mature and dependent on institutional funding, while Openrxiv is newer and looking to more to commercial services and partnerships for sustainability.
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
This is why we can’t have nice things
arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 2, 2025 at 4:35 AM
This is why we can’t have nice things
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
new exhibition 'robotron: code and utopia' on the history of gdr computer technology looks great gfzk.de/en/aktivitae...?
October 17, 2025 at 11:40 AM
new exhibition 'robotron: code and utopia' on the history of gdr computer technology looks great gfzk.de/en/aktivitae...?
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
AfD here, but presumably would be same in other countries too:
"mainstream parties had increasingly reshaped their communications to respond, boosting the spread of these ideas and signalling to voters that these ideas and stances were legitimate."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
"mainstream parties had increasingly reshaped their communications to respond, boosting the spread of these ideas and signalling to voters that these ideas and stances were legitimate."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds
Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM
AfD here, but presumably would be same in other countries too:
"mainstream parties had increasingly reshaped their communications to respond, boosting the spread of these ideas and signalling to voters that these ideas and stances were legitimate."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
"mainstream parties had increasingly reshaped their communications to respond, boosting the spread of these ideas and signalling to voters that these ideas and stances were legitimate."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
I just updated my Keywords Index and it now links to over 550 short essays (sometimes articles) on concepts and terms that are necessary for studying media, information, and culture. A great place to start for literature reviews. textaural.com/keywords/
October 17, 2025 at 12:58 PM
I just updated my Keywords Index and it now links to over 550 short essays (sometimes articles) on concepts and terms that are necessary for studying media, information, and culture. A great place to start for literature reviews. textaural.com/keywords/
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
Our amazing president and the American farmer he bailed out! 😍
October 15, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Our amazing president and the American farmer he bailed out! 😍
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny said in an interview that he did not include the United States in his 2025-2026 concert tour because of fear that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement would raid the concert venues. https://cnn.it/4nkARya
September 12, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny said in an interview that he did not include the United States in his 2025-2026 concert tour because of fear that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement would raid the concert venues. https://cnn.it/4nkARya
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
"The current approach to AI cannot sustain itself indefinitely. The question becomes not whether current AI slop economies will destroy themselves, but when."
By @katecrawford.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
By @katecrawford.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
Intensification - Kate Crawford - Eating the Future: The Metabolic Logic of AI Slop
AI slop isn’t invested in the order of events or even looking like reality. The slop is not the territory: it just smothers it in synthetic goop. It’s flooding the zone with AI shit.
www.e-flux.com
September 9, 2025 at 5:57 AM
"The current approach to AI cannot sustain itself indefinitely. The question becomes not whether current AI slop economies will destroy themselves, but when."
By @katecrawford.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
By @katecrawford.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
As a former assistant at the IR Chair (1993-1998) and Managing Director of the Institute (1998-2002) I kindly ask you to sign
The University of Cologne plans drastic cuts to its Political Science department, potentially abolishing the MSc in Political Science and eliminating the professorships in IR and Comparative Politics. This would severely weaken the social sciences at @unicologne.bsky.social.
Petition (de/en) ⤵️
Petition (de/en) ⤵️
Petition unterschreiben
Keine WiSo ohne PoWi! Für eine starke Politikwissenschaft im Bachelor & Master
https://www.change.org/p/keine-wiso-ohne-powi-für-eine-starke-politikwissenschaft-im-bachelor-master
September 8, 2025 at 4:17 PM
As a former assistant at the IR Chair (1993-1998) and Managing Director of the Institute (1998-2002) I kindly ask you to sign
Skeet a PERFECT Album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana
September 5, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Skeet a PERFECT Album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details:
LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
(This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)
LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
(This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
August 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details:
LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
(This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)
LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
(This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
📄 Facing pressures to stay competitive, researchers publish ever more, often at the cost of quality. Sagartirtha Chakraborty
shows how this situation compares to a prisoner’s dilemma, explains the connection with predatory journals, and outlines solutions.
www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/aca...
shows how this situation compares to a prisoner’s dilemma, explains the connection with predatory journals, and outlines solutions.
www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/aca...
Academic publishing – stuck in a prisoner’s dilemma?
Facing pressures to stay competitive, researchers publish ever more, often at the cost of quality. Our author shows how this strategic trap can be compared to a prisoner’s dilemma, explains how this s...
www.leidenmadtrics.nl
August 14, 2025 at 8:44 AM
📄 Facing pressures to stay competitive, researchers publish ever more, often at the cost of quality. Sagartirtha Chakraborty
shows how this situation compares to a prisoner’s dilemma, explains the connection with predatory journals, and outlines solutions.
www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/aca...
shows how this situation compares to a prisoner’s dilemma, explains the connection with predatory journals, and outlines solutions.
www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/aca...
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
ich habe eine gute (PostDoc-)Stelle zu vergeben
100 % E13, zunächst 1 Jahr, ziemlich sicher aber sehr viel länger
ab 1.12.2025
Soziologie & Gender Studies
deadline: 15.09.2025
job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/b...
100 % E13, zunächst 1 Jahr, ziemlich sicher aber sehr viel länger
ab 1.12.2025
Soziologie & Gender Studies
deadline: 15.09.2025
job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/b...
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin / Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (m/w/d)
job-portal.lmu.de
August 1, 2025 at 12:52 PM
ich habe eine gute (PostDoc-)Stelle zu vergeben
100 % E13, zunächst 1 Jahr, ziemlich sicher aber sehr viel länger
ab 1.12.2025
Soziologie & Gender Studies
deadline: 15.09.2025
job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/b...
100 % E13, zunächst 1 Jahr, ziemlich sicher aber sehr viel länger
ab 1.12.2025
Soziologie & Gender Studies
deadline: 15.09.2025
job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/b...
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
We built the simplest possible social media platform. No algorithms. No ads. Just LLM agents posting and following.
It still became a polarization machine.
Then we tried six interventions to fix social media.
The results were… not what we expected.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.03385
It still became a polarization machine.
Then we tried six interventions to fix social media.
The results were… not what we expected.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.03385
Can We Fix Social Media? Testing Prosocial Interventions using Generative Social Simulation
Social media platforms have been widely linked to societal harms, including rising polarization and the erosion of constructive debate. Can these problems be mitigated through prosocial interventions?...
arxiv.org
August 6, 2025 at 8:24 AM
We built the simplest possible social media platform. No algorithms. No ads. Just LLM agents posting and following.
It still became a polarization machine.
Then we tried six interventions to fix social media.
The results were… not what we expected.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.03385
It still became a polarization machine.
Then we tried six interventions to fix social media.
The results were… not what we expected.
arxiv.org/abs/2508.03385
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
Have you already checked out this article by KHK c:o/re team member @preprintculture.bsky.social?
👀 You can find it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
👀 You can find it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
July 28, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Have you already checked out this article by KHK c:o/re team member @preprintculture.bsky.social?
👀 You can find it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
👀 You can find it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
Formalizing Informal Communication: An Archaeology of the Early Pre-Web Preprint Infrastructure at CERN
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12812
This article deals with the early development of preprint communication in high-energy physics, specifically with how preprint communication was formalized ...📈🤖
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12812
This article deals with the early development of preprint communication in high-energy physics, specifically with how preprint communication was formalized ...📈🤖
July 18, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Formalizing Informal Communication: An Archaeology of the Early Pre-Web Preprint Infrastructure at CERN
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12812
This article deals with the early development of preprint communication in high-energy physics, specifically with how preprint communication was formalized ...📈🤖
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12812
This article deals with the early development of preprint communication in high-energy physics, specifically with how preprint communication was formalized ...📈🤖
Just posted this paper to the archive! It explores the socio-cultural factors of physics communication that were inscribed into the first formal preprint infrastructure set up in the 1960s at @cern.bsky.social.
(@carlbergstrom.com thanks for endorsing!)
(@carlbergstrom.com thanks for endorsing!)
Formalizing Informal Communication: An Archaeology of the Early Pre-Web Preprint Infrastructure at CERN
This article deals with the early development of preprint communication in high-energy physics, specifically with how preprint communication was formalized in the early 1960s at CERN. It employs a soc...
arxiv.org
July 18, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Just posted this paper to the archive! It explores the socio-cultural factors of physics communication that were inscribed into the first formal preprint infrastructure set up in the 1960s at @cern.bsky.social.
(@carlbergstrom.com thanks for endorsing!)
(@carlbergstrom.com thanks for endorsing!)
#PublicationDay In the article, my co-authors and I ask how biomedical and social contagion was entangled on social media during the #Covid pandemic, looking specifically at the #LongCovid community www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
A pandemic of desire: the entanglement of social and biomedical contagion on social media during COVID-19
While the emergence of social media rendered ‘virality’ a common buzzword, popular and scholarly conceptions of the term dichotomize virality into (online) social and (offline) biomedical contagion...
www.tandfonline.com
July 13, 2025 at 10:34 AM
#PublicationDay In the article, my co-authors and I ask how biomedical and social contagion was entangled on social media during the #Covid pandemic, looking specifically at the #LongCovid community www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
And hey, I've got the handbook press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
June 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM
And hey, I've got the handbook press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
stop doom scrolling for a moment and watch this instead
it’s no secret i am a weepy, sentimental girl. a feeler. a tremendous sap.
but i defy you to watch these beautiful kids vibing and just absolutely murdering “everything in its right place” and not feel feelings.
but i defy you to watch these beautiful kids vibing and just absolutely murdering “everything in its right place” and not feel feelings.
June 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM
stop doom scrolling for a moment and watch this instead
Reposted by Phillip H. Roth
Der geschätzte Schaden durch Sozialbetrug beim Bürgergeld beträgt rund 270 Millionen Euro pro Jahr, durch Steuerbetrug 100 Milliarden.
Man fragt sich langsam, ob diese Regierung willens oder in der Lage ist, reale Probleme zu lösen, statt nur Scheinproblemen nachzujagen.
Man fragt sich langsam, ob diese Regierung willens oder in der Lage ist, reale Probleme zu lösen, statt nur Scheinproblemen nachzujagen.
Bärbel Bas spricht von »mafiösen Strukturen« bei Bürgergeld-Empfängern
Arbeitsministerin Bärbel Bas will mit einem besseren Datenaustausch den Missbrauch von Sozialleistungen bekämpfen. »Es gibt Menschen, die werden in einem Van abgeholt und als Tagelöhner ausgebeutet«, ...
www.spiegel.de
June 4, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Der geschätzte Schaden durch Sozialbetrug beim Bürgergeld beträgt rund 270 Millionen Euro pro Jahr, durch Steuerbetrug 100 Milliarden.
Man fragt sich langsam, ob diese Regierung willens oder in der Lage ist, reale Probleme zu lösen, statt nur Scheinproblemen nachzujagen.
Man fragt sich langsam, ob diese Regierung willens oder in der Lage ist, reale Probleme zu lösen, statt nur Scheinproblemen nachzujagen.