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David Lazer

@davidlazer.bsky.social
6.6K followers 1.5K following 334 posts

computational social scientist

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Reposted by David Lazer
julia kamin @juliakamin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hi all you researchers looking for ways to conduct independent, ecologically valid research on social media design - Great new paper for you: "Open Platform Field Experiments: Expanding the Design Space of Experimental Research on Social Media" arxiv.org/pdf/2609.21608
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Michelle Allendoerfer @mallendo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Join us in Portland to discuss the hottest topics in political science education (and eat donuts, shop at Powell's, and enjoy the weirdness of Portland).
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Nick Carnes @carnes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Soon we're going to enter a period when people will be looking for ways to fortify and improve democracy. One thing that needs to be on the agenda is this: ***Electoral democracy has built-in biases that prevent working-class people from holding office.*** www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
bloomberg.com
Why Working-Class Candidates Are Almost Never on the Ballot
Less than 1% of major-party candidates competing for a seat in the US Congress have a background in manual trades or service industries.
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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 17/09/2026
In my new Expert Voices column @science.org, I argue that the Trump admin's science strategy (as written in Kratsios' Science: A Golden Age)--which gives more authority & funding to the private sector to direct the research enterprise--will harm science, and further erode its public accountability.
science.org
Escaping a downward spiral for science and public accountability
In late July, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), released Science—A Golden Age, setting forth a strategy to revitalize US research and innova...
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Gordon Pennycook @gordpennycook.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We have a new paper on AI debunking that includes a bunch of interesting data on various "epistemically suspect beliefs". Check it out!
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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We have a new paper on the study of epistemically suspect beliefs We argue that research on social identity can explain how people select information & social environments, evaluate evidence & process information in ways that affirm their identities You can read it here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Lynda Dodd @ldodd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Very interesting research - this NYT article discussing it focuses in particular on academic career trajectories. @jessicacalarco.com has done a lot as well in recent years to help graduate students navigate these challenges. ⤵️ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/b...
nytimes.com
The Working Class Face a ‘Class Ceiling’ in Elite Occupations (Gift Article)
Being female or a person of color has long been seen as a disadvantage in hiring and promotion. A new study of college professors shows that class may loom as large.
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Stephen Turner @stephenturner.us · 18/09/2026
Join us here in the University of Virginia School of Data Science @uvadatascience.bsky.social! We're hiring a tenure track / tenured prof in LLMs (/NLP) apply.interfolio.com/191213 and data & society (social sciences, policy, humanities, law, business, etc) apply.interfolio.com/191214
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Max Falkenberg @maxfalken.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Is the world getting more polarized? The polarization of the U.S. is worrying. But is polarization similarly bad elsewhere? What drives polarization globally, what role does social media play, and will AI make things worse? New review in @nature.com communications: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Przemek Grabowicz 🇵🇱🇪🇸🇩🇪🇺🇸🇮🇪 @przemyslslaw.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Our opinion article about "Research Opportunities and Challenges of the EU’s Digital Services Act" is out in CACM! cacm.acm.org/opinion/rese...
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Nature Human Behaviour @nathumbehav.nature.com · 01/09/2026
Improving computational reproducibility in the social sciences
dlvr.it
Improving computational reproducibility in the social sciences
Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 01 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02570-wCode underlying published findings in the social sciences often fails to reproduce reported results when others re-run it on the original data. This Comment proposes four recommendations to strengthen computational reproducibility, facilitating the trustworthiness and reliability of research.
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Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
New paper! When AI agents interact, the group can settle on outcomes none of its members would choose alone. And group size can determine which outcome wins. So a model that passes every test on its own can still go wrong at scale. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The politicization & illegal cancellation of federal research funding is an existential crisis for every research university in the country, especially flagship R1 publics. Again, you would think university presidents would speak up, loudly & collectively, about this. Alas. bsky.app/profile/mcop...
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/08/2026
Great job, @evanpstarr.bsky.social!
Clause and Effect: Theory and Field Experimental Evidence on Noncompete Clauses 
Bo Cowgill , Brandon Freiberg , Evan Starr

Abstract
We study worker noncompete clauses in a large field experiment with two finance firms. Across ~14,000 job offers to freelance recruiters on short-term contracts, we randomize wages and the presence, salience, and duration of noncompetes (all contracts also included a nondisclosure agreement). Removing a noncompete increases mobility between competing employers by 36–52% and raises workers’ total earnings from the two firms by 12–17%. We find no evidence—rejecting even small effects—that removing noncompetes generates secret leakage. We also find no evidence that workers choose noncompete jobs for higher pay. Many workers appear unaware of noncompetes before firms’ post-employment communication. The results align with a model of inattention and uncertainty about enforcement.
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David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Special issue on political networks! check it out.
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Mothership Strategies is pitching Google's new policy allowing PACs to bypass Gmail spam filters as a "HUGE opportunity." They are promising qualifying clients "guaranteed placement in Gmail inboxes" and predicting "massive spikes in email fundraising."
Email from info@mothershipstrategies.com

"Hey!
Google just announced a whopper.
Beginning September 8th, Gmail is bringing back their Verified Sender Program for campaigns, committees and PACs. Programs that are prepared will get guaranteed placement in Gmail inboxes and could see massive spikes in email fundraising in the final sprint to Election Day.
To be blunt, this is a HUGE opportunity – but registering alone isn’t enough.
Qualifying, remaining in good standing, and scaling your Gmail program safely takes an airtight strategy. Authentication, complaint rates, domain reputation, and sending practices will matter even more than ever. Get those wrong, and the benefit will be minimal.
Wondering how to implement? Want to learn how to maximize your results? We’ve got answers.
Get in touch today: get-started@mothershipstrategies.com
In 2022, many campaigns signed up for the Verified Sender Program but didn’t see any change in performance because they didn’t know how to take advantage or adhere to the guidelines.
That’s why getting this right is critical.
Learn from the experts: Contact us at get-started@mothershipstrategies.com by Friday, August 21st at 5PM and we’ll prioritize your campaign.
77 days to go. Don’t wait!
Will at Team Mothership"
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
We're hiring! Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics apply.interfolio.com/191508
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Sophie E. Hill @sophieehill.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It really is amazing how researchers and journal editors will avoid showing even the most basic courtesy or gratitude to sleuths who point out errors in their work. I get that it's embarrassing, but guess what: that sleuth has read your work more closely than anyone else ever will! For free!
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J. Nathan Matias @natematias.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
“Over most of our history, democracy has been strictly limited, now by religion and status, now by race, now by ownership of property, later by the slave system, then by legal disenfranchisement, and today by the power of corporate wealth” —W.E.B. Du Bois, “Battle for Peace”
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Arnout van de Rijt @arnoutvanderijt.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
"We find that [wealth] stratification declined along several dimensions, with education being the main exception." Just out in our journal, @sociologicalsci.bsky.social
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Alex Coppock @aecoppock.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Northwestern is hiring in quant methods (assistant level, tenure track) Please repost and share with those you think would be good candidates, thank you! polisci.northwestern.edu/about/facult... #psjobs #psjminfo #poliscijobs
Assistant Professor of Quantitative Political Methodology (Tenure-Track)
The Department of Political Science at Northwestern University invites applications for a full-time position in Quantitative Political Methodology at the rank of Assistant Professor, tenure-track, to begin Fall 2027. We emphasize methodology with a strongly applied perspective: successful candidates will maintain an active, independent research program that includes methodological contributions in their own right, while also teaching quantitative research methods courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and applying those methods to substantive questions in their area of expertise. We are especially interested in candidates whose work bridges data-driven/computational approaches with design-based inference, though we welcome applicants making cutting-edge contributions in either of these traditions or in other areas of political methodology. Successful candidates' substantive research agendas may be in any area of political science or may cross boundaries; as with all Northwestern faculty, successful candidates will be expected to provide service to the department, the university, and the profession.Aerial photo of Northwestern's beautiful lakeside campus with political science's new building circled
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Jonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 12/08/2026
I would recommend the report of AAPOR's 2024 commission on polling accuracy. While we can all debate and research the explanation for this, the evidence clearly shows that, overall, political polls designed to predict elections are not getting less accurate. aapor.org/wp-content/u...
aapor.org
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Georg Diez @georgdiez.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I am happy and honored to help launch this amazing and important Working Group Informational Democracy. We gathered some of the best and the brightest in the field, from @audreyt.org to @pettertornberg.com to @bethnoveck.bsky.social. Sign up and follow the work! informationaldemocracy.substack.com
informationaldemocracy.substack.com
Informational Democracy | Substack
Rethinking democracy for the age of AI and information abundance. A working group of the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science. Click to read Informational Democracy, a Substack public...
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Ernesto Tiburcio @ernestotiburcio.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Political differences matter for relationship duration.  In a new study, @rfunkfordham.bsky.social and I identify 60 million couples in the US and find that, even after considering variables like income, those formed by partners registered to different parties are ~14% less likely to stay together
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Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I’m a broken record but, whether your preferred candidate won or lost, ludicrous that election is determined by <1% of vote while ~20% went to others. Approval voting (yes to every acceptable candidate) would do a much better job of elevating consensus candidates and conferring legitimacy.
Screenshot of New York Times live results for the 2026 Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary. With more than 95% of votes reported, David Crowley leads Francesca Hong by 0.41 points, 39.78% (313,321 votes) to 39.37% (310,110). Other candidates: Kelda Roys 7.49%, Joel Brennan 4.69%, Sara Rodriguez 4.13%, Mandela Barnes 4.09%, Missy Hughes 0.41%, and write-ins 0.03%. Total reported: 787,678 votes.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The idea that deep institutional damage can be easily rolled back seems like a very odd take for a conservative. The damage to the civil service system is huge, and legislation is needed to reassure future hires they won’t be fired on a whim.
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 04/08/2026
The Center for Scientific Integrity is proud to announce the inaugural winners of the 2026 Ctrl-Z Award. Named for the universal keyboard shortcut for “undo,” the Ctrl-Z Award this year honors @cetaceanneeded.bsky.social and @katelaskowski.bsky.social for choosing transparency over reputation.
science.org
ScienceAdviser Exclusive: Meet the inaugural winners of the Ctrl Z Award
Today in Science and science: Ice age hunters’ penchant for female mammoths, a detailed vagal map, and more
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Alyssa Smith @cetaceanneeded.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I'm incredibly honored to be one of the inaugural winners of the Ctrl-Z award. The sequence of events preceding and following this retraction were harrowing (and are honestly still stressful), but I hope this will be an opportunity for more open dialogue about mistakes + self-retraction in science.
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Alexander H. Montgomery @alexmontgomery.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
An excellent post by @himself.bsky.social connected to an even better FT piece, which manages to refer to these billionaires who are creating Philip K. Dick’s worlds as… “Dickish.”
programmablemutter.com
We're stuck in Philip K. Dick's imagined universe
Hallucinations, rocket ships, deranged billionaires: how do we get out?
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Alessia Melegaro @alemelegaro.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Very excited that @bocconi.bsky.social will host IC2S2 next year in Milan. Stay tuned!!! Thanks to the organizing committee already very active @mtizzoni.bsky.social @duiliobalsamo.bsky.social @lorenzolucchini.bsky.social @deboranozza.bsky.social @Raya Muttarak @BrunoLepri
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John Sands @iohn.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
A new survey from @knightfoundation.org and @ssrsresearch.bsky.social reveals a disquieting decline in how free Americans feel to use the freedoms protected by the #FirstAmendment without government interference or punishment. 🧵
knightfoundation.org
Knight Foundation-SSRS Poll: Americans Feel Free Expression is Eroding - Knight Foundation
For more than two decades, Knight Foundation has commissioned research to better understand Americans’ lived experience with the First Amendment and free expression. As the country marks its 250th ann...
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Matthew Salganik @msalganik.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies has a two year postdoc program for recent PhDs in the soical sciences. Applications due Sep 15 2026. piirs.princeton.edu/funding-fell...
piirs.princeton.edu
PIIRS Postdoctoral Fellows
Provides opportunities for talented early-career scholars in the social sciences to spend a dedicated period of time pursuing their research with access to Princeton’s world-renowned resources.
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WIRED @wired.com · 03/08/2026
WIRED has made this article free for all to read because it is primarily based on reporting from Freedom of Information Act requests. Read the full story: www.wired.com/story/ice-dn...
wired.com
ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children
Internal documents show ICE's DNA collection has skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Now hundreds of thousands of people never convicted of a crime are in an FBI criminal database forever.
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The Regulatory Review @theregreview.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Last week, the Penn Program on Regulation hosted a webinar on administrative governance following Trump v. Slaughter, featuring @cary-coglianese.bsky.social, Brian Feinstein, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @kateshaw.bsky.social & Christopher Yoo. Check out the video on our YouTube channel: buff.ly/ptDYMhN
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The European Commission accepted X's corrective action plan under the DSA this month. Luka Bekavac and Alice Palmieri analyse whether the measures will give researchers the data needed to audit systemic risks.
buff.ly
What X's Corrected Action Under the DSA Fixes on Data Access, and What's Left Open
Luka Bekavac and Alice Palmieri examine whether X's DSA corrective measures will give researchers the data needed to audit systemic risks.
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International Conference on Computational Social Science @ic2s2.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
That's a wrap on IC2S2 2026... we'll see you next year in Milan! 😍
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Google didn't just add AI to Google Earth—it briefly turned one of the world's most trusted sources of evidence into a generator of plausible fakes. shirin anlen & Sam Gregory from WITNESS on a foreseeable fiasco, and why tech firms must consult civil society experts before launch, not after.
techpolicy.press
Google Earth AI Fiasco Underscores Why Tech Firms Must Listen to Outside Experts
It's just one more parable in a long line of product releases by AI firms with potentially dangerous consequences, write shirin anlen and Sam Gregory.
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Jeremy Foote @jeremydfoote.com · 01/08/2026
Our new JCMC paper - led by Hsuen-Chi Chiu - looks at privacy attitudes when chatting with AI companions. Based on interviews with 15 chatbot users, we argue that there is a paradox - people trust their AI friends but distrust the corporations that run them! academic.oup.com/jcmc/article...
academic.oup.com
Chatting with confidants or corporations? Privacy management with AI companions
Abstract. AI companion chatbots feel like intimate confidants but exist as part of corporate data systems. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management (CPM
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I remember seeing someone (very reasonably) complaining here a few days ago that there seems to be next to no visible thinking on left and center about how to join the dots on administration and democracy. This is the beginnings of an answer to that complaint donmoynihan.substack.com/p/rebuilding...
donmoynihan.substack.com
Rebuilding Democracy Requires Rebalancing Power
What does a power-shifting agenda look like?
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Google didn't just add AI to Google Earth—it briefly turned one of the world's most trusted sources of evidence into a generator of plausible fakes. shirin anlen & Sam Gregory from WITNESS on a foreseeable fiasco, and why tech firms must consult civil society experts before launch, not after.
techpolicy.press
Google Earth AI Fiasco Underscores Why Tech Firms Must Listen to Outside Experts
It's just one more parable in a long line of product releases by AI firms with potentially dangerous consequences, write shirin anlen and Sam Gregory.
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
My boiling hot take on this is that, if tech companies are going to fund this kind of research (looking at Schmidt too), then the money needs to be given *no strings* to an independent arm's length research body, pooled with other funding, and treated as a donation not as direct funding.
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Sune Lehmann @sunelehmann.com · 30/07/2026
Too Lazy to Read the Paper just passed 10,000 downloads (17,873 if we count YouTube). Not bad for unedited, hour-long conversations with my favorite scientists. The whole story, including both season trailers – one features me on a ukulele: sunelehmann.com/blog/too-laz...
Computer generated image that advertises the blog post with random stats and vague science-y imagery
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Yunus Emre Tapan @yemretapan.substack.com · 30/07/2026
Proprietary models/platforms may block the replicability part. However, reliability and robustness are a measurement validity problem; social scientists are trying to find a consensus on it. I will be presenting on this issue tomorrow, and my work is auditing the instruments we use to audit models.
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Mor Naaman @informor.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Let me start by changing my own practices! 🤦‍♂️ But I think the recent reporting checklist paper at NHB (led by @sfeuerriegel.bsky.social) is relevant to the discussion. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A reporting checklist for large language models in behavioural science - Nature Human Behaviour
Large language models offer new opportunities for behavioural science, but their rapid evolution poses challenges for research rigour. We introduce a consensus-based reporting checklist to improve tra...
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Mor Naaman @informor.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Absolutely required reading for computational social scientists e.g. people at #ic2s2 this week
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David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
(feel free to complain to me to) And for the #IC2S2 crowd, I'll also point to the work of the Coalition of Independent Technology Research in helping protect CSS research & researchers, and encourage you to join the organization. independenttechresearch.org
independenttechresearch.org
Home - Coalition for Independent Technology Research
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David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Important food for thought for the #IC2S2 community, as we convene the next several days. How replicable/reliable/robust is the science we do? How do we build collective capacity and frameworks that facilitates a science that is cumulative?
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
When a major strategic victory in war is achieved by drone attacks on e-commerce hubs then you know the 20th century is well in the rear-view mirror
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Julia Azari @juliaazari.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
If you're not sick of me and my book yet, here we are on the New Books Network www.google.com/url?q=https:...
google.com
Julia R. Azari, "Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History" (Princeton UP, 2025) - New Books Network
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 23/07/2026
New at the Strength In Numbers Data Lab: How pollsters weight by party ID is influencing Democrats' midterm standing. Different methodologies give a margin anywhere between D+7 and D+10 (among registered voters — likely even higher among likely voters). www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-07-23...
gelliottmorris.com
Democrats' edge in midterms polling depends on how pollsters weight by party
What would our Strength In Numbers polling say if we weighted our samples by different targets for party identity?
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