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Jason Radford, PhD

@jsradford.bsky.social
317 followers 351 following 300 posts

Sociologist. Entrepreneur. Managing Director of the National Internet Observatory at Northeastern University. Turning science into innovations that solve problems.

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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
These new classes of LLMs seem to make the classification process more opaque, making it more difficult to troubleshoot and improve. At the National Internet Observatory, we're paying close attention to the field because our researchers need a path to fast classification at scale.
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James Medlock @jdcmedlock.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Republicans, in their infinite wisdom, left a big gambling loophole in the Medicaid work requirements. I'm no fan of the gambling industry, but if you are on Medicaid and struggling to deal with the work requirements, taking a $580 bet on both sides of an outcome is one way of getting around them.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
If you missed us at #APSA2026, here's where to catch up. Our data documentation walks through what data we collect and how: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
drive.google.com
Data Descriptions for Researchers (PUBLIC) - Google Drive
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Interesting new research on the effects and content of Instagram Reels and podcasts ceciliaysui.com/files/Influe... preprints.apsanet.org/engage/api-g... link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
NIO just hit 30 onboarded projects this past week. Researchers are now using NIO data to study things like how AI shapes access to government services, the dynamics of change.org petitions, and cross-platform content curation. nationalinternetobservatory.org/approved-pro...
nationalinternetobservatory.org
Approved Projects
The National Internet Observatory aims to help researchers understand how people behave online and how platforms structure what people see. This will be accomplished through creating a large panel of ...
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
In the API age, scholars could study people's public behavior at scale. In the AI age, there is little public data. There can't be any APIs. So how can we study AI? There's a new paper out using National Internet Observatory data (among others) to tackle this challenge.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
AI continues to fundamentally reshape politics. NIO is capturing what Americans see and do online, giving you the chance to study these changes in real time. Come to our #APSA2026 shortcourse to learn how to study politics and AI just in time for the midterms. connect.apsanet.org/apsa2026/pre...
connect.apsanet.org
Pre-Conference Short Courses
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 29/08/2026
As I show in this paper, when public institutions become (financially and reputationally) dependent on privileged people, they lose the incentive to equitably enforce the rules. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Avoiding Us versus Them: How Schools’ Dependence on Privileged “Helicopter” Parents Influences Enforcement of Rules - Jessica McCrory Calarco, 2020
As privilege-dependent organizations, U.S. public schools have an interest in catering to higher-SES White families. But, what happens when privileged families’...
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
For all the political scientists coming to #APSA2026 in Boston, @pranavgoel.bsky.social will be teaching a short course on Wednesday Sept 2nd: "Collecting online activity data with the National Internet Observatory." Come learn about how to use NIO to study what people are actually doing online.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Almost no one outside a handful of companies like Akamai knows how the internet actually works for people at any given time. NIO put together the data needed to do this. Last week, Scott Cambo and Dave Choffnes showed researchers at ACM SIGCOMM how to use NIO to study how data is actually flowing.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Sociology will always have @lauraknelson.bsky.social !
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This past month, Northeastern moved NIO to a new office at the Christian Science Plaza(designed by I.M. Pei no less!). It's one of the architectural jewels at the heart of the city of Boston. It's a great place to come to work every day.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
If you missed us at #ASA2026 on Tuesday, fear not! You can play around with our AI study designer. It's just our public data documentation put into a notebook so you can plot out potential study designs using NIO data: notebook.google.com/notebook/8bb...
notebook.google.com
Sign in - Google Accounts
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Worth the click
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Doesn't fix the problem with the APIs but if you're looking for stable access to platform data with known sampling frames, this is why we built the National Internet Observatory
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Deen Freelon @dfreelon.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
When we pulled data using the same sampling criteria and timeframe, we found zero overlap between the official API and the other two methods in most cases. No videos in common. 😶
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Come by tomorrow if you're at ASA. 8am workshop on using National Internet Observatory data for your own research: how participants are recruited, what data exists, how to write a project application that clears ethics review, and a look at the secure enclave you'd work in. #ASA2026 #ASA #sociology
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I see the joint backlash to transgender rights and social science (and the broader anti-DEI push), as part of the Copernican revolution the social sciences have brought to society over the past 75 years. We've long been seen and seen ourselves as less cumulative than the "hard" sciences. But no.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
If anyone at #ASA2026 wants to talk MCPs for data sharing and data analysis, hit me up. (They're APIs for AIs) We've been working on them for chip50.org and nationalinternetobservatory.org and they're really going to change the way research gets done in the next 5 years.
chip50.org
The Civic Health and Institutions Project | CHIP50
The Civic Health and Institutions Project
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
#asa2026 just's want to make sure you don't get lost.
Map showing how to get from one venue to the other by crossing the street. To be fair, the point of the map seems to be to show entrances and that there's a crosswalk which isn't obvious once you hit the street.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
So thrilled I finally got to meet @jessicacalarco.com IRL at the panel on how women became America's safety net. I'd love to see the comparative politics folks and Americanists pick up the core argument that the social burdens of neoliberal policy fall on women (and other marginalized groups).
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Rail is my favorite way to get to ASA #ASA2026 #Sociology
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
For all of you sociologists coming to #ASA2026 this weekend, I'm giving a how-to workshop on using data from the National Internet Observatory to study what people are doing online. We have data on people's searches, what they're talking to chatbots about, and what's on their phone. #ASA #Sociology
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Five years ago, it was just a proposal to the NSF. This past week, 30 research teams from around the world and across disciplines are using NIO data to answer critical questions about how we're living our digitally-mediated lives.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Such a wonderful analysis of Nolan's Odyssey foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/23/o...
foreignpolicy.com
Odysseus at the End of Civilization
Nolan’s film confronts the betrayal of the West’s own values.
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Universal Hub @universalhub.com · 20/05/2026
Total outages in Boston now up to 51,389. Reporting live from the Dedham House of Pizza, in Dedham Center, which has power.
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Pranav Goel @pranavgoel.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Happening in Boston in exactly 3 weeks! Come learn about how to collect online activity data in the post-API age to conduct network science research! And the treasure trove of already collected and processed data you could gain access to 👀 Sign up here (limited capacity): forms.gle/sgjVPMSNWYeY...
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Pranav Goel @pranavgoel.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Happening in exactly 3 weeks! (Please sign up! forms.gle/DQk8PFGXHhy2...)
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Drove through Albany and man that city is not doing itself any favors. If they elected me mayor, I'd change the name to Hudson Valley City. The area is really nice!
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
@proffnes.discuss.systems.ap.brid.gy and Scott Cambo will be presenting our Mobile Network Traffic data at #ACM #SIGCOMM this summer. If you've ever wanted to study what information is flowing in and out of Americans' mobile phones, this is for you. conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/2026...
conferences.sigcomm.org
NIO-VE: A View from the Edge | ACM SIGCOMM 2026
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 07/04/2026
Did you hear the story of the one man $1.8 billion business built by AI as portrayed in the @nytimes.com? Turns out basically every aspect of that story is bullshit and the story should be retracted.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Yep! Come one, come all (university-based researchers). We have free data sets on Americans' mobile app usage, browsing history, use of generative AI, and online search. It's all very sensitive data, so you have to do a proposal, sign a DUA, and use our enclaves. It takes time to get going.
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Morgan Quinn Ross @mqrmobile.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
👇 Cool opportunity for mobile data from @jsradford.bsky.social and Northeastern's National Internet Observatory nationalinternetobservatory.org/researchers.... Of interest to @icamobile.bsky.social 📱 Thanks to @qinli0.bsky.social for sharing! ❤️
nationalinternetobservatory.org
For Researchers
The National Internet Observatory aims to help researchers understand how people behave online and how platforms structure what people see. This will be accomplished through creating a large panel of ...
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Mor Naaman @informor.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Heroes. Quite the effort and dedication on this one. Unfortunately, not an easily repeatable process for most researchers looking for access, but can hopefully inform lawmakers.
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chw111.bsky.social @chw111.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
“Kid Rock” is the alternate name for Epstein’s island …. 🤣🖕
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Jennifer Doleac @jenniferdoleac.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
One thing I’ve been thinking about this week: Improving the flow of information between practitioners/policymakers and researchers, particularly in the public safety space.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Surprised I haven't seen anyone try to connect the dots between Larry Ellison's new media empire and the eventual need to bail his Cisco out if the AI bubble pops.
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Jennifer Doleac @jenniferdoleac.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I’m trying to post more about what’s top of mind for me, over on LinkedIn. (I know, I can’t believe it either.)
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I'm sad to say after 40 years of living I only now see the purpose of putting ornaments on a tree. Each year, we take the old ones out to revisit the memories they represent and find new ones to place among our little pantheon.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Interesting seeing UVA put a $10M/yr team together on alumni donations and go to the ACC championship the next year. Under NIL alumni donations make elite teams possible. (Not that it wasn't that way before, but $10M only went so far when you could buy coaches, staff, and facilities.)
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Sarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 05/12/2025
You may have heard that Trump’s extortion of University of California was defeated in court. But do you know who won this historic case? Spoiler: not a single UC administrator participated. It was all faculty members of the UC Faculty Associations and @aaup.org! Cc: @veenadubal.bsky.social
youtu.be
Behind the Scenes: How UC Faculty Beat Back Trump's Attacks
YouTube video by UC Faculty
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
I’m a campus sexual violence researcher and I started thinking about this in the context of traumatized students. Extensions are horrifically bad accommodations for survivors. They aren’t going to “get better” in a few days. And that means extensions pile up, pushing the survivor farther behind.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Watching 2001: A Space Odyssey and they could imagine video calls but not the always-connected life of text messaging. Main character is telling the kid "tell Mommy I called". Tech as simple as texts shape how we stay connected moment to moment in ways people didn't imagine.
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Justin Zimmerman @jztidecat.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
How does one’s religion play into their grade? God said isn’t a good enough citation. Which one and under what context would have been my feedback? Sorry.
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Status report: new Alexa does not understand 6-7
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Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
I once listed on my annual activities report the time I spent on things like strategizing with a fellow junior prof about how to avoid her harasser at a conference while still getting to network, etc just to make a point
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
People point to the overwhelming leverage in AI as evidence of a bubble. There is more debt than revenue can ever pay (without step function growth). But credit has propped up failing Internet businesses for years. Tech invented the credit-financed hyperscaling-to-enshitification pipeline.
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
NYTimes was also aware a staff writer was a close friend of Epstein - who had been offered incriminating photos of a Presidential candidate - and chose instead to spend the next decade on totally unjustified, frankly delusional, propagandized coverage of trans people and their doctors as “predators”
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
We know we're in an AI bubble and it will burst. So policy makers should start planning for it. Ask electeds for their bubble resiliency plan. How many people will be impacted in our area? What will the unemployment look like? What will we do with unused data centers? All the energy infra?
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Jason Radford, PhD @jsradford.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Getting out at the top of the bubble like...
media.tenor.com
a man in a black shirt is making a funny face while standing in a dark room .
ALT: a man in a black shirt is making a funny face while standing in a dark room .
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