Marshall Van Alstyne

@infoecon.bsky.social

310 followers 240 following 68 posts

Interested in human side of information, economics, social & tech.

Questrom Professor Boston University. Digital Fellow MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. Visiting Scholar Harvard Berkman-Klein.

Leap on in! The water is fine. .. more

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Marshall W. Van Alstyne is the Allen and Kelly Questrom Professor in IS at Boston University and a research associate at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. He co-developed the theory of two-sided markets with Geoffrey G Parker. His work focuses on the economics of information. This includes a sustained interest in information markets and in how information and technology affect productivity with an emphasis on “platforms” as an extension of the work on two-sided markets. .. more

Business 50%

Economics 14%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · 15d

New working paper on reducing fraud and deception by AI agents using mechanism design. Comments are very welcome.

Market Design Interventions for Safer Agentic AI aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/gen...

Reposted by James Grimmelmann

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · 23d

Someone ready to march!

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Oct 2

New poll shows only 28% of Americans trust the media - lowest ever. In related news, you shouldn't trust a Tweet. news.gallup.com/poll/695762/...

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

Americans' trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a new low of 28%.

news.gallup.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Oct 2

New poll shows only 28% of Americans trust the media - lowest ever. In related news, you shouldn't trust a Tweet. news.gallup.com/poll/695762/...

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

Americans' trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a new low of 28%.

news.gallup.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Sep 30

Do non-citizens have free speech rights in the US? Historic ruling: yes they do! www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Judge takes down Trump’s ‘bullying’ in victory for pro-Palestine students

Reagan-appointed judge rebukes top officials for targeting pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses

www.independent.co.uk

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Sep 29

New report ranks LI, Insta, FB, YouTube, TikTok & X for prevalence and monetization of misinformation
science.feedback.org/first-measur...

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Sep 20

The new $100,000 fee for an H1-B visa to the US is idiotic. It's hard to design a policy more likely to move hi tech jobs overseas www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump signs proclamation imposing annual $100,000 fee on H-1B visas

Move deals potentially major blow to US tech industry, which relies heavily on workers from India and China

www.theguardian.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Sep 10

New research attributes probability of heat events to individual companies www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Dozens of heatwaves linked to carbon emissions from specific companies

Nearly one-quarter of heatwaves would have been ‘virtually impossible’ without global warming — and can be attributed to the emissions of individual energy producers.

www.nature.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Sep 4

The summary of the MIT Platform Summit is now available ide.mit.edu/publication-... @mitsloanphd.bsky.social

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Jul 25

The great silencing: Colbert (comedy), Washington Post (news), Columbia (education), NIH (medicine), NOAA (climate). Killing free speech is how democracy dies
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

The silencing

Colbert, The Washington Post, Columbia University … and on it goes

open.substack.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Jun 20

BU Platform Summit July 15 features great rsch on social media, using AI to build platforms, decentralization, M&A strategies, robo taxis...

$1000 best paper prize.

Program: questromworld.bu.edu/platformstra...

Registration: questromworld.bu.edu/platformstra...

We look forward to seeing you!

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Jun 19

Recommended reading - The Anti Autocracy Handbook

Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · Jun 19

It is not entirely coincidental that we released the Anti-Autocracy Handbook on this date: sks.to/autocracy. It is with sadness because it shouldn't be necessary and because it shows how impoverished America has become. But it also signals that the fight will go on. #Juneteenth

Reposted by Frank de Vocht, Marshall Van Alstyne

Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · Jun 19

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Jun 18

How can we create value from data but give users more control? One possibility is a just published proposal for a new data right www.networklawreview.org/data-sharing/

"Towards Efficient Data Sharing in Platform Markets" - Network Law Review

Platforms collect valuable data that they do not share. Welfare then suffers as information asymmetry produces market failures. Current proposals to address this, however, fail because they grant acce...

www.networklawreview.org

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Jun 3

The MIT Platform Summit is here this July. See speakers and registration at platforms.mit.edu @g2parker.bsky.social

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · May 23

Trump attacking student visas completely undercuts his narrative that his immigration policies rid the US of gang members, rapists, and drug dealers. He's making unwelcome some of the most talented people in the world. The damage will last a decade.

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · May 23

3 tested ways to undermine autocrats - mockery, highlight corruption, human examples www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/o...

Opinion | Three Well-Tested Ways to Undermine an Autocrat

www.nytimes.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · May 22

The damage goes far beyond Harvard. Threats to academia promote a brain drain of talent across students and across universities that has serious long term consequences for American innovation over the long term.

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · May 22

I realize that as a retired professor I have a responsibility to say more on this than I have.

International students are essential to the fiscal bottom line of almost every university. This is an unambiguous attempt to destroy Harvard—permanently.

And he won’t stop with Harvard. This is madness.

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · May 22

Trump admin revokes Harvard ability to sponsor int'l students. Visa holders must transfer or be deported. Attacks must stop! Speak up! Donate to Harvard, donate to ACLU, oppose any legislator who supports these pro-censorship, anti-education, anti-science activities nationalpost.com/news/world/t...

Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students over antisemitism concerns

"This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus," Kristi Noem said in a statement.

nationalpost.com

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · May 22

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · May 22

Not only is this illegal, as Harvard says, it also punishes all international students for the actions of a few. And it's hurting Americans who benefit from having the perspectives and knowledge of brilliant young people who study here. www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/u...

Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling international students | CNN

The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, marking a sharp escalation in the battle over the Ivy League school’s autonomy in the face o...

www.cnn.com

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

ACLU of Massachusetts @aclum.bsky.social · May 22

We are alarmed by the Trump administration’s latest escalation against Harvard University. International students are a vital part of our universities and our nation.

By causing a great deal of chaos for Harvard students and their communities, this action is as harmful as it is unlawful.

Trump administration revokes Harvard's ability to enroll international students

Harvard can no longer enroll international students after the Trump administration revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students. The school called the decision "unlawful."

www.wbur.org

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · May 22

International students upend their lives to join American science, bringing their novel insights that drive innovation.

Now, they are being illegally targeted by Trump, because Harvard won't back down.

Classic bully behavior.

We Stand Up for International Students.

www.npr.org/2025/05/22/n...

Trump administration revokes Harvard's ability to enroll international students

International students make up more than a quarter of Harvard University's student body. Harvard says the government's actions, which could cut off a major revenue stream, are "unlawful."

www.npr.org

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

Launchworks & Co @launchworksco.bsky.social · May 15

We're delighted to welcome Prof. Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social, @buquestrom.bsky.social, Digital Fellow MIT IDE to Platform Leaders for a groundbreaking keynote on "The Misinformation Machine: social media, fake news, and the future of truth". Register for free 👉 platformleaders.com

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · May 15

Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/b...

The goal: silence researchers & hide the truth.

Reality: This research is NOT about censorship.

@infoecon.bsky.social: Will "lead to a vastly more polluted information environment.”

Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation

www.nytimes.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · May 1

How might we curb misinformation with no censorship and no central authority judging truth? New talk at the U Cambridge Disinformation Summit www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Pi...

Marshall Van Alstyne presents Certifiably True: The Impact of Self-Certifications on Misinformation

YouTube video by Cambridge Disinformation Summit

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Marshall Van Alstyne

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · Apr 28

Dear Canada-
Please accept our deepest apologies from all decent Americans embarrassed by the obnoxious trolling from our man-baby-in-chief who is lacking in both intelligence & any impulse-control whatsoever.

❤️ from your neighbors below, 🇺🇸

#MakeAmericaNormalAgain

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Apr 8

New ways to grow both traditional and platform businesses by managing your interactions. Research from @hbr.org . @thinkers50.com

hbr.org/2025/05/are-...

Are You Missing Growth Opportunities for Your Platform?

Seven of the world’s 10 most valuable companies have launched platform businesses, as have over 60% of unicorn startups. Many companies that didn’t start out as platform businesses—from retailers Walm...

hbr.org

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Apr 7

Eloquent writing on what is happening in the US.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

I Should Have Seen This Coming

When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won...

www.theatlantic.com

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Apr 7

Deadline FRIDAY!

Marshall Van Alstyne @infoecon.bsky.social · Jan 29

CALL FOR PAPERS
12th Annual Platform Research Symposium
Boston University Questrom School of Business
July 14-15, 2025
Submissions Due: April 11, 2025

Submit your best platform research at platforms.bu.edu

$1000 Alessandro di Fiore Best Paper prize #platforms #strategy #conference #AI #Governance

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