Aleksandra Urman
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aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman
@aurman21.bsky.social
1.3K followers 500 following 810 posts

Senior Research Associate, Social Computing Group, U of Zurich. Computational social/communication scientist

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Political science 24%
Communication & Media Studies 24%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Muki Haklay, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers , and 4 more

carlbergstrom.com
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 1d
1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.

Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
carlbergstrom.com Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 1d
“The idea is to put ChatGPT front and center inside software that scientists use to write up their work in much the same way that chatbots are now embedded into popular programming editors.

It’s vibe coding, but for science.”
OpenAI’s latest product lets you vibe code science
Prism is a ChatGPT-powered text editor that automates much of the work involved in writing scientific papers.
www.technologyreview.com

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

bildoperationen.bsky.social
Roland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · 5d
Generative AI is a machine built to destroy knowledge: «The latest model of ChatGPT has begun to cite Elon Musk’s Grokipedia as a source on a wide range of queries, including on Iranian conglomerates and Holocaust deniers, raising concerns about misinformation on the platform.»
Latest ChatGPT model uses Elon Musk’s Grokipedia as source, tests reveal
Guardian found OpenAI’s platform cited Grokipedia on topics including Iran and Holocaust deniers
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Aleksandra Urman

manuelpuppis.ch
Manuel Puppis @manuelpuppis.ch · 7d
This could not be more timely, given the upcoming referendum on PSM funding in Switzerland.

I'm very happy that our article on the (non-)crowding-out of private media by SRG's online news offer was just published in the International Journal on Media Management (open access).
www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

404media.co
404 Media @404media.co · 8d
"My local community is being systematically liquidated in what I can only describe as a targeted intellectual genocide."
HAM Radio Operators in Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty
"My local community is being systematically liquidated in what I can only describe as a targeted intellectual genocide."
www.404media.co

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman, Salla-Maaria Laaksonen

mantzarlis.com
Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 8d
New on @indicator.media: I found 4,431 new ads for AI nudifiers on Meta ran since my last audit in December.

I'm losing my mind here.
Meta is *still* running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers
But hey, at least some of them appear to be scams that can’t be used to undress
indicator.media

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

techcrunch.com
TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 8d
The feature is designed to stop problematic content from being delivered to users under the age of 18.
In an effort to protect young users, ChatGPT will now predict how old you are | TechCrunch
The feature is designed to stop problematic content from being delivered to users under the age of 18.
techcrunch.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Nandita Sharma, Mel Bartley , and 5 more

chadbourn.bsky.social
Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 8d
Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum.
No Kings is projected on to a mountainside above the town’s lights

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · 11d
By far not the worst thing happening in the world these days. And yet highlights the levels of impunity.
esqueer.net Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 11d
Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate, Sneako, and Clavicular were all in a night club in Miami singing and dancing to the Kanye song "Heil Hitler" which they requested be played.

Reposted by Mark Rice, Aleksandra Urman

esqueer.net
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 11d
Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate, Sneako, and Clavicular were all in a night club in Miami singing and dancing to the Kanye song "Heil Hitler" which they requested be played.

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

wired.com
WIRED @wired.com · 12d
Kids are being identified as adults—and vice versa—on Roblox, while age-verified accounts are already being sold online.
Roblox’s AI-Powered Age Verification Is a Complete Mess
Kids are being identified as adults—and vice versa—on Roblox, while age-verified accounts are already being sold online.
wrd.cm

Reposted by Sebastian Stier, Gesis Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Aleksandra Urman

johannesbreuer.com
Johannes Breuer @johannesbreuer.com · 14d
New @gesis.org data set publication: "Social Media Accounts of German Candidates from the German Federal Election 2025"
doi.org/10.4232/1.14...
GESIS-Suche
doi.org

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Will Jennings, Alexander Wuttke , and 5 more

tsrauf.bsky.social
Tamkinat Rauf @tsrauf.bsky.social · 15d
This is a belated post about our paper in @poqjournal.bsky.social.

We analyzed 100 survey experiments fielded by TESS (tessexperiments.org), using only information from the proposals to identify intended hypotheses.

Here are some of the things we learned:
An Audit of Social Science Survey Experiments
Abstract. Survey experiments have become a popular methodology for causal inference across the social sciences. We study the efficacy of survey experiment
doi.org

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

icahdq.bsky.social
International Communication Association @icahdq.bsky.social · 15d
🎉 Today's the day! Notifications for #ICA26 are now being sent out via email! Please be patient & be sure to check your spam folder too. You can also check your results by logging into the ScholarOne website and clicking the Messages tab. buff.ly/Lm6odET

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 16d
New: Police have released info about millions of surveillance targets nationwide from thousands of different police departments because of a public records redaction error in Flock data. Reveals active police investigations, border patrol & ICE targets, lots more:

www.404media.co/police-unmas...
Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error
Flock is going after a website called HaveIBeenFlocked.com that has collated public records files released by police.
www.404media.co

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

mattknight.bsky.social
Matt Knight @mattknight.bsky.social · 16d
BBC: Prosecutors have asked for South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol to be handed a death sentence if he is found guilty over his botched attempt to impose martial law.
Yoon Suk Yeol: S Korea prosecutors seek death penalty over failed insurrection attempt
Yoon is accused of leading an insurrection when he tried to impose martial law in 2024.
www.bbc.com

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

alessandronai.bsky.social
Alessandro Nai @alessandronai.bsky.social · 21d
🖋️ Algorithmic biases

Aleksandra Urman (@aurman21.bsky.social) & Mykola Makhortykh

“Algorithmic biases are particularly concerning [...] due to their implications for unequal access to politically relevant information and unfair outcomes for different providers of political information”
www.elgaronline.com

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

gildasahebi.bsky.social
Gilda Sahebi @gildasahebi.bsky.social · 26d
Na da kann sich Donald Trump mit Wladimir Putin zusammen tun. Der will nämlich die Ukraine selbst regieren.
Eilmeldung Tagesschau: Trump: USA wollen Venezuela vorerst selbst regieren.

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Peter Holmes, Tom van der Meer , and 8 more

adamjschwarz.bsky.social
Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 26d
Maduro is a brutal and oppressive dictator of Venezuela.

Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.

Both of those facts are simultaneously true.

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Steve Peers, Andreas Ortmann , and 3 more

carlbergstrom.com
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26d
1. Headlines everywhere today read "Grok apologizes."

This is bullshit. A chatbot is not something that can apologize.

Pretending otherwise is simple laundering these companies' bullshit about what AI is, while diffusing blame away from the human beings that developed and released this system.
LA Times: Elon Musk company bot apologizes Newsweek: Elon Musk's Grok Apologizes International Business Times: Grok Issues Apologies The Hill: Musk's AI chatbot Grok apologizes

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

claesdevreese.bsky.social
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 27d
Use official sources for health guidance!

AI summaries are not good enough.

And Google: providing AI overviews for health with “the vast majority provide accurate information” is a too low bar!

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Google AI Overviews put people at risk of harm with misleading health advice
Exclusive: Inaccurate information presented in summaries, Guardian investigation finds
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Aleksandra Urman

adfichter.bsky.social
Adrienne Fichter @adfichter.bsky.social · 28d
Finally finished today...Read it and you understand a lot about the AGI cult. And the psych of Samuel Altman (what a weirdo).
book cover of AG: inside the reckless race for total domination. karen hao

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · 29d
And I owe this recognition to that one old-new-friend who texted me last year on the new year's eve and essentially started this "trying the reconnection" chain for me :)

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · 29d
Ok so one personal learning of 2025 - it might be a good idea to try to reconnect with friends you lost in your twenties due to both parts being idiots in their 20s. With some the reconnection won't work, and that's fine. But those with who it will work are absolutely worth it.

Reposted by David Lazer, Steve Peers, Serge Egelman , and 6 more

jeffhorwitz.bsky.social
Jeff Horwitz @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social · 29d
We got Meta’s “general global playbook” for defeating advertiser verification regulations, which the company knows would reduce scams. It includes making scam ads “not findable” for regulators searching Meta’s ad library through targeted scrubbing.

www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta created ‘playbook’ to fend off pressure to crack down on scammers, documents show
As regulators pressure Meta to verify the identity of advertisers on Facebook and Instagram, the social media giant has drafted a “playbook” to stall them. A Reuters investigation examines its tactics...
www.reuters.com

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · Dec 30
The best fiction of the year for me was one I read in Russian, by Belarusian author Sasha Filipenko whose books I also never miss. The good thing is the German version - "Die Elefanten" - comes out in February, and can be pre-ordered www.diogenes.ch/leser/titel/...
Diogenes Verlag - Die Elefanten | Filipenko, Sasha
Eines Tages sind sie da. Wie aus dem Nichts leben sie plötzlich in der Stadt, stehen auf Straßen und Plätzen, leben mitten unter den Menschen und ziehen in die Häuser ein: die Elefanten. Doch niemand ...
www.diogenes.ch

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · Dec 30
In German, "ë" by Jehona Kicaj, "Im Herzen der Katze" by Jina Khayyer and "Lázár" by Nelio Biedermann stood out the most to me

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · Dec 30
I also enjoyed "Ripeness" by Sarah Moss, though can't quite even explain what I found so captivating about it

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · Dec 30
One of my favourite fiction reads this year were quite unexpectedly the first 3 parts of the "On the calculation of volume" by Solvej Balle, totally looking forward to the next ones

aurman21.bsky.social
Aleksandra Urman @aurman21.bsky.social · Dec 30
And my most uncharacteristic non-fiction rec this year was "The First Contact" by Becky Ferreira. In part because I love the newsletters of @404media.co written by the author, in part because one of my close friends is interested in the topic, and I knew nothing about it so thought why not read it.