Jan Zilinsky
@janzilinsky.bsky.social
I study the role of technology and conspiracy theories in democratic politics. NYU PhD.
https://www.janzilinsky.com
https://www.janzilinsky.com
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
Second, we need to distinguish between two kinds of nasty rhetoric:
A) Rhetoric used by marginal politicians or opposition figures to grab attention when they lack agenda-setting power.
B) Rhetoric used by national leaders, and amplified by supporters, to demonize opponents or minority groups.
A) Rhetoric used by marginal politicians or opposition figures to grab attention when they lack agenda-setting power.
B) Rhetoric used by national leaders, and amplified by supporters, to demonize opponents or minority groups.
January 11, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Second, we need to distinguish between two kinds of nasty rhetoric:
A) Rhetoric used by marginal politicians or opposition figures to grab attention when they lack agenda-setting power.
B) Rhetoric used by national leaders, and amplified by supporters, to demonize opponents or minority groups.
A) Rhetoric used by marginal politicians or opposition figures to grab attention when they lack agenda-setting power.
B) Rhetoric used by national leaders, and amplified by supporters, to demonize opponents or minority groups.
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
I need everyone in the political communications world who found the moral foundations reframing approach promising (which includes me) to read this paper
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Poverty of Moral Foundation Messaging
Prominent scholars have argued that reframing political positions and issues in terms of moral foundations that appeal to conservatives or liberals can attract more individual-level support for tho...
www.tandfonline.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
I need everyone in the political communications world who found the moral foundations reframing approach promising (which includes me) to read this paper
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
It doesn't replicate in new research. It just doesn't work.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
Please share with all the awesome applicants you know!
📣We’re hiring! KGI is seeking an Operations Manager to oversee and manage operations, budgets, people processes, events, and internal + external comms. This position is hybrid and must be based in Washington, D.C. Apply by Feb 28, 2026: kgi.georgetown.edu/operations-m...
January 8, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Please share with all the awesome applicants you know!
Very cool to read this from @kenzonera.bsky.social
and co-authors!
From the abstract: "those low in conspiracy mentality not only believed less in conspiracies but also underestimated their prevalence" osf.io/preprints/ps...
and co-authors!
From the abstract: "those low in conspiracy mentality not only believed less in conspiracies but also underestimated their prevalence" osf.io/preprints/ps...
January 5, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Very cool to read this from @kenzonera.bsky.social
and co-authors!
From the abstract: "those low in conspiracy mentality not only believed less in conspiracies but also underestimated their prevalence" osf.io/preprints/ps...
and co-authors!
From the abstract: "those low in conspiracy mentality not only believed less in conspiracies but also underestimated their prevalence" osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
Mechanisms of Europe’s “Death” since I was old enough to read newspapers:
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new “euro-sclerosis”: that the EU economy is lagging the US
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
December 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Mechanisms of Europe’s “Death” since I was old enough to read newspapers:
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
Research shows people dislike and want to block speech they believe is harmful. Wrote for @goodauth.bsky.social about this a few weeks ago: goodauthority.org/news/what-we...
December 29, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Research shows people dislike and want to block speech they believe is harmful. Wrote for @goodauth.bsky.social about this a few weeks ago: goodauthority.org/news/what-we...
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute is hiring Postdoctoral Fellows (Deadline Jan 23rd, 2026)! 💫
Reach out and apply if you're interested in working with me! I'm especially excited to work with postdocs on AI for social sciences/human behavior, social NLP, and LLMs.
Reach out and apply if you're interested in working with me! I'm especially excited to work with postdocs on AI for social sciences/human behavior, social NLP, and LLMs.
Join us in advancing data science and AI research! The Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is now accepting applications for the 2026–2027 academic year. Apply now! Deadline: Jan 23, 2026. Details and apply: apply.interfolio.com/179059
December 19, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute is hiring Postdoctoral Fellows (Deadline Jan 23rd, 2026)! 💫
Reach out and apply if you're interested in working with me! I'm especially excited to work with postdocs on AI for social sciences/human behavior, social NLP, and LLMs.
Reach out and apply if you're interested in working with me! I'm especially excited to work with postdocs on AI for social sciences/human behavior, social NLP, and LLMs.
I pay a similar amount for www.hey.com largely to avoid Gmail or Outlook
December 16, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I pay a similar amount for www.hey.com largely to avoid Gmail or Outlook
Maybe the impact of chatbots on truth is actually greater than the impact of deepfakes (for now)
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 16, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Maybe the impact of chatbots on truth is actually greater than the impact of deepfakes (for now)
My latest for @goodauth.bsky.social goodauthority.org/news/what-we...
December 12, 2025 at 3:51 PM
My latest for @goodauth.bsky.social goodauthority.org/news/what-we...
Mechanisms of Europe’s “Death” since I was old enough to read newspapers:
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new “euro-sclerosis”: that the EU economy is lagging the US
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
December 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Mechanisms of Europe’s “Death” since I was old enough to read newspapers:
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
- Inability to enact “structural reforms”
- Too much public debt
- Excessive focus on curbing fiscal deficits (“austerity”)
- Populism
- Low birth rates
- Absence of a European Silicon Valley
- Migration
- Stagnation
This excellent paper is now out -
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Code: github.com/kobihackenbu...
A useful summary by @lpargyle.bsky.social: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Code: github.com/kobihackenbu...
A useful summary by @lpargyle.bsky.social: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
December 8, 2025 at 12:05 PM
This excellent paper is now out -
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Code: github.com/kobihackenbu...
A useful summary by @lpargyle.bsky.social: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Code: github.com/kobihackenbu...
A useful summary by @lpargyle.bsky.social: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
.@pettertornberg.com's keynote in Oxford was fantastic.
What comes after the traditional model of social media ends?
1) Algorithmic broadcasting platforms (everything turning into TikTok and Instagram reels)
2) Private and semi-private spheres (like group chats)
3) Chatbots and LLMs as new media
What comes after the traditional model of social media ends?
1) Algorithmic broadcasting platforms (everything turning into TikTok and Instagram reels)
2) Private and semi-private spheres (like group chats)
3) Chatbots and LLMs as new media
November 19, 2025 at 9:07 AM
.@pettertornberg.com's keynote in Oxford was fantastic.
What comes after the traditional model of social media ends?
1) Algorithmic broadcasting platforms (everything turning into TikTok and Instagram reels)
2) Private and semi-private spheres (like group chats)
3) Chatbots and LLMs as new media
What comes after the traditional model of social media ends?
1) Algorithmic broadcasting platforms (everything turning into TikTok and Instagram reels)
2) Private and semi-private spheres (like group chats)
3) Chatbots and LLMs as new media
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
🚨 Job Alert! Postdoc in POLITICAL TEXT ANALYSIS in the MULTIREP project
You do quant text analysis? You are interested in political representation? Enjoy working in teams? Would like to live in a great city? Consider joining us in Vienna!
⏱️ Apply by 15/12/2025
wratil.eu/files/MULTIR...
1/4 🧵
You do quant text analysis? You are interested in political representation? Enjoy working in teams? Would like to live in a great city? Consider joining us in Vienna!
⏱️ Apply by 15/12/2025
wratil.eu/files/MULTIR...
1/4 🧵
November 10, 2025 at 6:50 AM
🚨 Job Alert! Postdoc in POLITICAL TEXT ANALYSIS in the MULTIREP project
You do quant text analysis? You are interested in political representation? Enjoy working in teams? Would like to live in a great city? Consider joining us in Vienna!
⏱️ Apply by 15/12/2025
wratil.eu/files/MULTIR...
1/4 🧵
You do quant text analysis? You are interested in political representation? Enjoy working in teams? Would like to live in a great city? Consider joining us in Vienna!
⏱️ Apply by 15/12/2025
wratil.eu/files/MULTIR...
1/4 🧵
- Will certain people always continue "just asking questions"? Yes.
- But citizens have the right to ask questions and, in a tolerant society, they could ask them without getting mocked
- It's a bad case here, because how could anyone prove a negative? (Can't show "we're not altering the weather")
- But citizens have the right to ask questions and, in a tolerant society, they could ask them without getting mocked
- It's a bad case here, because how could anyone prove a negative? (Can't show "we're not altering the weather")
EPA Commissioner Lee Zeldin announces his agency is launching a major investigation into the right-wing conspiracies about chemtrails and weather manipulation to get to the bottom of it.
October 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
- Will certain people always continue "just asking questions"? Yes.
- But citizens have the right to ask questions and, in a tolerant society, they could ask them without getting mocked
- It's a bad case here, because how could anyone prove a negative? (Can't show "we're not altering the weather")
- But citizens have the right to ask questions and, in a tolerant society, they could ask them without getting mocked
- It's a bad case here, because how could anyone prove a negative? (Can't show "we're not altering the weather")
Liked this passage in @smotus.bsky.social's book - though there are places were non-confusing design is the exception and a cryptic design is the default...
October 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Liked this passage in @smotus.bsky.social's book - though there are places were non-confusing design is the exception and a cryptic design is the default...
Latest piece centering scenarios where AI could autonomously develop harmful capabilities like engineering lethal pathogens
But lowering the barrier for malicious actors to cause harm is a risk that's real today
So, of course we get stories about hypothetical risks:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
But lowering the barrier for malicious actors to cause harm is a risk that's real today
So, of course we get stories about hypothetical risks:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Latest piece centering scenarios where AI could autonomously develop harmful capabilities like engineering lethal pathogens
But lowering the barrier for malicious actors to cause harm is a risk that's real today
So, of course we get stories about hypothetical risks:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
But lowering the barrier for malicious actors to cause harm is a risk that's real today
So, of course we get stories about hypothetical risks:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
On morning Munich commutes, I see surprisingly little tech use. People read newspapers, nap, or chat. Occasionally someone knits, and I watch a bit wistfully.
Kids seem perfectly well-adjusted: those in groups chat and tease each other, those commuting alone do homework or use phones.
Kids seem perfectly well-adjusted: those in groups chat and tease each other, those commuting alone do homework or use phones.
October 8, 2025 at 3:15 PM
On morning Munich commutes, I see surprisingly little tech use. People read newspapers, nap, or chat. Occasionally someone knits, and I watch a bit wistfully.
Kids seem perfectly well-adjusted: those in groups chat and tease each other, those commuting alone do homework or use phones.
Kids seem perfectly well-adjusted: those in groups chat and tease each other, those commuting alone do homework or use phones.
"the crypto lobby is pushing Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which ... would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing or even piloting a government-issued digital currency ... without congressional approval" www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/o...
Opinion | We Really Want to Trust Crypto Interests With the Future of Money?
www.nytimes.com
September 29, 2025 at 9:32 PM
"the crypto lobby is pushing Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which ... would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing or even piloting a government-issued digital currency ... without congressional approval" www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/o...
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
"Acceptance of the scientific consensus was very high in the sample as a whole (95.1%), but also in every sub-sample (e.g. no trust in science: 87.3%) ... [P]eople are motivated to reject specific scientific beliefs, and not science as a whole."
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
September 3, 2025 at 8:13 PM
"Acceptance of the scientific consensus was very high in the sample as a whole (95.1%), but also in every sub-sample (e.g. no trust in science: 87.3%) ... [P]eople are motivated to reject specific scientific beliefs, and not science as a whole."
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Motivated reasoning (and responding!) is a huge issue for polling - BUT, the magnitude of the problem also depends on what else is asked within a given survey: www.cambridge.org/core/service...
September 25, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Motivated reasoning (and responding!) is a huge issue for polling - BUT, the magnitude of the problem also depends on what else is asked within a given survey: www.cambridge.org/core/service...
I thought GPT-5 was supposed to tone down the flattery 😂
September 21, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I thought GPT-5 was supposed to tone down the flattery 😂
A friend’s kid told me in 2015: “I can learn anything I want by finding a tutorial on YouTube.”
Did I find it credible? Not quite, but the sentiment was fascinating.
Still think about it sometimes and also wonder how many people now use video-sharing platforms as their search engines
Did I find it credible? Not quite, but the sentiment was fascinating.
Still think about it sometimes and also wonder how many people now use video-sharing platforms as their search engines
September 19, 2025 at 11:56 PM
A friend’s kid told me in 2015: “I can learn anything I want by finding a tutorial on YouTube.”
Did I find it credible? Not quite, but the sentiment was fascinating.
Still think about it sometimes and also wonder how many people now use video-sharing platforms as their search engines
Did I find it credible? Not quite, but the sentiment was fascinating.
Still think about it sometimes and also wonder how many people now use video-sharing platforms as their search engines
Reposted by Jan Zilinsky
Very cool that people can be open-minded
August 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Very cool that people can be open-minded