John Gallagher
@johnrgallagher.bsky.social
Using qualitative & computational methods to study writers on the internet. I study how machine learning experts communicate. I study the interaction between writers & audiences. Professor @ University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
#chatgpt thinks you should throw away all your upside down cups
YouTube video by FatherPhi
www.youtube.com
February 19, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Derek Thompson's recent podcast asserts we are becoming more oral. I wrote about this in the 2010s, arguing digital writing is fusing spoken language with written language. The explanation I offered: writing now has incredibly complex circulation responsibilities that fall on the writer.
February 18, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Derek Thompson's recent podcast asserts we are becoming more oral. I wrote about this in the 2010s, arguing digital writing is fusing spoken language with written language. The explanation I offered: writing now has incredibly complex circulation responsibilities that fall on the writer.
I'm working on two articles (booktok and power users). We don't mention AI at all. My students and I are stoked to not be talking about it. (me especially)
February 18, 2026 at 12:42 AM
I'm working on two articles (booktok and power users). We don't mention AI at all. My students and I are stoked to not be talking about it. (me especially)
I really feel like the corporate effort to make video podcasts happen really misses the point of having a podcast in your ears while you do something else
they're missing the reason why the podcasts were successful and not...talk shows
they're missing the reason why the podcasts were successful and not...talk shows
February 17, 2026 at 12:40 AM
I really feel like the corporate effort to make video podcasts happen really misses the point of having a podcast in your ears while you do something else
they're missing the reason why the podcasts were successful and not...talk shows
they're missing the reason why the podcasts were successful and not...talk shows
Please share if you can!
Do you read or write fanfiction? Take a few minutes to fill out this survey on fanfic authors’ and readers’ perspectives on generative AI. You must be 18 years or older to participate. Please repost and share with friends! bit.ly/FF-AI
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
bit.ly
February 16, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Please share if you can!
Reposted by John Gallagher
Do you read or write fanfiction? Take a few minutes to fill out this survey on fanfic authors’ and readers’ perspectives on generative AI. You must be 18 years or older to participate. Please repost and share with friends! bit.ly/FF-AI
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
bit.ly
February 16, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Do you read or write fanfiction? Take a few minutes to fill out this survey on fanfic authors’ and readers’ perspectives on generative AI. You must be 18 years or older to participate. Please repost and share with friends! bit.ly/FF-AI
Reposted by John Gallagher
Trying to explain to my bougie children that for the first 25 years of my life I thought Parmesan cheese was essentially a powder
February 15, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Trying to explain to my bougie children that for the first 25 years of my life I thought Parmesan cheese was essentially a powder
I am at a five year old‘s birthday on a Sunday morning with a FULL LIVE band. It’s a wild time
February 15, 2026 at 4:17 PM
I am at a five year old‘s birthday on a Sunday morning with a FULL LIVE band. It’s a wild time
Reposted by John Gallagher
Mass deletion of Facebook and Insta accounts, yes? www.theverge.com/tech/878725/...
February 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Mass deletion of Facebook and Insta accounts, yes? www.theverge.com/tech/878725/...
Interesting fun fact: the moon came up a week ago in my dinners with Engineers (unrelated to Musky). They were talking about how the dirt on the moon is razor sharp because there is no atmosphere to dull the moon rock. It's a materials problem.
I have just enough understanding of the science and factory production to know a) not only how absurd it is to build a satellite factory on the moon but also b) how pointless. It's amazing people still report this as anything but idiot fantasy www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/t...
Elon Musk Wants to Build an A.I. Satellite Factory on the Moon
www.nytimes.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Interesting fun fact: the moon came up a week ago in my dinners with Engineers (unrelated to Musky). They were talking about how the dirt on the moon is razor sharp because there is no atmosphere to dull the moon rock. It's a materials problem.
Reposted by John Gallagher
Open access!
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
July 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Open access!
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by John Gallagher
Interested content creators? Gossip about YouTube's algorithm? Academic articles with unnecessary long titles?
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit - John R. Gallagher, Antonia Pecoraro Hernandez, 2025
This paper examines how aspirational content creators (ACCs) on the r/NewTubers subreddit forum understand and discuss YouTube’s algorithm. This study employs t...
journals.sagepub.com
April 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Interested content creators? Gossip about YouTube's algorithm? Academic articles with unnecessary long titles?
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
"Algorithmic Anthropomorphizing, Platform Gossip, and Backlashes: Aspirational Content Creators’ Narratives About YouTube’s Algorithm on Reddit"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
The problem with productivity is that there is no end. You’ll always be driven (by a boss, your ego, etc) to just be more productive. It’s religiosity.
February 14, 2026 at 11:12 PM
The problem with productivity is that there is no end. You’ll always be driven (by a boss, your ego, etc) to just be more productive. It’s religiosity.
Such a small thing: my 4th grader brought valentines cards for the entire class yesterday. No one else brought them. Not that it’s required but it’s one of those “growing older and losing innocence” stories.
February 14, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Such a small thing: my 4th grader brought valentines cards for the entire class yesterday. No one else brought them. Not that it’s required but it’s one of those “growing older and losing innocence” stories.
We‘ve reached the 4 week mark of the semester, which means I’ve eaten 4 pieces of chocolate on Friday
February 14, 2026 at 1:24 AM
We‘ve reached the 4 week mark of the semester, which means I’ve eaten 4 pieces of chocolate on Friday
Reposted by John Gallagher
Today is the wonderful, buzzy, barely contained chaos that is typesetting day in BookLab
February 13, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Today is the wonderful, buzzy, barely contained chaos that is typesetting day in BookLab
We've been doing a lot of computational analysis with a very large dataset. We have one finding from one year and have successfully replicated it across 7 other years. Pretty cool, durable finding!
February 12, 2026 at 5:09 PM
We've been doing a lot of computational analysis with a very large dataset. We have one finding from one year and have successfully replicated it across 7 other years. Pretty cool, durable finding!
Reposted by John Gallagher
Reposted by John Gallagher
What's the difference betewen machine learning and generative AI? blogged (how passe) here hfroehli.ch/2026/02/11/w...
February 11, 2026 at 2:15 AM
What's the difference betewen machine learning and generative AI? blogged (how passe) here hfroehli.ch/2026/02/11/w...
Reposted by John Gallagher
I woke up at 4:18 am and said, “we took all the friction out of the systems that poor people use to survive and gave rich people all the luxury of their frictionlessness.”
I will make it make sense later.
I will make it make sense later.
February 10, 2026 at 12:58 PM
I woke up at 4:18 am and said, “we took all the friction out of the systems that poor people use to survive and gave rich people all the luxury of their frictionlessness.”
I will make it make sense later.
I will make it make sense later.
Reposted by John Gallagher
Make Art (1/4)
February 10, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Make Art (1/4)
Reposted by John Gallagher
Some personal news, as they say.
Get your submissions ready for when our portal opens February 12. As the founding editor-in-chief of the new Springer Nature academic journal Creator and Influencer Studies, I’m thrilled to welcome them.
link.springer.com/journal/44538
Get your submissions ready for when our portal opens February 12. As the founding editor-in-chief of the new Springer Nature academic journal Creator and Influencer Studies, I’m thrilled to welcome them.
link.springer.com/journal/44538
February 3, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Some personal news, as they say.
Get your submissions ready for when our portal opens February 12. As the founding editor-in-chief of the new Springer Nature academic journal Creator and Influencer Studies, I’m thrilled to welcome them.
link.springer.com/journal/44538
Get your submissions ready for when our portal opens February 12. As the founding editor-in-chief of the new Springer Nature academic journal Creator and Influencer Studies, I’m thrilled to welcome them.
link.springer.com/journal/44538
holding a kids’ hand while they throw up all night (like three hours) really makes a lot of other stuff feel distant
also, today I am allowed UNLIMITED coffee
also, today I am allowed UNLIMITED coffee
February 9, 2026 at 5:15 PM
holding a kids’ hand while they throw up all night (like three hours) really makes a lot of other stuff feel distant
also, today I am allowed UNLIMITED coffee
also, today I am allowed UNLIMITED coffee
Home made rice krisipies are DELIGHTFUL
February 8, 2026 at 11:30 PM
Home made rice krisipies are DELIGHTFUL
A hill I will die on: LLMs are not human subjects. They cannot be substituted for human subjects.
I am SCREAMING.
I am SCREAMING.
February 8, 2026 at 1:00 AM
A hill I will die on: LLMs are not human subjects. They cannot be substituted for human subjects.
I am SCREAMING.
I am SCREAMING.