Nathalie Van Raemdonck
@nathalievanraemdonck.com
Social media networks and social norms, freshly minted PhD from Brussels University (VUB). Belgian living in Barcelona, internet night crawler, STS
Pinned
I became a Doctor yesterday 🥳 presented my thesis "What Others afford: sociotechnical shaping of normative processes on social media platforms". In it I describe how the way we all shape each other's behavior on social media is shaped by the architectures of the digital environments we inhabit.
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
The other goal of going to museums is to build a collection of eyeballs
February 6, 2026 at 7:41 PM
The other goal of going to museums is to build a collection of eyeballs
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Ring is a wildly dangerous company. Always has been. But it has sort of flown under the radar the last couple years as it tried to soften its image. Make no mistake that this is an extremely dangerous surveillance dragnet:
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet
Ring's 'Search Party' is dystopian surveillance accelerationism.
www.404media.co
February 10, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Ring is a wildly dangerous company. Always has been. But it has sort of flown under the radar the last couple years as it tried to soften its image. Make no mistake that this is an extremely dangerous surveillance dragnet:
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Pensar alternativas al prohibicionismo en internet implica desplazar el foco: de la censura y la vigilancia hacia otras medidas como la educación digital, las redes públicas y el control democrático de las plataformas.
@christocasas.bsky.social zonaestrategia.net/es-que-nadie...
February 8, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Pensar alternativas al prohibicionismo en internet implica desplazar el foco: de la censura y la vigilancia hacia otras medidas como la educación digital, las redes públicas y el control democrático de las plataformas.
@christocasas.bsky.social zonaestrategia.net/es-que-nadie...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Governing TikTok - A US Power Play 🎭
Check out our new analysis published in Tech Policy Press wrapping up the last year of US tech policy shenanigans leading up to the #TikTokdeal that closed last week.
Shout out to @alexturvy.bsky.social for leading this endeavor!
Check out our new analysis published in Tech Policy Press wrapping up the last year of US tech policy shenanigans leading up to the #TikTokdeal that closed last week.
Shout out to @alexturvy.bsky.social for leading this endeavor!
The TikTok saga reads less as a successful US power play than as an accommodation that revealed how difficult it has become for the state to decisively govern technologies that are already socially indispensable, despite not being American-made, write Alex Turvy and Rebecca Scharlach.
US Power Play Over TikTok Did Nothing to Protect Americans
A year of limbo and a turbulent transition this month resolved very little, write Alex Turvy and Rebecca Scharlach.
buff.ly
January 31, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Governing TikTok - A US Power Play 🎭
Check out our new analysis published in Tech Policy Press wrapping up the last year of US tech policy shenanigans leading up to the #TikTokdeal that closed last week.
Shout out to @alexturvy.bsky.social for leading this endeavor!
Check out our new analysis published in Tech Policy Press wrapping up the last year of US tech policy shenanigans leading up to the #TikTokdeal that closed last week.
Shout out to @alexturvy.bsky.social for leading this endeavor!
They built this reddit-like platform "Moltbook" where thousands of AI agents cosplay as sentient robots, pushing more people into AI psychosis, meanwhile our world crumbles over scarce resources 🫠 TO WHAT PROBLEM IS THIS A SOLUTION??? arstechnica.com/information-...
AI agents now have their own Reddit-style social network, and it's getting weird fast
Moltbook lets 32,000 AI bots trade jokes, tips, and complaints about humans.
arstechnica.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:48 AM
They built this reddit-like platform "Moltbook" where thousands of AI agents cosplay as sentient robots, pushing more people into AI psychosis, meanwhile our world crumbles over scarce resources 🫠 TO WHAT PROBLEM IS THIS A SOLUTION??? arstechnica.com/information-...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
I haven't read the leaked 183-page Commission Decision against X, but I am reading the House Judiciary Committee's X posts about it and the worst stuff they could find is... preposterously weak.
judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
x.com/JudiciaryGOP...
judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
x.com/JudiciaryGOP...
x.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:06 PM
I haven't read the leaked 183-page Commission Decision against X, but I am reading the House Judiciary Committee's X posts about it and the worst stuff they could find is... preposterously weak.
judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
x.com/JudiciaryGOP...
judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
x.com/JudiciaryGOP...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
A reminder that one of the new owners of TikTok is Larry Ellison who also now owns CBS News…
I know it's hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list.
January 26, 2026 at 4:16 AM
A reminder that one of the new owners of TikTok is Larry Ellison who also now owns CBS News…
3am, best time to change my bio here from "PhD student" to "freshly minted PhD" since that still hadn't properly sunk in... I may be slightly burnt-out from having worked on projects all the way through and after my defense to financially survive 🥹 but a few days in the mountains definitely helped!
January 24, 2026 at 12:16 AM
3am, best time to change my bio here from "PhD student" to "freshly minted PhD" since that still hadn't properly sunk in... I may be slightly burnt-out from having worked on projects all the way through and after my defense to financially survive 🥹 but a few days in the mountains definitely helped!
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
To that end, I've teamed up with my friend @j12t.org, who runs @fediforum.org to put together an online "un-workshop" to explore different ways of growing the open social web! fediforum.org/2026-03-grow...
FediForum | Growing the Open Social Web:<br>An Online FediForum Un-Workshop
fediforum.org
January 23, 2026 at 6:55 PM
To that end, I've teamed up with my friend @j12t.org, who runs @fediforum.org to put together an online "un-workshop" to explore different ways of growing the open social web! fediforum.org/2026-03-grow...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
BREAKING: Now that TikTok is under US-based ownership, the social media app potentially collects more detailed information about its users, including precise location data.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US.
www.wired.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:48 PM
BREAKING: Now that TikTok is under US-based ownership, the social media app potentially collects more detailed information about its users, including precise location data.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Good read. A submission to the European Commission's call for evidence on Towards European Open Digital Ecosystems (importance of OSS for EU tech sovereignty, security and competitiveness). It ends with:
> If you work in OSS, consider adding your voice. The feedback period ends February 3, 2026.
> If you work in OSS, consider adding your voice. The feedback period ends February 3, 2026.
> When governments buy Open Source services, the money rarely reaches the people who actually build and maintain it. Procurement rules favor large system integrators, not the maintainers of the software itself.
Funding Open Source for Digital Sovereignty
Open Source alone won't deliver digital sovereignty. Europe must fix procurement and fund those who actually build it.
dri.es
January 21, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Good read. A submission to the European Commission's call for evidence on Towards European Open Digital Ecosystems (importance of OSS for EU tech sovereignty, security and competitiveness). It ends with:
> If you work in OSS, consider adding your voice. The feedback period ends February 3, 2026.
> If you work in OSS, consider adding your voice. The feedback period ends February 3, 2026.
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
It's also *deliberately* disingenuous because we did explain AT and Eurosky at great length to their primary funder.
If I were launching a social media about truth and verification I'd, like, try not to lie but that's just me.
Anyway, some of us have work to do.
If I were launching a social media about truth and verification I'd, like, try not to lie but that's just me.
Anyway, some of us have work to do.
ATProto/ActivityPub rivalry notwithstanding, omfg if I were Mastodon today I'd be so angry at this
January 21, 2026 at 5:33 PM
It's also *deliberately* disingenuous because we did explain AT and Eurosky at great length to their primary funder.
If I were launching a social media about truth and verification I'd, like, try not to lie but that's just me.
Anyway, some of us have work to do.
If I were launching a social media about truth and verification I'd, like, try not to lie but that's just me.
Anyway, some of us have work to do.
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Why do tech billionaires want server farms in orbit? So that they don't have to deal with communities trying to defend their energy grids, water supplies and well being: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Why tech billionaires dream of servers in the sky
Behind the hopes for artificial general intelligence is the desire for a world without obligations to governments, workers or fellow citizens
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
January 20, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Why do tech billionaires want server farms in orbit? So that they don't have to deal with communities trying to defend their energy grids, water supplies and well being: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
📃🚌 We have just published version 2.0 of our report on the #DigitalOmnibus, now including recommendations for EU legislators on each of the most important articles, including whether the proposed changes should be rejected or retained.
Read more here 👉 noyb.eu/en/digital-o...
Read more here 👉 noyb.eu/en/digital-o...
Digital Omnibus Report V2: Analysis of Select GDPR and ePrivacy Proposals by the Commission
Version 2 of our report includes specific recommendations for the EU legislator on each of the most important articles, including on whether to reject or maintain proposed changes
noyb.eu
January 20, 2026 at 2:16 PM
📃🚌 We have just published version 2.0 of our report on the #DigitalOmnibus, now including recommendations for EU legislators on each of the most important articles, including whether the proposed changes should be rejected or retained.
Read more here 👉 noyb.eu/en/digital-o...
Read more here 👉 noyb.eu/en/digital-o...
This whole Greenland situation is truly insane, but I made a bet with a friend almost exactly one year ago that Trump would really try to take Greenland, and the prospect of my friend having to make a speech in a full beerhall that he was ignorant about Trump's insanity somehow helps me cope?
Trump is basically putting tariffs on Denmark and its allies for deploying troops on Danish territory
January 20, 2026 at 5:50 PM
This whole Greenland situation is truly insane, but I made a bet with a friend almost exactly one year ago that Trump would really try to take Greenland, and the prospect of my friend having to make a speech in a full beerhall that he was ignorant about Trump's insanity somehow helps me cope?
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Can't hit the repost button often enough on that one.
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than Nature, BTW:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
January 14, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Can't hit the repost button often enough on that one.
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than Nature, BTW:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
German bundestag all getting verified today
January 11, 2026 at 4:05 AM
German bundestag all getting verified today
Belgium will participate in Eurovision.
So disappointing. @rtbf.be fails to see that its platform is being weaponized by the state of Israel to maintain the impression that the country holds a large support for its genocide and occupation by the European population. www.rtbf.be/article/euro...
So disappointing. @rtbf.be fails to see that its platform is being weaponized by the state of Israel to maintain the impression that the country holds a large support for its genocide and occupation by the European population. www.rtbf.be/article/euro...
Eurovision : la RTBF a tranché et elle participera - RTBF Actus
La Belgique participera donc au concours de l’Eurovision. Une décision attendue puisque, pour rappel, il revenait à...
www.rtbf.be
December 5, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Belgium will participate in Eurovision.
So disappointing. @rtbf.be fails to see that its platform is being weaponized by the state of Israel to maintain the impression that the country holds a large support for its genocide and occupation by the European population. www.rtbf.be/article/euro...
So disappointing. @rtbf.be fails to see that its platform is being weaponized by the state of Israel to maintain the impression that the country holds a large support for its genocide and occupation by the European population. www.rtbf.be/article/euro...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
This explains something that has always mystified me about drivers who rail against bike lanes and transit. Why WOULDN'T you want people to have options not to drive? It would make your own driving better! But they don't just want good traffic, they want to reinforce the NORM of driving
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This explains something that has always mystified me about drivers who rail against bike lanes and transit. Why WOULDN'T you want people to have options not to drive? It would make your own driving better! But they don't just want good traffic, they want to reinforce the NORM of driving
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
HELP WANTED: We need a remote / hybrid experience lead for #ATmosphereConf
Leave a comment in the forum and/or DM me discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
FAQ entry discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
Leave a comment in the forum and/or DM me discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
FAQ entry discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
November 27, 2025 at 6:43 PM
HELP WANTED: We need a remote / hybrid experience lead for #ATmosphereConf
Leave a comment in the forum and/or DM me discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
FAQ entry discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
Leave a comment in the forum and/or DM me discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
FAQ entry discourse.atprotocol.community/t/atmosphere...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
And now AI slop is taking a serious bite out of SocArXiv.
Thread:
Thread:
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1
/1
November 27, 2025 at 7:28 PM
And now AI slop is taking a serious bite out of SocArXiv.
Thread:
Thread:
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
Citarella noted that he’s been warning, for more than half a decade, that too many people remain under the mistaken impression that “what happens on the internet isn’t real.” www.newyorker.com/culture/podc...
The Leftist Podcaster Who Studies Online Radicalization
Joshua Citarella sees his YouTube show “Doomscroll” as a “tactical media experiment” to funnel young internet users toward esoteric left-wing ideas.
www.newyorker.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Citarella noted that he’s been warning, for more than half a decade, that too many people remain under the mistaken impression that “what happens on the internet isn’t real.” www.newyorker.com/culture/podc...
Reposted by Nathalie Van Raemdonck
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where users could feel safer, but inconsistent moderation quickly eroded trust.
When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
Bluesky’s CEO meltdown: How leadership continues to fail its most marginalized users
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where systemically marginalized users could feel safer, but…
plutopsyche.medium.com
October 6, 2025 at 4:54 PM
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where users could feel safer, but inconsistent moderation quickly eroded trust.
When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
These companies truly belong in hell.... internal documents showed META calculated that regulatory fines would be smaller than revenue from scam ads, so they just... keep running them at a higher price. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
These companies truly belong in hell.... internal documents showed META calculated that regulatory fines would be smaller than revenue from scam ads, so they just... keep running them at a higher price. www.reuters.com/investigatio...