Ryan J. Gallagher
@ryanjgallag.com
Applied scientist trying to make the internet a little better. PhD. Trust & safety, platform manipulation, networks, fingerstyle guitar. I use my hair to express myself. He/they
Pinned
Ryan J. Gallagher
@ryanjgallag.com
· Nov 12
With more people migrating to Bluesky (and my general quietness since Twitter fell apart), I want to reintroduce myself!
I'm an applied scientist in online trust & safety. I specialize in detecting coordinated/harmful/deceptive networks, and bridging domain expertise with machine learning systems
I'm an applied scientist in online trust & safety. I specialize in detecting coordinated/harmful/deceptive networks, and bridging domain expertise with machine learning systems
How much do you think it costs Meta to store and host static images as videos because people (correctly?) believe videos get more algorithmic traction than images, and so they make photos into videos just to try and game the algorithm
December 27, 2025 at 4:45 AM
How much do you think it costs Meta to store and host static images as videos because people (correctly?) believe videos get more algorithmic traction than images, and so they make photos into videos just to try and game the algorithm
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
✨dropping my brand new digital communication grad syllabus! ✨
the course is organised around digital keywords: authenticity, parasocial, viral, trend, etc.
feel free to share widely!
tinyurl.com/3cxx4a36
the course is organised around digital keywords: authenticity, parasocial, viral, trend, etc.
feel free to share widely!
tinyurl.com/3cxx4a36
DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYLLABUS (Rauchberg).docx
COMM 7775: Theory & Practice of Digital Communication Instructor and Course Information Instructor name: Dr. Jess Rauchberg, Ph.D. Instructor e-mail: jessica.rauchberg@shu.edu Catalogue Description ...
tinyurl.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:24 PM
✨dropping my brand new digital communication grad syllabus! ✨
the course is organised around digital keywords: authenticity, parasocial, viral, trend, etc.
feel free to share widely!
tinyurl.com/3cxx4a36
the course is organised around digital keywords: authenticity, parasocial, viral, trend, etc.
feel free to share widely!
tinyurl.com/3cxx4a36
I keep getting logged out of Bluesky every few days. Is there a new setting for how long a session persists, or is this a bug?
December 26, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I keep getting logged out of Bluesky every few days. Is there a new setting for how long a session persists, or is this a bug?
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".
December 22, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.
New report sounds alarm on health fallout from mRNA vaccine funding cuts
A new report from the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have
ysph.yale.edu
December 23, 2025 at 2:50 AM
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
I thoroughly believe more people would build for #atproto if the documentation wasn't so dry and technical.
I learned more from @nickthesick.com's 5-minute blog post about lexicon publishing than I did from the official @atproto.com docs.
nickthesick.com/blog/Publish...
I learned more from @nickthesick.com's 5-minute blog post about lexicon publishing than I did from the official @atproto.com docs.
nickthesick.com/blog/Publish...
Publishing ATProto Lexicons - Nick the Sick's blog. Writings, projects and ideas.
Publishing ATProto Lexicons Created: 2025_05_07 07:53 Tags: ATProto ATProto has recently updated their specs to include a way to publish Lexicons in a similar way to their handle resolution. This is …
nickthesick.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I thoroughly believe more people would build for #atproto if the documentation wasn't so dry and technical.
I learned more from @nickthesick.com's 5-minute blog post about lexicon publishing than I did from the official @atproto.com docs.
nickthesick.com/blog/Publish...
I learned more from @nickthesick.com's 5-minute blog post about lexicon publishing than I did from the official @atproto.com docs.
nickthesick.com/blog/Publish...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
🚨🚨 New paper out! With @colltoaction.bsky.social, @fralotito.bsky.social, and a bunch of offline co-authors 🙂 we published "HIF: The hypergraph interchange format for higher-order networks" doi.org/10.1017/nws....
HIF: The hypergraph interchange format for higher-order networks | Network Science | Cambridge Core
HIF: The hypergraph interchange format for higher-order networks - Volume 13
doi.org
December 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
🚨🚨 New paper out! With @colltoaction.bsky.social, @fralotito.bsky.social, and a bunch of offline co-authors 🙂 we published "HIF: The hypergraph interchange format for higher-order networks" doi.org/10.1017/nws....
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
the analogy I use with friends and family all the time is the jump from collegiate to professional sports. as soon as I explain it that way, it clicks in their brains what the academic job market is like.
THERE ARE NO JOBS IN ACADEMIA! NO JOBS! DOZENS OF HYPER QUALIFIED APPLICANTS PER JOB!
December 19, 2025 at 3:52 PM
the analogy I use with friends and family all the time is the jump from collegiate to professional sports. as soon as I explain it that way, it clicks in their brains what the academic job market is like.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Threads is effectively shelving their fediverse integration, after it saw marginally little use
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
December 19, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Threads is effectively shelving their fediverse integration, after it saw marginally little use
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
What defines a group of friends? Rethinking community structure in signed, directed networks arxiv.org/abs/2512.16399
What defines a group of friends? Rethinking community structure in signed, directed networks
We study the structure of personal relationships among 1068 high school students using a dataset that contains the network of self-reported friendly and conflictive relationships, with information on ...
arxiv.org
December 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
What defines a group of friends? Rethinking community structure in signed, directed networks arxiv.org/abs/2512.16399
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.
December 16, 2025 at 11:31 PM
The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
The University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public is looking to bring on new postdoctoral scholars to join our research community starting in 2026-2027. Come collaborate w/ our amazing, interdisciplinary team working to understand & help people navigate our complex information ecosystem!
We're currently accepting applications to hire up to two @cip.uw.edu postdoctoral scholars to join our team in Seattle. The priority deadline to apply is January 15, 2026.
For the position description, salary range, qualifications and application process, click here: apply.interfolio.com/177901
For the position description, salary range, qualifications and application process, click here: apply.interfolio.com/177901
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:30 AM
The University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public is looking to bring on new postdoctoral scholars to join our research community starting in 2026-2027. Come collaborate w/ our amazing, interdisciplinary team working to understand & help people navigate our complex information ecosystem!
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
In Special Damage, Jessica Lake offers a comparative legal history of gendered hate speech, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment across 19th-century America, Australia, and England. #ReadUP
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
December 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
In Special Damage, Jessica Lake offers a comparative legal history of gendered hate speech, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment across 19th-century America, Australia, and England. #ReadUP
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Since 2020, our team has iterated on a model for “rapid research” to help surface, analyze, & resolve rumors about election administration. This work demonstrates an innovative role for researchers to support public sensemaking during rapidly unfolding events.
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
Being Sensemakers: A Framework for University-Based Rapid Research of Elections, Crisis Events, and Beyond – Simple Book Publishing
A framework for university-based rapid research of elections, crisis events, and beyond
uw.pressbooks.pub
December 16, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Since 2020, our team has iterated on a model for “rapid research” to help surface, analyze, & resolve rumors about election administration. This work demonstrates an innovative role for researchers to support public sensemaking during rapidly unfolding events.
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
New from me!
After we reached out to the owner of these deepfake porn sites, they were removed offline and he deleted his socials.
Each time a site goes down, it's a win for me. Hopefully this guy never tries to get them up and running again.
Check out our investigation!
After we reached out to the owner of these deepfake porn sites, they were removed offline and he deleted his socials.
Each time a site goes down, it's a win for me. Hopefully this guy never tries to get them up and running again.
Check out our investigation!
Bellingcat’s @koltai.bsky.social uncovers the Hungarian national behind two deepfake porn websites. The key figure rakes in profits and vacations in luxury hotels in Dubai and Bali, whilst website visitors create sexually explicit images and videos.
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...
How We Found the Man Behind Two Deepfake Porn Sites
Business documents, website code and leaked data all led us back to one person profiting off non-consensual sexual imagery of women.
www.bellingcat.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM
New from me!
After we reached out to the owner of these deepfake porn sites, they were removed offline and he deleted his socials.
Each time a site goes down, it's a win for me. Hopefully this guy never tries to get them up and running again.
Check out our investigation!
After we reached out to the owner of these deepfake porn sites, they were removed offline and he deleted his socials.
Each time a site goes down, it's a win for me. Hopefully this guy never tries to get them up and running again.
Check out our investigation!
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Someone had to do it. Reddit is challenging Australia's ban on information access for kids.
Supporters will argue that the ban is justified. But no one should doubt that this is a drastic, unprecedented restriction on freedom to seek and impart information. Court review is definitely warranted.
Supporters will argue that the ban is justified. But no one should doubt that this is a drastic, unprecedented restriction on freedom to seek and impart information. Court review is definitely warranted.
Reddit Sues Australia Over Teen Social Media Ban as Other Nations Consider Similar Laws
Reddit Sues Australia Over Teen Social Media Ban as Other Nations Consider Similar Laws
The company says the law violates teens’ political speech rights as other countries consider similar restrictions.
gizmodo.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Someone had to do it. Reddit is challenging Australia's ban on information access for kids.
Supporters will argue that the ban is justified. But no one should doubt that this is a drastic, unprecedented restriction on freedom to seek and impart information. Court review is definitely warranted.
Supporters will argue that the ban is justified. But no one should doubt that this is a drastic, unprecedented restriction on freedom to seek and impart information. Court review is definitely warranted.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
My second post about researchers’ rights to scrape data under DSA Article 40.12 is up! This is dense with legal arguments for researchers to use if they get sued. Or to show their lawyers before that.
www.techpolicy.press/how-the-mean...
verfassungsblog.de/dsa-fine-x-r...
www.techpolicy.press/how-the-mean...
verfassungsblog.de/dsa-fine-x-r...
How the Meaning of 'Publicly Accessible' Shapes Researcher Data Rights Under the DSA | TechPolicy.Press
Researchers eager to begin work under DSA Article 40(12) may be deterred by uncertainty about what data counts as 'publicly accessible,' writes Daphne Keller.
www.techpolicy.press
December 15, 2025 at 3:36 PM
My second post about researchers’ rights to scrape data under DSA Article 40.12 is up! This is dense with legal arguments for researchers to use if they get sued. Or to show their lawyers before that.
www.techpolicy.press/how-the-mean...
verfassungsblog.de/dsa-fine-x-r...
www.techpolicy.press/how-the-mean...
verfassungsblog.de/dsa-fine-x-r...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Meso-scale structures in signed networks arxiv.org/abs/2512.11281
Meso-scale structures in signed networks
Meso-scale structures in signed networks have been studied under the limiting assumption of the validity of social balance theory, which predicts positive connections within groups and negative connec...
arxiv.org
December 15, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Meso-scale structures in signed networks arxiv.org/abs/2512.11281
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
The human cost of Trump's gutting of USAID: By the time Tor Top’s mother was sick with cholera, the nearby clinic had been shuttered for weeks. He bundled her into a canoe & paddled toward the nearest hospital, 8 hours away. Less than halfway into the journey, his mother died.
New, @propublica.org
New, @propublica.org
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
www.propublica.org
December 15, 2025 at 10:37 AM
The human cost of Trump's gutting of USAID: By the time Tor Top’s mother was sick with cholera, the nearby clinic had been shuttered for weeks. He bundled her into a canoe & paddled toward the nearest hospital, 8 hours away. Less than halfway into the journey, his mother died.
New, @propublica.org
New, @propublica.org
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
New paper out in @science.org! We unveil the online manipulation market with the Cambridge Online Trust & Safety Index (COTSI). We show in real time the cost of purchasing fake accounts across every social platform around the world - so they can be held accountable
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Mapping the online manipulation economy
A market perspective on digital manipulation may help improve online trust and safety
www.science.org
December 11, 2025 at 7:05 PM
New paper out in @science.org! We unveil the online manipulation market with the Cambridge Online Trust & Safety Index (COTSI). We show in real time the cost of purchasing fake accounts across every social platform around the world - so they can be held accountable
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
When I joined big tech from a startup, I was hoping that my experience getting a new manager 3 times a year wouldn't be relevant, and yet...
December 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
When I joined big tech from a startup, I was hoping that my experience getting a new manager 3 times a year wouldn't be relevant, and yet...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
finally landed it!
Tap is your all-in-one sync tool for the Atmosphere: webhooks, backfill, filtering, signaling collections, no cbor/msts/signatures/cursors. this thing's got it all!
give it a go and let me know what you think & if you run into any issues
docs.bsky.app/blog/introdu...
Tap is your all-in-one sync tool for the Atmosphere: webhooks, backfill, filtering, signaling collections, no cbor/msts/signatures/cursors. this thing's got it all!
give it a go and let me know what you think & if you run into any issues
docs.bsky.app/blog/introdu...
Introducing Tap: Repository Synchronization Made Simple | Bluesky
Just about every app built on AT needs data from a repository at some point. For many use cases – feed generators, labelers, bots – streaming live data through a Relay or Jetstream works well. But som...
docs.bsky.app
December 12, 2025 at 7:16 PM
finally landed it!
Tap is your all-in-one sync tool for the Atmosphere: webhooks, backfill, filtering, signaling collections, no cbor/msts/signatures/cursors. this thing's got it all!
give it a go and let me know what you think & if you run into any issues
docs.bsky.app/blog/introdu...
Tap is your all-in-one sync tool for the Atmosphere: webhooks, backfill, filtering, signaling collections, no cbor/msts/signatures/cursors. this thing's got it all!
give it a go and let me know what you think & if you run into any issues
docs.bsky.app/blog/introdu...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
That’s still well below Twitter’s revenue pre-Musk
*MUSK’S X SEES REVENUE TOP $2 BILLION IN FIRST 9 MONTHS OF 2025 *X’S REVENUE INCREASED ABOUT 18% YTD FROM YEAR PRIOR *MUSK'S X POSTED $577 MILLION NET LOSS IN THIRD QUARTER *X'S EBITDA UP 16% YEAR OVER YEAR, 9% FROM LAST QUARTER
December 12, 2025 at 4:21 PM
That’s still well below Twitter’s revenue pre-Musk
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Out now in @natphys.nature.com "The undervaluing of elite women in physics", with @weihuali.bsky.social and H Zheng, we show how election into prestigious academic societies has markedly different effects on the research prominence of women and men physicists /1
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 12, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Out now in @natphys.nature.com "The undervaluing of elite women in physics", with @weihuali.bsky.social and H Zheng, we show how election into prestigious academic societies has markedly different effects on the research prominence of women and men physicists /1
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
We have just published our initial roadmap and announced our inaugural Technical Design Committee. We want to hear from all of you if we're focusing on the right things and what you think of our roadmap!
Drop a comment in the GitHub discussion linked in the blog.
roost.tools/blog/introdu...
Drop a comment in the GitHub discussion linked in the blog.
roost.tools/blog/introdu...
Introducing ROOST's Roadmap & Inaugural Technical Design Committee
Robust Open Online Safety Tools or ROOST is a new non-profit entity designed to address the urgent need for accessible, high-quality safety tools in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
roost.tools
December 11, 2025 at 5:18 PM
We have just published our initial roadmap and announced our inaugural Technical Design Committee. We want to hear from all of you if we're focusing on the right things and what you think of our roadmap!
Drop a comment in the GitHub discussion linked in the blog.
roost.tools/blog/introdu...
Drop a comment in the GitHub discussion linked in the blog.
roost.tools/blog/introdu...