Sacha Altay
@sachaltay.bsky.social
🔎 Misinformation, social media & the news 🗞️
🇨🇭 Postdoc at the University of Zurich, previously Reuters Institute & ENS 🇫🇷
🇨🇭 Postdoc at the University of Zurich, previously Reuters Institute & ENS 🇫🇷
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Instead of Christmas albums, my favourite piece of writing:
“Don’t panic (yet): Assessing the evidence and discourse around generative AI and elections” co-written with @sachaltay.bsky.social on why arguments we see around AI’s impact on elections and democracy are problematic.
buff.ly/Zy7gCnL
“Don’t panic (yet): Assessing the evidence and discourse around generative AI and elections” co-written with @sachaltay.bsky.social on why arguments we see around AI’s impact on elections and democracy are problematic.
buff.ly/Zy7gCnL
Don’t Panic (Yet): Assessing the Evidence and Discourse Around Generative AI and Elections
Why claims about the impact of generative AI on elections have been overblown
knightcolumbia.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Instead of Christmas albums, my favourite piece of writing:
“Don’t panic (yet): Assessing the evidence and discourse around generative AI and elections” co-written with @sachaltay.bsky.social on why arguments we see around AI’s impact on elections and democracy are problematic.
buff.ly/Zy7gCnL
“Don’t panic (yet): Assessing the evidence and discourse around generative AI and elections” co-written with @sachaltay.bsky.social on why arguments we see around AI’s impact on elections and democracy are problematic.
buff.ly/Zy7gCnL
Reposted by Sacha Altay
📣📣📣 GREAT, time-sensitive opportunity for senior/mid-career scholars to join us in Madrid at UC3M´s social sciences department (UC3M-ATRAE Program 2026) on an attractive pay+research funds package 📣📣📣
This does NOT happen everyday.
THREAD below if this is of interest 1/n
This does NOT happen everyday.
THREAD below if this is of interest 1/n
December 16, 2025 at 10:53 AM
📣📣📣 GREAT, time-sensitive opportunity for senior/mid-career scholars to join us in Madrid at UC3M´s social sciences department (UC3M-ATRAE Program 2026) on an attractive pay+research funds package 📣📣📣
This does NOT happen everyday.
THREAD below if this is of interest 1/n
This does NOT happen everyday.
THREAD below if this is of interest 1/n
Reposted by Sacha Altay
The Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work with an interdisciplinary team (me, @bstewart.bsky.social, and @manoelhortaribeiro.bsky.social).
Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...
Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!
Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...
Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!
December 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
The Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work with an interdisciplinary team (me, @bstewart.bsky.social, and @manoelhortaribeiro.bsky.social).
Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...
Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!
Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...
Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word “no” (Betteridge's law).
Should we worry about gen AI persuasion shaping elections?
I think “no” holds here.
See knightcolumbia.org/content/dont... for a good summary of why we shouldn’t be too concerned
Should we worry about gen AI persuasion shaping elections?
I think “no” holds here.
See knightcolumbia.org/content/dont... for a good summary of why we shouldn’t be too concerned
December 6, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word “no” (Betteridge's law).
Should we worry about gen AI persuasion shaping elections?
I think “no” holds here.
See knightcolumbia.org/content/dont... for a good summary of why we shouldn’t be too concerned
Should we worry about gen AI persuasion shaping elections?
I think “no” holds here.
See knightcolumbia.org/content/dont... for a good summary of why we shouldn’t be too concerned
Reposted by Sacha Altay
🚨 New in Nature+Science!🚨
AI chatbots can shift voter attitudes on candidates & policies, often by 10+pp
🔹Exps in US Canada Poland & UK
🔹More “facts”→more persuasion (not psych tricks)
🔹Increasing persuasiveness reduces "fact" accuracy
🔹Right-leaning bots=more inaccurate
AI chatbots can shift voter attitudes on candidates & policies, often by 10+pp
🔹Exps in US Canada Poland & UK
🔹More “facts”→more persuasion (not psych tricks)
🔹Increasing persuasiveness reduces "fact" accuracy
🔹Right-leaning bots=more inaccurate
December 4, 2025 at 8:43 PM
🚨 New in Nature+Science!🚨
AI chatbots can shift voter attitudes on candidates & policies, often by 10+pp
🔹Exps in US Canada Poland & UK
🔹More “facts”→more persuasion (not psych tricks)
🔹Increasing persuasiveness reduces "fact" accuracy
🔹Right-leaning bots=more inaccurate
AI chatbots can shift voter attitudes on candidates & policies, often by 10+pp
🔹Exps in US Canada Poland & UK
🔹More “facts”→more persuasion (not psych tricks)
🔹Increasing persuasiveness reduces "fact" accuracy
🔹Right-leaning bots=more inaccurate
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Preparing this talk gave me an opportunity to reflect on what lessons I've learned from psychology's replication crisis and credibility revolution, and what advice I would have for other fields. We've come a long way!
Video: youtu.be/_vb1CNwC3CM?...
Slides : osf.io/cuj62/files/...
Video: youtu.be/_vb1CNwC3CM?...
Slides : osf.io/cuj62/files/...
December 3, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Preparing this talk gave me an opportunity to reflect on what lessons I've learned from psychology's replication crisis and credibility revolution, and what advice I would have for other fields. We've come a long way!
Video: youtu.be/_vb1CNwC3CM?...
Slides : osf.io/cuj62/files/...
Video: youtu.be/_vb1CNwC3CM?...
Slides : osf.io/cuj62/files/...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
The man who inspired Australia's teen social media ban literally did this:
December 2, 2025 at 4:09 AM
The man who inspired Australia's teen social media ban literally did this:
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Experimental participants to us
November 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Experimental participants to us
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Ok, just wow. If the content of this article is right, this is depressing. We're slowly reaching the point where ~100% of what I was taught in Social Psych was either innocently wrong or plainly frauded
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Debunking “When Prophecy Fails”
In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Ok, just wow. If the content of this article is right, this is depressing. We're slowly reaching the point where ~100% of what I was taught in Social Psych was either innocently wrong or plainly frauded
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
We have a new preprint: osf.io/preprints/so...
What have we learned about social media - the constantly moving target of empirical research - over the past decade?
What have we learned about social media - the constantly moving target of empirical research - over the past decade?
October 30, 2025 at 10:53 AM
We have a new preprint: osf.io/preprints/so...
What have we learned about social media - the constantly moving target of empirical research - over the past decade?
What have we learned about social media - the constantly moving target of empirical research - over the past decade?
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Happy to share our new preprint “Content-based detection of misinformation expands its scope across politicians and platforms.” We analyzed misinformation at the text level in posts by German politicians on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
osf.io/preprints/so... 🧵1/8
osf.io/preprints/so... 🧵1/8
OSF
osf.io
November 3, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Happy to share our new preprint “Content-based detection of misinformation expands its scope across politicians and platforms.” We analyzed misinformation at the text level in posts by German politicians on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
osf.io/preprints/so... 🧵1/8
osf.io/preprints/so... 🧵1/8
Reposted by Sacha Altay
See also Peterson and Iyengar onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... - "our findings support the motivated reasoning interpretation of misinformation; partisans seek out information with congenial slant and sincerely adopt inaccurate beliefs that cast their party in a favorable light."
After a huge post-election flip in economic perceptions, I thought Democrats and Republicans might be lying to pollsters to send a partisan message — but I was wrong!
New in the Journal of Experimental Political Science (open access): doi.org/10.1017/XPS....
New in the Journal of Experimental Political Science (open access): doi.org/10.1017/XPS....
October 27, 2025 at 6:06 PM
See also Peterson and Iyengar onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... - "our findings support the motivated reasoning interpretation of misinformation; partisans seek out information with congenial slant and sincerely adopt inaccurate beliefs that cast their party in a favorable light."
Reposted by Sacha Altay
What if people appreciate having an abundance of content and communication, more than they feel overloaded by it?
@annisch.bsky.social et al decided to have a look. Their results? "We found that appreciation for abundance was about twice as common as overload".
Paper: journalqd.org/article/view...
@annisch.bsky.social et al decided to have a look. Their results? "We found that appreciation for abundance was about twice as common as overload".
Paper: journalqd.org/article/view...
October 31, 2025 at 9:33 AM
What if people appreciate having an abundance of content and communication, more than they feel overloaded by it?
@annisch.bsky.social et al decided to have a look. Their results? "We found that appreciation for abundance was about twice as common as overload".
Paper: journalqd.org/article/view...
@annisch.bsky.social et al decided to have a look. Their results? "We found that appreciation for abundance was about twice as common as overload".
Paper: journalqd.org/article/view...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
NEW: In a recent Oxford-led study by @mmosleh.bsky.social, researchers analysed millions of social media posts containing links to news stories, across seven different social platforms.
Read the full research paper here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Read the full research paper here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 31, 2025 at 1:24 PM
NEW: In a recent Oxford-led study by @mmosleh.bsky.social, researchers analysed millions of social media posts containing links to news stories, across seven different social platforms.
Read the full research paper here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Read the full research paper here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
"only about 5% of the variance in personality can be
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
The (In)Effectiveness of Psychological Targeting: A Meta‐Analytic Review
The use of psychological targeting—employing machine learning to predict consumer personality from digital footprints and subsequently tailoring persuasive messages—has emerged as a controversial yet...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM
"only about 5% of the variance in personality can be
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
Reposted by Sacha Altay
🤖 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐀𝐈𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 🇳🇱
Less than one week before the Dutch elections, @meinungsfuehrer.bsky.social & I looked at over 20k posts to reveal patterns in the usage of AI-generated visuals across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. #tk2025
🧵Thread
Less than one week before the Dutch elections, @meinungsfuehrer.bsky.social & I looked at over 20k posts to reveal patterns in the usage of AI-generated visuals across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. #tk2025
🧵Thread
October 23, 2025 at 9:36 AM
🤖 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐀𝐈𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 🇳🇱
Less than one week before the Dutch elections, @meinungsfuehrer.bsky.social & I looked at over 20k posts to reveal patterns in the usage of AI-generated visuals across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. #tk2025
🧵Thread
Less than one week before the Dutch elections, @meinungsfuehrer.bsky.social & I looked at over 20k posts to reveal patterns in the usage of AI-generated visuals across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. #tk2025
🧵Thread
Reposted by Sacha Altay
New hobby:
Remaking article abstracts as movie trailers to expose hype and fearmongering.
Remaking article abstracts as movie trailers to expose hype and fearmongering.
October 20, 2025 at 10:22 AM
New hobby:
Remaking article abstracts as movie trailers to expose hype and fearmongering.
Remaking article abstracts as movie trailers to expose hype and fearmongering.
Reposted by Sacha Altay
We continue with our seminar series next Wednesday with Dr Sacha Altay @sachaltay.bsky.social from University of Zürich, talking about the problem of misinformation. Full details on our website (surl.li/mqtofs). See you there!
October 16, 2025 at 1:08 PM
We continue with our seminar series next Wednesday with Dr Sacha Altay @sachaltay.bsky.social from University of Zürich, talking about the problem of misinformation. Full details on our website (surl.li/mqtofs). See you there!
Super cool data on what people saw on their phone during the 2024 US elections:
"On an average day, the median individual saw the terms ‘Donald Trump’, ‘Joe Biden’, and ‘Kamala Harris’ on their phone for only 3 seconds."
www.guyaridor.net/files/digita...
"On an average day, the median individual saw the terms ‘Donald Trump’, ‘Joe Biden’, and ‘Kamala Harris’ on their phone for only 3 seconds."
www.guyaridor.net/files/digita...
www.guyaridor.net
October 14, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Super cool data on what people saw on their phone during the 2024 US elections:
"On an average day, the median individual saw the terms ‘Donald Trump’, ‘Joe Biden’, and ‘Kamala Harris’ on their phone for only 3 seconds."
www.guyaridor.net/files/digita...
"On an average day, the median individual saw the terms ‘Donald Trump’, ‘Joe Biden’, and ‘Kamala Harris’ on their phone for only 3 seconds."
www.guyaridor.net/files/digita...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
Climate skeptics actively engage in information avoidance. We need to bring them to the facts and let the facts do their work:
❝Using generative AI to increase sceptics’ engagement with climate science❞
(thread)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
❝Using generative AI to increase sceptics’ engagement with climate science❞
(thread)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Using generative AI to increase sceptics’ engagement with climate science - Nature Climate Change
Climate sceptics tend to avoid climate information, making it even harder to reduce scepticism. This study shows that generative AI can enhance sceptics’ engagement with climate news by tailoring headlines to their existing perspective and shift their beliefs towards the scientific consensus.
www.nature.com
October 13, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Climate skeptics actively engage in information avoidance. We need to bring them to the facts and let the facts do their work:
❝Using generative AI to increase sceptics’ engagement with climate science❞
(thread)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
❝Using generative AI to increase sceptics’ engagement with climate science❞
(thread)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
🗞️ 🤖 Weekend reading anyone? For the launch of @transformernews.ai as a standalone publication, they invited me to contribute a piece on what persuasive AI might mean for democracy and elections.
Here’s the result…
buff.ly/OJsNmpK
Here’s the result…
buff.ly/OJsNmpK
AI is persuasive, but that’s not the real problem for democracy
Opinion: Felix M Simon argues that AI is unlikely to significantly shape election results in the near future, but warns that it could damage democracy through a steady erosion of institutional trust.
www.transformernews.ai
October 3, 2025 at 5:19 PM
🗞️ 🤖 Weekend reading anyone? For the launch of @transformernews.ai as a standalone publication, they invited me to contribute a piece on what persuasive AI might mean for democracy and elections.
Here’s the result…
buff.ly/OJsNmpK
Here’s the result…
buff.ly/OJsNmpK
Reposted by Sacha Altay
WhatsApp deactivation experimental results in Brazil, India, and South Africa mirror those from prior social media studies: big changes in content exposure -> minimal changes in attitudes, decreases in political knowledge, increases in subjective wellbeing www.venturatiago.com/talk/vmtn_wh...
September 29, 2025 at 12:08 AM
WhatsApp deactivation experimental results in Brazil, India, and South Africa mirror those from prior social media studies: big changes in content exposure -> minimal changes in attitudes, decreases in political knowledge, increases in subjective wellbeing www.venturatiago.com/talk/vmtn_wh...
Reposted by Sacha Altay
NEW PAPER!!
We study how the "AI slop" era could actually boost demand for credible news.
In an experiment with thousands of Süddeutsche Zeitung readers, we found that AI misinformation made people *trust news less*, but *read it more*. 🧵
We study how the "AI slop" era could actually boost demand for credible news.
In an experiment with thousands of Süddeutsche Zeitung readers, we found that AI misinformation made people *trust news less*, but *read it more*. 🧵
August 11, 2025 at 11:44 AM
NEW PAPER!!
We study how the "AI slop" era could actually boost demand for credible news.
In an experiment with thousands of Süddeutsche Zeitung readers, we found that AI misinformation made people *trust news less*, but *read it more*. 🧵
We study how the "AI slop" era could actually boost demand for credible news.
In an experiment with thousands of Süddeutsche Zeitung readers, we found that AI misinformation made people *trust news less*, but *read it more*. 🧵
Reposted by Sacha Altay
new working paper: osf.io/7v4zj
tl;dr: taking the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor seriously requires taking the nuances of actually-existing markets seriously, which means thinking about tradeoffs between transaction costs and conformity costs. applied to misinfo and ideological belief systems.
tl;dr: taking the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor seriously requires taking the nuances of actually-existing markets seriously, which means thinking about tradeoffs between transaction costs and conformity costs. applied to misinfo and ideological belief systems.
August 4, 2025 at 2:59 PM
new working paper: osf.io/7v4zj
tl;dr: taking the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor seriously requires taking the nuances of actually-existing markets seriously, which means thinking about tradeoffs between transaction costs and conformity costs. applied to misinfo and ideological belief systems.
tl;dr: taking the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor seriously requires taking the nuances of actually-existing markets seriously, which means thinking about tradeoffs between transaction costs and conformity costs. applied to misinfo and ideological belief systems.
Reposted by Sacha Altay
From ancient Greece to the Arabic golden age, scholars have been driven by their curiosity to investigate astronomy, history, philosophy, and sundry other disciplines. Is there a structure to that curiosity? Are astronomers as likely to also be historians or to also be philosophers?
August 11, 2025 at 12:05 PM
From ancient Greece to the Arabic golden age, scholars have been driven by their curiosity to investigate astronomy, history, philosophy, and sundry other disciplines. Is there a structure to that curiosity? Are astronomers as likely to also be historians or to also be philosophers?