Colten Meisner
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coltenmeisner.bsky.social
Colten Meisner
@coltenmeisner.bsky.social
140 followers 130 following 6 posts
media professor, occasional curmudgeon.
North Carolina, USA
more: coltenmeisner.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Colten Meisner
jagolinzer.bsky.social
“Most of the headlines I see about higher ed these days focus on the AI problem. For me, the much bigger issue is the authoritarianism problem.”

@davekarpf.bsky.social

davekarpf.substack.com/p/what-its-l...
What it's like being a political communication professor right now
Misgivings, Grievances, and Thanks as I look ahead to my fifteenth year.
davekarpf.substack.com
August 23, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
theatlantic.com
The rapid decline of American science has few precedents in history, argues @rossandersen.bsky.social. We are witnessing an unparalleled act of self-sabotage:
How Scientific Empires End
And what it means for America
bit.ly
July 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
sophiebishop.bsky.social
Hello I've decided to use Blue Sky now. In unrelated news, my book 'Influencer Creep' will be published with University of California press in October 2025. It's about the ways influencer culture has transformed creative work.

Preorder here: www.ucpress.edu/books/influe...
April 13, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
jessrauchberg.bsky.social
new essay with @brookeerinduffy.bsky.social out in @newsweek.com this morning!

we examine the influencer industry's oft-overlooked gender politics and what this oversight means for the future of digital work.

www.newsweek.com/when-social-...
When Social Media Influencers Were Women | Opinion
Influencing's third decade marks a gendered difference in digital entrepreneurship as the industry strays from its roots in fashion and style. As the industry transforms, will we remember a time when ...
www.newsweek.com
March 28, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
parismarx.com
Columbia Journalism Review tested eight generative AI search tools and found their answers were wrong 60% of the time, and the paid ones actually fared worse than the free ones.

Meanwhile, millions of people trust the way they present total bullshit with confident language.
AI search engines cite incorrect sources at an alarming 60% rate, study says
CJR study shows AI search services misinform users and ignore publisher exclusion requests.
arstechnica.com
March 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
neillewisjr.bsky.social
It will *initially* target the most vulnerable...but it doesn't end there.
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me
March 11, 2025 at 1:55 AM
coltenmeisner.bsky.social
this season of white lotus is doing a lot for north carolina representation
March 11, 2025 at 2:02 AM
coltenmeisner.bsky.social
99% of the time I’m genuinely *begging* to be left off of a reply-all thread
March 10, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
caseynewton.bsky.social
NEW: Google used to warn you when you were seeing low-quality search results. Then, in the weeks leading up to the 2024 election, the company quietly turned that warning off www.platformer.news/google-data-...
The researchers collected their first data in October 2023 and March 2024. Initially, they were struck by how inconsistently Google showed its warnings. A deep learning model they built to analyze the queries suggested that the warnings should have appeared between 29 and 58 times as often as they did in practice. For motivated conspiracy peddlers, they were easy to evade: just adding quotation marks or a single letter to a query was typically enough to make the banner disappear. The researchers were beginning to collect additional data last September when they discovered something unexpected: Google had stopped showing low-quality banners entirely, weeks before early voting began, without disclosing it.
February 25, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
jordanscarroll.bsky.social
the rise of the fascist nerds was anticipated by Ellen Ullman's 1995 essay "Out of Time: Reflections on the Programming Life."
Real techies don’t worry about forced eugenics. I learned this from a real techie in the cafeteria of a software company. The project team is having lunch and discussing how long it would take to wipe out a disease inherited recessively on the X chromosome. First come calculations of inheritance probabilities. Given a population of a given size, one of the engineers arrives at a wipe-out date. Immediately another suggests that the date could be moved forward by various manipulations of the inheritance patterns. For example, he says, there could be an education campaign. The six team members then fall over one another with further suggestions. They start with rewards to discourage carriers from breeding. Immediately they move to fines for those who reproduce the disease. Then they go for what they call “more effective” measures: Jail for breeding. Induced abortion. Forced sterilization. Now they’re hot. The calculations are flying. Years and years fall from the final doom-date of the disease. Finally, they get to the ultimate solution. “It’s straightforward,” someone says. “Just kill every carrier.” Everyone responds to this last suggestion with great enthusiasm. One generation and—bang—the disease is gone. Quietly, I say, “You know, that’s what the Nazis did.” They all look at me in disgust. It’s the look boys give a girl who has interrupted a burping contest. One says, “This is something my wife would say. When he says “wife,” there is no love, warmth, or goodness in it. In this engineer’s mouth, “wife” means wet diapers and dirty dishes. It means someone angry with you for losing track of time and missing dinner. Someone sentimental. In his mind (for the moment), “wife” signifies all programming-party-pooping, illogical things in the universe. Still, I persist. “It started as just an idea for the Nazis, too, you know.” The engineer makes a reply that sounds like a retch. “This is how I know you’re not a real techie,” he says.
February 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
katestarbird.bsky.social
Calling bullshit on their lies isn't censorship. Failed insurrectionists aren't heroes. Fighting racism and helping underserved communities isn't discrimination. Showing empathy isn't evil. Supporting trans kids isn't abuse. Don't accept their twisted frames as reality.
January 30, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
scottnover.bsky.social
It should go without saying that the president's response to a once-in-a-generation aerial tragedy is deeply fucking depraved.
January 30, 2025 at 5:10 PM
coltenmeisner.bsky.social
I have no idea where my network is at this point, but here goes: how are (comm) folks paying for open access fees on journal pubs? I would love to publish OA but simply do not have the budget to justify. SM+S waives fees for students (which I benefited from), but advice for early career faculty?
January 30, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
sjjphd.bsky.social
*looks directly into the camera on behalf of the entire field of study that closely examines how people get their news*
malmer.com Daniel Malmer @malmer.com · Nov 26
"Carville: I’m pretty limited to the media consumption survey. I’m pretty limited right now to how people get their news, which I don’t know…"

Thousands upon thousands of studies about this. The fact that someone in Carville's position thinks he has to reinvent the wheel isn't great.
gregsargent.bsky.social Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · Nov 26
News --> James Carville is commissioning pollsters to do a deep dive on how people get their news, in hopes that Dems will overhaul how they communicate with voters, particularly working class ones.

It's a good idea. Carville explains it on our podcast:
newrepublic.com/article/1888...
November 26, 2024 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
brookeerinduffy.bsky.social
Hey friends studying influencers, creators, livestreamers and the like...

Be sure to check out our ICA Pre-conference on "Debating Creator Culture," which is slated for June 11, 2025.

Submissions are open through January 31. More details here:

www.ccsn.site/ica
November 21, 2024 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
jessrauchberg.bsky.social
my latest with @jessmaddox.bsky.social is out this morning in @femmediastudies.bsky.social! We propose influencer snark as a feminist media practice to address concerns of credibility, authenticity, and representation in the influencer industry.

please share!!!

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XZSZD...
The abstract for Jess and Jess's article on influencer snark
November 19, 2024 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
errolsalamon.bsky.social
A new @pewresearch.org report comprehensively explores the composition of the news influencer economy and its audience in the US, analyzing a sample of 500 news creators, a review of 28k+ social media accounts, and a survey of their audiences. pewrsr.ch/4emDUB2
America’s News Influencers
This study explores the makeup of the social media news influencer universe, including who they are, what content they create and who their audiences are.
pewrsr.ch
November 18, 2024 at 5:37 PM
coltenmeisner.bsky.social
hope to see some of you there!
zoeglatt.bsky.social Zoë Glatt @zoeglatt.bsky.social · Nov 15
Curious about the creator economy? Join us tomorrow for our first #CCSNChats event! Industry insight meets academic expertise in a virtual roundtable ❤️‍🔥

Book your ticket HERE: www.eventbrite.com/e/ccsn-chats...
November 15, 2024 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
nancybaym.bsky.social
We are seeking advanced PhD students for a well-paid and nurturing research internship on topics that we can meaningfully mentor. Apps due Dec 6 socialmediacollective.org/2024/11/01/2...
Apply now for the 2025 MSRNE summer internship in sociotechnical systems
Microsoft Research New England is looking for advanced Ph.D. students who are bringing sociotechnical perspectives to analyze critical issues of our time, to apply for our summer internship. They w…
socialmediacollective.org
November 14, 2024 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Colten Meisner
jessmaddox.bsky.social
A year and a half ago, I wrote an op-ed asking why there were no legal protections to the children of influencers and family vloggers. Today, The Conversation US runs my follow-up, in which I detail what's changed and what still desperately needs to.

theconversation.com/us-states-ar...
US states are finally starting to put in place protections for the kids of family vloggers
Family vlogging can seem benign, even heartwarming. But kids can’t consent to appear in these videos − and, in most states, have no claim to any of the earnings.
theconversation.com
November 13, 2024 at 1:44 PM