Nate TeBlunthuis
@groceryheist.cc
https://tebluntuhis.cc
Computational social scientist with a foot in HCI. Main social media is @groceryheist@social.coop
Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin in the School of Information.
Computational social scientist with a foot in HCI. Main social media is @groceryheist@social.coop
Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin in the School of Information.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
This flow chart is also canonical
(sincere apologies but I do not think I can alt-text this)
(sincere apologies but I do not think I can alt-text this)
November 11, 2024 at 7:45 AM
This flow chart is also canonical
(sincere apologies but I do not think I can alt-text this)
(sincere apologies but I do not think I can alt-text this)
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
I really think at its heart philosophy is one giant battle, taking place over many eras and nations, between people who are basically pleasant bureaucrats and people who are sexy murder poets, and it’s both super important and super boring that the pleasant bureaucrats must win.
November 10, 2024 at 9:57 PM
I really think at its heart philosophy is one giant battle, taking place over many eras and nations, between people who are basically pleasant bureaucrats and people who are sexy murder poets, and it’s both super important and super boring that the pleasant bureaucrats must win.
What I'm asking is, who let the goat out in the first place?
November 4, 2025 at 10:23 PM
What I'm asking is, who let the goat out in the first place?
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
In two weeks!
@sffaddictspod is hosting a virtual launch party livestream for The Tower of the Tyrant!
Activities:
A (short) live reading!
Banter with special guests!
Q&A!
Assigning people bird companions!
It'll be great fun.
10AM PST / 1PM EST / 6PM BST!
@sffaddictspod is hosting a virtual launch party livestream for The Tower of the Tyrant!
Activities:
A (short) live reading!
Banter with special guests!
Q&A!
Assigning people bird companions!
It'll be great fun.
10AM PST / 1PM EST / 6PM BST!
October 25, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In two weeks!
@sffaddictspod is hosting a virtual launch party livestream for The Tower of the Tyrant!
Activities:
A (short) live reading!
Banter with special guests!
Q&A!
Assigning people bird companions!
It'll be great fun.
10AM PST / 1PM EST / 6PM BST!
@sffaddictspod is hosting a virtual launch party livestream for The Tower of the Tyrant!
Activities:
A (short) live reading!
Banter with special guests!
Q&A!
Assigning people bird companions!
It'll be great fun.
10AM PST / 1PM EST / 6PM BST!
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
New NeurIPS paper! Why do LMs represent concepts linearly? We focus on LMs's tendency to linearly separate true and false assertions, and provide an analysis of the truth circuit in a toy model. A joint work with Gilad Yehudai, @tallinzen.bsky.social, Joan Bruna and @albertobietti.bsky.social.
October 24, 2025 at 3:19 PM
New NeurIPS paper! Why do LMs represent concepts linearly? We focus on LMs's tendency to linearly separate true and false assertions, and provide an analysis of the truth circuit in a toy model. A joint work with Gilad Yehudai, @tallinzen.bsky.social, Joan Bruna and @albertobietti.bsky.social.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Since the Ezra & Ta-Nehisi discussion is still happening: the main point I think most are missing is that Klein is saying the role of the journalist-intellectual is to do strategic politics, whereas Coates says the role of the journalist-intellectual is to tell the truth
September 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Since the Ezra & Ta-Nehisi discussion is still happening: the main point I think most are missing is that Klein is saying the role of the journalist-intellectual is to do strategic politics, whereas Coates says the role of the journalist-intellectual is to tell the truth
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Get a sneak peak of THE TOWER OF THE TYRANT at @seattlein2025.org! I'll be passing out these hand-bound chapbook previews, with cover art by @carvingclown.bsky.social.
Ten copies will be reserved for attendees of my table talk at 10:30am on Saturday, August 16. The rest are first come first serve!
Ten copies will be reserved for attendees of my table talk at 10:30am on Saturday, August 16. The rest are first come first serve!
August 8, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Get a sneak peak of THE TOWER OF THE TYRANT at @seattlein2025.org! I'll be passing out these hand-bound chapbook previews, with cover art by @carvingclown.bsky.social.
Ten copies will be reserved for attendees of my table talk at 10:30am on Saturday, August 16. The rest are first come first serve!
Ten copies will be reserved for attendees of my table talk at 10:30am on Saturday, August 16. The rest are first come first serve!
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
non-ironically this will only change when you go back to scientists, engineers, and economists being utopian socialists
July 21, 2025 at 11:11 PM
non-ironically this will only change when you go back to scientists, engineers, and economists being utopian socialists
I'm fascinated by how people construct and organize online spaces. I've just published "Niche Dynamics in Complex Online Community Ecosystems" at ICWSM 2025 on this question.
Read a summary on the @communitydata.science blog or in the thread below.
blog.communitydata.science/niche-dynami...
Read a summary on the @communitydata.science blog or in the thread below.
blog.communitydata.science/niche-dynami...
Niche Dynamics in Complex Online Community Ecosystems (ICWSM 2025)
This post is about my (Nathan TeBlunthuis) paper (pdf) just published at ICWSM 2025. Often, several different online communities exist where similar people talk about similar things. This is really…
blog.communitydata.science
June 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
I'm fascinated by how people construct and organize online spaces. I've just published "Niche Dynamics in Complex Online Community Ecosystems" at ICWSM 2025 on this question.
Read a summary on the @communitydata.science blog or in the thread below.
blog.communitydata.science/niche-dynami...
Read a summary on the @communitydata.science blog or in the thread below.
blog.communitydata.science/niche-dynami...
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
I am fascinated with how people come to such different beliefs about the world.
In our new paper, led by Tiwalade Adekunle, we used @lauraknelson.bsky.social's computational grounded theory to compare how a pro-masking subreddit and an anti-masking subreddit talked about risks during COVID.
1/
In our new paper, led by Tiwalade Adekunle, we used @lauraknelson.bsky.social's computational grounded theory to compare how a pro-masking subreddit and an anti-masking subreddit talked about risks during COVID.
1/
Exploring Conceptualizations of COVID-19 Risk in Ideologically Distinct Online Communities: A Computational Grounded Theory Analysis
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on societies and economies around the globe, and experts warn about the potential for similar crises in the future. Risk communication theor...
doi.org
June 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I am fascinated with how people come to such different beliefs about the world.
In our new paper, led by Tiwalade Adekunle, we used @lauraknelson.bsky.social's computational grounded theory to compare how a pro-masking subreddit and an anti-masking subreddit talked about risks during COVID.
1/
In our new paper, led by Tiwalade Adekunle, we used @lauraknelson.bsky.social's computational grounded theory to compare how a pro-masking subreddit and an anti-masking subreddit talked about risks during COVID.
1/
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Explore Wikipedia through a data map. Pages are grouped by semantic similarity, for topic clusters.
Hover to see details, zoom to explore more fine-grained topics, click to go to a page. Search by page
name to find interesting starting points for exploration.
lmcinnes.github.io/datamapplot_...
Hover to see details, zoom to explore more fine-grained topics, click to go to a page. Search by page
name to find interesting starting points for exploration.
lmcinnes.github.io/datamapplot_...
June 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Explore Wikipedia through a data map. Pages are grouped by semantic similarity, for topic clusters.
Hover to see details, zoom to explore more fine-grained topics, click to go to a page. Search by page
name to find interesting starting points for exploration.
lmcinnes.github.io/datamapplot_...
Hover to see details, zoom to explore more fine-grained topics, click to go to a page. Search by page
name to find interesting starting points for exploration.
lmcinnes.github.io/datamapplot_...
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Fantastic Saturday morning cup of coffee read. The authors take on the fairly ambitious task of modeling news/audience dynamics in a competitive landscape--and wind up recovering *many* features of our current media landscape; with fasc. hints at intervention.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
How media competition fuels the spread of misinformation
Game-theoretic modeling shows that media competition over public opinion incentivizes news sources to spread more misinformation.
www.science.org
June 20, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Fantastic Saturday morning cup of coffee read. The authors take on the fairly ambitious task of modeling news/audience dynamics in a competitive landscape--and wind up recovering *many* features of our current media landscape; with fasc. hints at intervention.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Excited to share our new interdisciplinary work exploring the sensory representation of an artificial body part, combing datasets and methodologies to explore sensorimotor integration of the Third Thumb, a 2 DoF hand augmentation device (@daniclode.bsky.social) doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.16.658246
June 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Excited to share our new interdisciplinary work exploring the sensory representation of an artificial body part, combing datasets and methodologies to explore sensorimotor integration of the Third Thumb, a 2 DoF hand augmentation device (@daniclode.bsky.social) doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.16.658246
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
1. People seem upset that I associated the language in Trump’s Gold Standard Science executive order with the science reform movement, in this Guardian piece.
“Trump would have attacked science anyway”
Of course. But it’s not Trump that is the biggest concern. It’s the courts.
“Trump would have attacked science anyway”
Of course. But it’s not Trump that is the biggest concern. It’s the courts.
Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it | Colette Delawalla
The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way for state-controlled science
www.theguardian.com
June 13, 2025 at 9:12 PM
1. People seem upset that I associated the language in Trump’s Gold Standard Science executive order with the science reform movement, in this Guardian piece.
“Trump would have attacked science anyway”
Of course. But it’s not Trump that is the biggest concern. It’s the courts.
“Trump would have attacked science anyway”
Of course. But it’s not Trump that is the biggest concern. It’s the courts.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
I will be damned if I allow a bunch of Confederate-waving January 6th apologists give the American people a lecture on flag waving.
There is ZERO reason to enter an argument about patriotism with people who still worship traitors to America 150+ years later.
They. Are. Breaking. The. Law.
There is ZERO reason to enter an argument about patriotism with people who still worship traitors to America 150+ years later.
They. Are. Breaking. The. Law.
June 11, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I will be damned if I allow a bunch of Confederate-waving January 6th apologists give the American people a lecture on flag waving.
There is ZERO reason to enter an argument about patriotism with people who still worship traitors to America 150+ years later.
They. Are. Breaking. The. Law.
There is ZERO reason to enter an argument about patriotism with people who still worship traitors to America 150+ years later.
They. Are. Breaking. The. Law.
Got a cool zine in the mail today. Free download here: lovelesspress.itch.io/a-web-worth-...
June 10, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Got a cool zine in the mail today. Free download here: lovelesspress.itch.io/a-web-worth-...
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
It's finally public! 🎉
Excited to announce I'll be joining UIUC's iSchool as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2026. My lab will focus on AI information ecosystems, computational social science, and social computing. I will start recruiting PhD students this cycle, so please reach out if interested.
Excited to announce I'll be joining UIUC's iSchool as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2026. My lab will focus on AI information ecosystems, computational social science, and social computing. I will start recruiting PhD students this cycle, so please reach out if interested.
The #iSchoolUI is pleased to announce that Marianne Aubin Le Quéré (@mariannealq.bsky.social) will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2026. Her work traces how AI and other emerging technologies impact online news and civic information ecosystems. ▶️ bit.ly/4kObZ0l
June 4, 2025 at 5:27 PM
It's finally public! 🎉
Excited to announce I'll be joining UIUC's iSchool as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2026. My lab will focus on AI information ecosystems, computational social science, and social computing. I will start recruiting PhD students this cycle, so please reach out if interested.
Excited to announce I'll be joining UIUC's iSchool as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2026. My lab will focus on AI information ecosystems, computational social science, and social computing. I will start recruiting PhD students this cycle, so please reach out if interested.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Super excited that our second reward model evaluation is out. It's substantially harder, much cleaner, and well correlated with downstream PPO/BoN sampling.
Happy hillclimbing!
Huge congrats to @saumyamalik.bsky.social who lead the project with a total commitment to excellence.
Happy hillclimbing!
Huge congrats to @saumyamalik.bsky.social who lead the project with a total commitment to excellence.
RewardBench 2 is here! We took a long time to learn from our first reward model evaluation tool to make one that is substantially harder and more correlated with both downstream RLHF and inference-time scaling.
June 2, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Super excited that our second reward model evaluation is out. It's substantially harder, much cleaner, and well correlated with downstream PPO/BoN sampling.
Happy hillclimbing!
Huge congrats to @saumyamalik.bsky.social who lead the project with a total commitment to excellence.
Happy hillclimbing!
Huge congrats to @saumyamalik.bsky.social who lead the project with a total commitment to excellence.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
Our latest forum is now online.
Lisa Miller leads with a critique of American-style checks and balances—not only at this moment, but as a perennial obstacle to democracy.
Far from the cure to Trumpian authoritarianism, she argues, the U.S. constitutional system is driving our democratic decline:
Lisa Miller leads with a critique of American-style checks and balances—not only at this moment, but as a perennial obstacle to democracy.
Far from the cure to Trumpian authoritarianism, she argues, the U.S. constitutional system is driving our democratic decline:
The Dead End of Checks and Balances - Boston Review
Far from the cure to Trumpian authoritarianism, the U.S. constitutional system is driving our democratic decline.
www.bostonreview.net
May 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Our latest forum is now online.
Lisa Miller leads with a critique of American-style checks and balances—not only at this moment, but as a perennial obstacle to democracy.
Far from the cure to Trumpian authoritarianism, she argues, the U.S. constitutional system is driving our democratic decline:
Lisa Miller leads with a critique of American-style checks and balances—not only at this moment, but as a perennial obstacle to democracy.
Far from the cure to Trumpian authoritarianism, she argues, the U.S. constitutional system is driving our democratic decline:
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
WOW! An anonymous institutional donor just donated $100,000 to support @freeourfeeds.com!
Amazing.
Join the livestream today for great conversations with Shoshana Zuboff, Jayde Adams and @cultexpert.freedomofmind.com!
IanPaintsElon.com
Amazing.
Join the livestream today for great conversations with Shoshana Zuboff, Jayde Adams and @cultexpert.freedomofmind.com!
IanPaintsElon.com
May 22, 2025 at 4:45 PM
WOW! An anonymous institutional donor just donated $100,000 to support @freeourfeeds.com!
Amazing.
Join the livestream today for great conversations with Shoshana Zuboff, Jayde Adams and @cultexpert.freedomofmind.com!
IanPaintsElon.com
Amazing.
Join the livestream today for great conversations with Shoshana Zuboff, Jayde Adams and @cultexpert.freedomofmind.com!
IanPaintsElon.com
I set up a recurring donation to @freeourfeeds.com because the future of decentralized social-media can't be trusted to just one company, no matter how benevolent it seems today. A new future of the internet is within reach; we just need to grasp and hold it.
May 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I set up a recurring donation to @freeourfeeds.com because the future of decentralized social-media can't be trusted to just one company, no matter how benevolent it seems today. A new future of the internet is within reach; we just need to grasp and hold it.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
So what happens to volunteer led sites like stackoverflow now? Do the companies that ate them make and release the labels they generate for new languages? Do we just hope and pray LLMs fill the gap? Something real has been lost.
May 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
So what happens to volunteer led sites like stackoverflow now? Do the companies that ate them make and release the labels they generate for new languages? Do we just hope and pray LLMs fill the gap? Something real has been lost.
Reposted by Nate TeBlunthuis
By the Europeans’ own “1/8th” rules, we have a Black Pope. :)
May 8, 2025 at 11:40 PM
By the Europeans’ own “1/8th” rules, we have a Black Pope. :)