Yotam Shmargad
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yotam.bsky.social
Yotam Shmargad
@yotam.bsky.social
530 followers 2K following 64 posts
Computational social scientist and associate professor in the School of Government & Public Policy at the University of Arizona. I research online influence and social norms. Website: www.yotamshmargad.com
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yotam.bsky.social
One, possibly small, factor that has us in this situation is that there is no norm of using private messaging apps among the (non-immigrant) American population. I suspect that this will have to change in the coming years if anything like a coordinated resistance movement is to emerge out of sight..
October 4, 2025 at 6:41 PM
yotam.bsky.social
@theloftcinema.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 4:38 PM
yotam.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/bost...
bostonjoan.bsky.social BostonJoan 🏳️‍🌈 🦫 @bostonjoan.bsky.social · Sep 11
For those who need a refresher on Fuentes, Kirk, and the Groyper wars, here are some excerpts from our book, Meme Wars:
With allies like former Tea Party star Michelle Malkin, too edgy for conservatives but too pragmatic and polished for wignat street fighting, Fuentes set out to build a new right-wing coalition heading into the election year of 2020. But this was not going to be a big tent; who was excluded was just as important as who was included. The first target of what would become the Groyper wars was Charlie Kirk, as the most visible, and therefore most reachable face of the young conservative Kirk was about to embark on a national campus tour titled "Culture Wars," where he was supposed to build a broad student coalition in support of Trump. A veteran of the college circuit, Kirk was poised to lead the young Republican wing of the party. He and his TPUSA had taken heat for their proximity to the alt-right at political and campus events in 2017 and 2018, and Kirk publicly denounced white supremacy after Unite the Right. For Fuentes, Kirk and TPUSA embodied everything that was wrong with conservatives who upheld the liberal consensus by promoting Israel, gay rights, and softer immigration policies. Kirk had been in Fuentes's sights during the years as he soured on campus conservatives. Getting 41r22 JOKER POLITICS 233 to the top tier of Trumpworld was nearly impossible for someone as marginal as Fuentes, but opportunity struck in October 2019, when Kirk took TPUSA's Culture War college tour on the road. Kirk brought Trumpworld to campuses across the nation with special guests like Senator Rand Paul, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, and congressman Dan Crenshaw. Like when Richard Spencer, Shapiro, or Yiannopoulos would book campus tours, Kirk's events too often attracted protest from left-wing student groups. But this time, the attacks would come from their right. Beginning on October 7 at the University of Nevada, Kirk set a tone where debate was encouraged, even allowing those who disagreed with him to move to the front of the line during Q&A. Ever since Char… With allies like former Tea Party star Michelle Malkin, too edgy for conservatives but too pragmatic and polished for wignat street fighting, Fuentes set out to build a new right-wing coalition heading into the election year of 2020. But this was not going to be a big tent; who was excluded was just as important as who was included. The first target of what would become the Groyper wars was Charlie Kirk, as the most visible, and therefore most reachable face of the young conservative Kirk was about to embark on a national campus tour titled "Culture Wars," where he was supposed to build a broad student coalition in support of Trump. A veteran of the college circuit, Kirk was poised to lead the young Republican wing of the party. He and his TPUSA had taken heat for their proximity to the alt-right at political and campus events in 2017 and 2018, and Kirk publicly denounced white supremacy after Unite the Right. For Fuentes, Kirk and TPUSA embodied everything that was wrong with conservatives who upheld the liberal consensus by promoting Israel, gay rights, and softer immigration policies. Kirk had been in Fuentes's sights during the years as he soured on campus conservatives. Getting 41r22 JOKER POLITICS 233 to the top tier of Trumpworld was nearly impossible for someone as marginal as Fuentes, but opportunity struck in October 2019, when Kirk took TPUSA's Culture War college tour on the road. Kirk brought Trumpworld to campuses across the nation with special guests like Senator Rand Paul, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, and congressman Dan Crenshaw. Like when Richard Spencer, Shapiro, or Yiannopoulos would book campus tours, Kirk's events too often attracted protest from left-wing student groups. But this time, the attacks would come from their right. Beginning on October 7 at the University of Nevada, Kirk set a tone where debate was encouraged, even allowing those who disagreed with him to move to the front of the line during Q&A. Ever since Char… With allies like former Tea Party star Michelle Malkin, too edgy for conservatives but too pragmatic and polished for wignat street fighting, Fuentes set out to build a new right-wing coalition heading into the election year of 2020. But this was not going to be a big tent; who was excluded was just as important as who was included. The first target of what would become the Groyper wars was Charlie Kirk, as the most visible, and therefore most reachable face of the young conservative Kirk was about to embark on a national campus tour titled "Culture Wars," where he was supposed to build a broad student coalition in support of Trump. A veteran of the college circuit, Kirk was poised to lead the young Republican wing of the party. He and his TPUSA had taken heat for their proximity to the alt-right at political and campus events in 2017 and 2018, and Kirk publicly denounced white supremacy after Unite the Right. For Fuentes, Kirk and TPUSA embodied everything that was wrong with conservatives who upheld the liberal consensus by promoting Israel, gay rights, and softer immigration policies. Kirk had been in Fuentes's sights during the years as he soured on campus conservatives. Getting 41r22 JOKER POLITICS 233 to the top tier of Trumpworld was nearly impossible for someone as marginal as Fuentes, but opportunity struck in October 2019, when Kirk took TPUSA's Culture War college tour on the road. Kirk brought Trumpworld to campuses across the nation with special guests like Senator Rand Paul, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, and congressman Dan Crenshaw. Like when Richard Spencer, Shapiro, or Yiannopoulos would book campus tours, Kirk's events too often attracted protest from left-wing student groups. But this time, the attacks would come from their right. Beginning on October 7 at the University of Nevada, Kirk set a tone where debate was encouraged, even allowing those who disagreed with him to move to the front of the line during Q&A. Ever since Char… With allies like former Tea Party star Michelle Malkin, too edgy for conservatives but too pragmatic and polished for wignat street fighting, Fuentes set out to build a new right-wing coalition heading into the election year of 2020. But this was not going to be a big tent; who was excluded was just as important as who was included. The first target of what would become the Groyper wars was Charlie Kirk, as the most visible, and therefore most reachable face of the young conservative Kirk was about to embark on a national campus tour titled "Culture Wars," where he was supposed to build a broad student coalition in support of Trump. A veteran of the college circuit, Kirk was poised to lead the young Republican wing of the party. He and his TPUSA had taken heat for their proximity to the alt-right at political and campus events in 2017 and 2018, and Kirk publicly denounced white supremacy after Unite the Right. For Fuentes, Kirk and TPUSA embodied everything that was wrong with conservatives who upheld the liberal consensus by promoting Israel, gay rights, and softer immigration policies. Kirk had been in Fuentes's sights during the years as he soured on campus conservatives. Getting 41r22 JOKER POLITICS 233 to the top tier of Trumpworld was nearly impossible for someone as marginal as Fuentes, but opportunity struck in October 2019, when Kirk took TPUSA's Culture War college tour on the road. Kirk brought Trumpworld to campuses across the nation with special guests like Senator Rand Paul, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, and congressman Dan Crenshaw. Like when Richard Spencer, Shapiro, or Yiannopoulos would book campus tours, Kirk's events too often attracted protest from left-wing student groups. But this time, the attacks would come from their right. Beginning on October 7 at the University of Nevada, Kirk set a tone where debate was encouraged, even allowing those who disagreed with him to move to the front of the line during Q&A. Ever since Char…
September 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
yotam.bsky.social
That little cc moment is satisfying, though
August 8, 2025 at 6:18 AM
yotam.bsky.social
July 24, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Yotam Shmargad
robhorning.bsky.social
so now a return to Baudrillard's "silence of the masses" thenewinquiry.com/blog/the-sil...
The Silence of the Masses Could Be Social Media
What Baudrillard’s concept of the silent masses reveals about obligatory social-media use
thenewinquiry.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
yotam.bsky.social
*theme from Jaws plays*
blue umbrellas flying in the air on a beach
ALT: blue umbrellas flying in the air on a beach
media.tenor.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:41 PM
yotam.bsky.social
TIL
June 22, 2025 at 5:15 AM
yotam.bsky.social
and you're still missing the part where one plane turns around with all its passengers and disappears into an underground lair
June 7, 2025 at 5:15 AM
yotam.bsky.social
mdotr enters the chat
June 7, 2025 at 4:46 AM
yotam.bsky.social
service-dominant logic argues that all goods are actually services so I suggest we use gonads to describe both
May 28, 2025 at 10:22 PM
yotam.bsky.social
and cities arguably did this for high trust people
May 28, 2025 at 9:38 PM
yotam.bsky.social
You bet! I'm analyzing some data comparing Reddit and Twitter so your paper could not have come out at a better time and I'm excited to dig in. Things are OK all considering, but the next academic year is looking to be a bit of a doozy so just bracing for now. Hope your year is wrapping up well!
May 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
yotam.bsky.social
Since I didn't see it cited, you might be interested in the work of @seejenspeak.bsky.social about digital publics! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Beyond Gatekeeping: Propaganda, Democracy, and the Organization of Digital Publics | The Journal of Politics: Vol 83, No 1
While there is disagreement as to the severity of the digital disinformation problem, scholars and practitioners have largely coalesced around the idea that a new system of safeguards is needed to pre...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
May 13, 2025 at 6:40 PM