Thank you to the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy and the luminous Gina Neff at the U of Cambridge for hosting me, along with featured speakers and longtime thinking pals Safiya Noble and Audrey Tang. Here’s my keynote on What AI Can and Cannot Do for Democracy:

https://youtu.be/xw7XN-lh0rk?si=kaqhpLA5K4n4Sqke

5 core points:
1. The polls are off. They have always been an approximate instrument (especially when->)
2. The election is tight (because ->)
3. We are at the height of the current polarization cycle
4. Swing voters (not swing states) will decide this election,by voting against their party.They are not likely to disclose this to a pollster, or even, to family members.
5. Young voters will also decide this election -they do not respond to last century measures like polls/conventional outreach

Join us!

https://las.uic.edu/events/las-faculty-research-symposium-ai-impact/

It was a polite debate, not a civil one

🤥 lying ≠ civility

. . . With factcheck - w/out factcheck

. . . Opt ins to fact checks

What’s the point of having journalists moderate then?

https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2024/08/26/a-most-normal-election-cycle/

There are lots of things new about this (shorter) US election cycle, and this may be a good thing. I wrote about how long election cycles are harmful for democracies, linking to my latest book, After Democracy: Imagining our Political Future (YUP)

TikTok is this election’s Twitter and it’s a vibe Republicans are not getting

"What if democracy is not what we are after but the path to something else?" sounds like it came straight out of The Dispossessed. I feel like Le Guinean anarchism is likely the destination I would choose. Speaking as an Omelan.

Photo and excerpt by Zizi Papacharissi, @zizip from @ntnsndr's new book.

Now up: A draft syllabus for an undergrad research course focused on the great election year of 2024. Uses @zizip's latest book to frame our questions: https://nathanschneider.info/school/digital_culture_and_politics

Feedback super welcome!

Regardless of what happens in November in the US, yesterday's sotu (nicknamed stfu), was a cathartic experience for many.

There were things that needed to be said out loud, to us in the US, and to the world, so that we do not lose sight of who we are. And they were so uttered.

Lady, i’m worried that the year is 2024, it’s women’s day tomorrow, and you still speaking to the nation from your kitchen with a full view of your kitchen sink in the back #sotu

@jeffjarvis New York Times tomorrow: "Biden's SOTU Raises New Concern: Is the Aging President Too Vigorous?"

@zizip
Just heard bits of the #SOTU on the radio here in Australia. There is nothing wrong with that man's head. Nothing.

Out of the gate, @JoeBiden is forceful, a leader, our #ExcellentPresident. "You can't love your country only when you win."

He’s back people

The is a brilliant speech by our #BrilliantPresident, @JoeBiden.

Here’s a fun interview I did this past week, in Taz - in German, obvi.
„Screens werden verschwinden“

https://taz.de/Forscherin-ueber-Social-Media-der-Zukunft/!5991826/

chatted with ABC Australia on the past, present and future of Facebook. My take is that community does not scale, and that Meta is distancing itself from further investment on Facebook and shifting focus to research and development of hardware. w/ my buddy Pablo Boczkowski who has smart things to say about gamification - our Trump and the Media volume could not be more relevant, btw! :-)

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/20-years-on-the-future-of-facebook-is-big-and-small/103474468

I was fortunate enough to chat on AI and Politics earlier this week, with two people I could talk with for hours and whose work I heart - they have shaped our present and our future:
Andrea Guzman and Sam Woolley. Via NPR below:
https://will.illinois.edu/21stshow/story/is-our-democracy-prepared-for-artifical-intelligence?fbclid=IwAR3bCFYeuRBAUEcP5mrZZYZpPMFaRjDkb5DAuMbJ-OJFBdtBW7Y_79BehXg

Ah! I neglected to mention that I am quoted in The NY Times, in an article with a headline that most aligns with my aspirational self.
In “Can Everyone be a Tastemaker?” I talk about the internet coming full circle, and how communities of taste do not scale without losing authenticity

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/style/perfectly-imperfect-newsletter.html?fbclid=IwAR1PuFT_LnbJaRnN0BJT0cW8qWwimXaYu-u4geHyOw6VrEEXwR3qx4NBvMc