Rense Corten 🟥
LightNews LightNews
banner
rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥
@rensec.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.2K following 620 posts

Sociologist at Utrecht University, NL, studying cooperation, trust, social networks, social media, platform economy, using computational social science and experimental methods. I mostly follow academics.
Also: @[email protected] .. more

Videos
Business 20%
Physics 19%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Rense Corten

frogandtoadbot.bsky.social
Frog and Toad Bot @frogandtoadbot.bsky.social · 22h
“I wish I had a garden,” said Toad.

“Here are some flower seeds. Plant them in the ground,” said Frog, “and soon you will have a garden.”

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 3d
I get increasingly annoyed by the framing of "human vs. AI" (or in this case: "human-AI teaming"). AI is software built and operated by humans, trained on previous work by humans, running on hardware built and operated by humans. It is a human tool used by humans www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Accelerating science with AI
By successfully integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into research workflows, researchers could substantially increase scientific productivity. Last week’s announcement from the White House of the...
www.science.org

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 3d
Back up for me too now. Now I can read how to accelerate my science with AI: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Accelerating science with AI
By successfully integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into research workflows, researchers could substantially increase scientific productivity. Last week’s announcement from the White House of the...
www.science.org

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 3d
Is Cloudflare down again? The @science.org website is unreachable...

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 3d
I keep getting political e-mail (American politicians begging for money and votes) for Richard Corten. I have even corresponded with with him but there seems very little we can do about it.

Reposted by Rense Corten

isabellevdv.bsky.social
Isabelle van der Vegt 🟥 @isabellevdv.bsky.social · 6d
Our paper in Criminology led by @nivette.bsky.social is out! Got to dip my toes into PJT research, and add some NLP ✨ #openaccess doi.org/10.1111/1745...
Evaluating the causal mechanisms from procedural justice to police legitimacy and compliance in the United States: An in‐depth mixed‐methods approach
Procedural justice theory states that when police treat people in a fair, respectful, and neutral manner, individuals are more likely to perceive the police as legitimate and obey the law. To test th....
doi.org

Reposted by Rense Corten

odissei.bsky.social
ODISSEI @odissei.bsky.social · 7d
We're hiring a Junior Researcher Data Management 🔎

Help improve metadata workflows, build tools for better data management, and support our training and outreach with researchers.

Know someone who fits? Please share! 🌟

www.eur.nl/en/working-a...
Junior researcher Data Management
Do you have a hands-on mentality and technical and community building skills? Please join our team to develop a strong profile in Research Data Management.
www.eur.nl

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 10d
"let’s recognize everyone who continues to do the important work of great teaching, despite the discouraging climate" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
My not-so-favorite year
As 2025 comes to a close, it’s a good time to step back and assess one of the most tumultuous years in the history of American science. The second Trump administration has brought cuts to so many impo...
www.science.org

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 11d
Attention #computationalsocialscience researchers! Data donation has become one of the few methods to independently collect digital platforms data. The proposed GDPR Omnibus amendment threatens to make such research impossible. Please sign the open letter: dsa40collaboratory.eu/open-letter-...
Open Letter: Omnibus – DSA 40 Collaboratory
dsa40collaboratory.eu

Reposted by Rense Corten

jonicoleman.bsky.social
Joni Coleman @jonicoleman.bsky.social · 13d
No, YOU'RE crying on the train into work...
xkcd.com/3172/
Fifteen Years
xkcd.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Cas Mudde, Ben H. Ansell , and 73 more

rutgerbregman.com
Rutger Bregman @rutgerbregman.com · 13d
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Reposted by Philip N. Cohen, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Michael Pollard , and 1 more

tristanbridges.bsky.social
TristanBridges.bsky.social @tristanbridges.bsky.social · 14d
Baby names aren’t just personal choices; they reflect culture, geography, gender, identity, and as i've been investigating, politics too. I’ve been analyzing 50 years of U.S. baby naming to see how they map onto political polarization in the U.S.
Here’s what I found 🧵

Reposted by Lawrence F. Katz, Simon Burgess, Dan Goldhaber , and 10 more

qjeharvard.bsky.social
The Quarterly Journal of Economics @qjeharvard.bsky.social · 15d
Recently accepted by #QJE, “Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges,” by Chetty (@Oppinsights), Deming, and Friedman: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges*
Abstract. We use anonymized admissions data from several colleges linked to income tax records and SAT and ACT test scores to study the determinants and ca
doi.org

Reposted by Rense Corten

cdteu.org
CDT Europe @cdteu.org · 19d
Today the European Commission unveiled its Digital Omnibus Package, reopening and weakening core parts of the EU’s digital rulebook, including crucial safeguards in the AI Act. This is a seriously concerning shift for rights and accountability in Europe.

cdt.org/insights/cdt...
CDT Europe’s Statement on the Digital Omnibus Package
On 19 November, the European Commission published the Digital Omnibus Package; a twinset of proposals suggesting amendments to crucial laws underpinning the EU digital rulebook, including the General ...
cdt.org

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
Glad it was useful 😉

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson, Anders Nilsson, Juan Cole , and 7 more

jamellebouie.net
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 20d
it is almost as if accommodating and conceding to far right ideas legitimizes them and signals to voters that the far right is a legitimate choice for governance
markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social Mark McGeoghegan @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social · 20d
The Danish Social Democrats are currently on course for their worst election result since at least the Second World War, despite their brand of far-right accommodationism being touted as a blueprint for other centre-left parties.

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
Correct link (without typo) to the blog by Cox: tinyurl.com/28taeyet
The State of American Friendship: Change, Challenges, and Loss - The Survey Center on American Life
The May 2021 American Perspectives Survey finds that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, talking to their friends less often, and relying less on their friends for pers...
tinyurl.com

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
This was right after I finished my dissertation, so a sudden decrease is more likely!
Correct link to the blog by Cox: tinyurl.com/28taeyet
The State of American Friendship: Change, Challenges, and Loss - The Survey Center on American Life
The May 2021 American Perspectives Survey finds that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, talking to their friends less often, and relying less on their friends for pers...
tinyurl.com

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
7/7 In conclusion, although this is an elegant and theoretically interesting model, if the empirical premise of its explanation for polarization does not hold, I'm not sure what to make of it.

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
6/7 Finally, such a marked increase in connectivity cause by social media is not known in the (sociological) literature on personal networks, nor does it show up in other data sources (e.g., tinyurl.com/28taeyet)%3E Indeed, this would have been remarkable discovery, worthy of a paper in itself!
The State of American Friendship: Change, Challenges, and Loss - The Survey Center on American Life
The May 2021 American Perspectives Survey finds that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, talking to their friends less often, and relying less on their friends for pers...
tinyurl.com

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
5/7 Most of the "transition" around 2008 seems driven by the fact that almost all data points before and after are based on different measurement instruments, respectively name generators ("with whom did you discuss...?") and asking for aggregated numbers ("how many close friends do you have?")

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
4/7 The data sources for some of the data points are rather unclear. For example, to my knowledge, core discussion networks were not measured in the GSS after 2010 but they are reported in the Figure. Also some other data points (e.g., for Norway and Germany) are attributed to the wrong data sources

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
3/7 The supposed "transition" in connectivity around 2008 is based on the data points of 4 countries, but then compared to polarization in only the US. If one would take only the US data points for connectivity too, the transition is much less clear

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
2/7 The selection of countries is strangely selective, focusing only on the US and North-West Europe

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 20d
This is a very interesting paper but the empirical evidence presented for an increase in connectivity (in their Fig. 1E) is rather problematic. A little thread 👇(1/7):
pnas.org Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · Nov 6
Is it possible that social media, which promised to connect the world, instead increased polarization? A model of human social dynamics predicts a sharp transition into a polarized state above a certain threshold of social connectivity. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Gym350XnNW8
Conceptual image showing a hand reaching out to a network of people icons. Stock photo.

Reposted by Rense Corten

odissei.bsky.social
ODISSEI @odissei.bsky.social · 21d
Kiesraad published a pre-release of the 2025 election results, but the data isn't analysis-friendly.

Our @odissei-soda.bsky.social team turned it into an easy-to-use database for researchers. It’s open data and ready to explore. Download & code 👉 github.com/sodascience/...

Reposted by Rense Corten

silkelschneider.bsky.social
Silke Schneider @silkelschneider.bsky.social · 24d
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a post-doc or late doc to join our team at @gesis.org and @konsortswd.bsky.social (hi @nfdi.de)! You'll work on enhancing comparability of German survey data across projects & disciplines. Strong German skills & interest in social structure required. Check it out:
Details
GESIS Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften
www.gesis.org

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 26d
Following up on this: should we start new journals (which creates huge coordination problems) or try to wrangle our beloved top journals out of the hands of the big publishers? Are there any good examples/strategies for the latter?

rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥 @rensec.bsky.social · 26d
Thanks for rubbing it in...

Reposted by Rense Corten

uuplants.bsky.social
UU Plants @uuplants.bsky.social · 27d
We are beyond excited to reveal the full line-up for our Environmental Signaling in Plants summer school 2026!

Registration is now open here eps.sites.uu.nl - we look forward to seeing you in Utrecht on 24th-26th August!
13th Utrecht PhD Summer School​ Environmental Signaling in Plants Aug 24-26 2026 Speakers: Laura Ragni, Roeland Berendsen, Mariana Silva Artur, Matthew Paul, Ari Sadanandom, Beatrice Giuntoli, Bruno Guillotin, Priya Ramakrishna, Caroline Gutjahr, Niko Geldner, Laura Bacete and Marcel Beukeboom.