Author | Lightnews

Christiana Varda

@civi.bsky.social

770 followers 900 following 69 posts

I spend most of my time thinking and writing about how people think about knowledge claims encountered on social media. Expect to see posts about dogs, indie movies and books. And musings/occasional rants. Based in Cyprus. (She/Her)

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Aug 29

Hello BlueSky. Having a go at this new medium.

It's hard to start from scratch again, so if you have recs for people who are on the platform and who conduct research on #EpistemicCognition #Misinformation #InformalLearning #MediaLiteracy, let me know in the comments.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Aug 7

TFW you have to give a final push to cross off a few more tasks from your list before your vacation.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jul 30

My pet peeve? Transcripts that have not been formatted at all.

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 26

A kitten foster has turned into a kitten adoption. I'm finally starting to get all the cat memes. Consider this your warning.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 23

Here we are again: About to edit a manuscript I now officially hate. It took everything to open that document again.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 17

Congrats! 🎉

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 16

"Escapism, it turns out, isn’t always avoidance. Sometimes it’s a way back to yourself."

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/o...

Opinion | The Subversive Joy of BookTok

www.nytimes.com

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 14

Honestly, it's just TOO similar. #iykyk

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 12

It was so nice to meet @vea.bsky.social over coffee IRL today. It honestly felt like I traveled back in time to the good old days when social media fostered connection rather than division.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jun 5

Somehow it seems I am (yet again) monumentally behind on life.

Maybe it's just pre-conference stress.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · May 30

I feel you so much!

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · May 20

When your tiny speck of a country makes it into the script, as an obscure reference.

It always catches me by surprise and makes me feel seen.

Also, Kathryn Hahn as a half Cypriot? I'm on board. 🥰

#Cyprus #TheStudio

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · May 17

Simply beautiful. Unapologetically hopeful. It was the perfect start to my day.

In Defense of Despair www.newyorker.com/culture/essa...

In Defense of Despair

The feeling is most commonly framed as an end point, a level of despondency that cannot be overcome. But it doesn’t have to be so.

www.newyorker.com

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · May 16

When you agree to a review, but they don't tell you in advance that you basically have 10 days to do it.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · May 7

Very nice, thanks for sharing Charles! Might adapt this in a future iteration of one of the courses I teach on media production.

Reposted by Christiana Varda

John Stange @stange.shakespeareinthe.pub · May 7

jesus LLMs are the scooters from WALL-E

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · May 7

the technodystopia is here

nymag.com/intelligence...

Sarah, a freshman at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, said she first used ChatGPT to cheat during the spring semester of her final year of high school. (Sarah’s name, like those of other current students in this article, has been changed for privacy.) After getting acquainted with the chatbot, Sarah used it for all her classes: Indigenous studies, law, English, and a “hippie farming class” called Green Industries. “My grades were amazing,” she said. “It changed my life.” Sarah continued to use AI when she started college this past fall. Why wouldn’t she? Rarely did she sit in class and not see other students’ laptops open to ChatGPT. Toward the end of the semester, she began to think she might be dependent on the website. She already considered herself addicted to TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit, where she writes under the username maybeimnotsmart. “I spend so much time on TikTok,” she said. “Hours and hours, until my eyes start hurting, which makes it hard to plan and do my schoolwork. With ChatGPT, I can write an essay in two hours that normally takes 12.”

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Reposted by Christiana Varda

Ilana Horn @ilanahorn.bsky.social · May 7

Freire weeps

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · May 7

Speechless.

I asked Wendy if I could read the paper she turned in, and when I opened the document, I was surprised to see the topic: critical pedagogy, the philosophy of education pioneered by Paulo Freire. The philosophy examines the influence of social and political forces on learning and classroom dynamics. Her opening line: “To what extent is schooling hindering students’ cognitive ability to think critically?” Later, I asked Wendy if she recognized the irony in using AI to write not just a paper on critical pedagogy but one that argues learning is what “makes us truly human.” She wasn’t sure what to make of the question. “I use AI a lot. Like, every day,” she said. “And I do believe it could take away that critical-thinking part. But it’s just — now that we rely on it, we can’t really imagine living without it.”

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · May 7

Discovering a special issue on a topic you're immensely interested in, feels akin to receiving a love letter.

Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jan 24

🎉 Publication alert!

The study reports how trust in scientists varies across countries, considering individual and country-level factors. It also examines people's normative perceptions of science in society and policy making and which issues should be prioritized in science.

Key findings:👇🧵

Viktoria Cologna @colognaviktoria.bsky.social · Jan 20

Our global study on the state of trust in scientists is now out in Nature Human Behaviour! 🥳

With a team of 241 researchers, we surveyed 71,922 people in 68 countries, providing the largest dataset on trust in scientists post-pandemic 👇🧵https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5

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Reposted by Christiana Varda

Sandra Newman @sannewman.bsky.social · Jan 9

Writing tip: After you finish, go back & cut all the adverbs. Then all the adjectives. Then all the other words. Eat the paper. Now you're free.

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Jan 10

Sharing this on behalf of #EARLI SIG 20 'Inquiry Learning', for which I'm JURE Coordinator. We're kicking off 2025 with a new webinar series called "IBL Behind the Scenes". Our first webinar is on 23 January 2025.

Registration (and abstract): forms.gle/JdtkRuKwk8VZ...

Image of a hand with index finger about to make contact with a robotic arm. The image is accompanied by text providing information about the Webinar Series 'IBL Behind the Scenes'. It states the date (23 January 2025), time (16:00-17:00 CET), title (International Dimensions of STEM Education in Europe: Trends, Gaps and Opportunities), and the speaker (Dr. Oliver Straser).

Reposted by Christiana Varda

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jan 7

A lot of the “free speech!” people seem to think their speech stops being free as soon as someone else is free to call BS

Nina Jankowicz @ninajankowicz.com · Jan 7

PS fact checks don’t suppress speech, fact checks are actually MORE SPEECH. /end

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Reposted by Christiana Varda

Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · Jan 7

Two salient facts about Facebook replacing its fact-checking program with community notes:

(1) community notes are cheaper.
(2) the incoming political regime dislikes fact-checking. So community notes are less trouble.

The rest is just framing. Zuck's sole principle is to do what's best for Zuck.

Brian Fung @brianfung.me · Jan 7

Zuckerberg says Meta plans to eliminate its fact-checking program, move content moderators to Texas to address claims of bias, raise the bar for enforcing its terms and lift certain “restrictions” on immigration and gender talk.

Huge shift in platform policy.

Thread by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about changes coming to the company’s platforms.

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Reposted by Christiana Varda

Jane Lytvynenko @janelytv.bsky.social · Jan 7

Over the past 4–5 years, Facebook has sunset tools (chiefly CrowdTangle) used by researchers and journalists, made data difficult and expensive to get, and iced out academics studying disinformation.

Now, it's shutting down the fact checking on its platform.

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Reposted by Christiana Varda

Jeff Greene @jeffgreene.bsky.social · Jan 6

If you care about learning, the theories that describe it, and how to improve and apply those theories to educational contexts, then you need to read this by @mattbernacki.bsky.social article! (1/2) #PsychSciSky #AcademicSky #EduSky
https://buff.ly/3Pn7Dj4

Screenshot of an article in the Journal of Educational Psychology entitled "Leveraging Learning Theory and Analytics to Produce Grounded, Innovative, Data-Driven, Equitable Improvements to Teaching and Learning"

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Christiana Varda @civi.bsky.social · Dec 2

Accurate.