Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 57m

“From now on we won’t just accelerate growth — we’ll hand working voters the key to a new home…”

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 14h

The algorithm wasn’t bad for most of Twitter’s existence, and tbh even after M*sk I had a well curated feed compared to most. What killed it for me was them breaking replies/blue ticks and links, so it became both unpleasant and pointless since it drove zero engagement

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 19h

It's why I think Bluesky starter packs were a terrible idea - you're just importing Twitter and the way its algorithms shaped your community experience, not curating a new algorithm-free experience.

3

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 19h

I see that particularly in e.g. the prevalence of 'last night's American discourse' which is non-existent on a chronological feed but plastered all over an algorithmic one, which I think is always why Twitter feels to much more 'American' (anecdotally).

1 2

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 19h

So for example, certain people flooded the timeline with inanity but the algorithm reduced their footprint. Or some people aren't active at the times of day I am, and only made sense to follow when the algorithm surfaced their posts at different times.

1 1

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 19h

I hit two problems, one of which I rarely see discussed. The obvious one is that the app kept switching me back. Less obviously, I came to realise that I'd accidentally optimised who I followed for the algorithmic experience, and that didn't work when I tried to switch back.

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 19h

since we're talking about The Other Place, one now pointless gripe I still have is that actually it could have remained a fair bit more pleasant and usable and useful if more people just used the non-algorithmic timeline and I'll never understand why they didn't just do it

2 6

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 2d

If only they had some older, news-savvy people involved with the production, maybe even on stage, who might hear the material before it gets aired and intervene in some way.

Sean Kemp @seankemp.bsky.social · 2d

Slightly amazed at his description of this as a ‘low-level mistake’. Just a completely untrue implication of Government corruption on prime-time TV. No biggie! www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

BBC airing false claim about Euan Blair blamed on young producers ‘marinated in social media’

Broadcaster apologised after Have I Got News For You falsely said former PM’s son had won digital ID contract

www.theguardian.com

1 1 13

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 2d

One thing that marks out good founders/CEOs in start-ups is they get that communication *is* strategy, in much the same way that writing *is* thinking. So it's not just that they don't have a clear strategy IMO; they're not engaged in the process of developing strategy.

2 3 24

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 4d

Tell me more about the pre-Roman history of *checks notes* the United Kingdom.

18

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 4d

Even by the recent standards of the BBC this is an absolute clanger, just multiple levels of illiteracy.

4 15

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 4d

I would read “The role of the rope apparatus in British naval hegemony, 1707 to 1982”

2

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 4d

We also had ‘the apparatus’. It lived flat against the wall, but one day it was swung out across the assembly hall for an unknown
purpose. I always assumed it had something to do with public hangings.

1 4

Reposted by Martin Robbins

Will - Absolute Shower 🇺🇦 @showerabsolute.bsky.social · 5d

The press should be doorstepping the people who funded these repeated complaints and lawsuits. Make them explain themselves

Elle @handle.invalid · 5d

Sometimes you think 'oh it can't really be that bad can it' and then you click on the link and it turns out it is exactly that bad www.bbc.com/news/article...

Council demolishes play area after noise complaints

Parents in a Derbyshire town say their children are 'devastated' they have lost the facility.

www.bbc.com

5 16 56

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 4d

I’m the worst example given the last time I parked a car at a station for multiple days it got destroyed in a freak flood, but still I just wouldn’t risk leaving an expensive ebike at a rural station - there are no taxis or public transport options so it’s gone I’m stuffed. Great in cities though.

3

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 4d

Other massive problem is there’s zero point buying an electric bike for e.g. my 5 mile commute to the local train station because bike theft is legal and it’ll just get stolen. A good example of where we need joined up thinking across departments if we’re going to get to a goal.

3 1 14

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 5d

One for the all-time list. Good to see this platform arrive at last.

Conor Smith @conorsmith.ie · 7d

Gavin has shown himself unfit to be President. This is why we should let our current President take a third term, despite his age. Who cares what the constitution says.

3 11

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 5d

"Not actively despise middle class white collar workers"

1 9

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 6d

My slightly tongue-in-cheek response is I’d rather have a town with a road through the middle of it than a village with a road through the middle of it! But from the sounds of it development would be focused more on the East side. Will be very interested to see the first plans.

1

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 6d

Honestly as a long-time listener I think they’ve treated it the same as they would have done 5 years ago, and as you say I think it’s far more powerful because of that level of forensic detachment.

Reposted by Martin Robbins

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 6d

"It’s a canopy. A f***ing canopy. That everyone thinks is a perfectly reasonable thing. And it’s taken five years, three planning applications, god knows how much expense, and now hundreds of pages of forms and three separate consultancies just to install something to stop the rain."

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 6d

A pub in London Fields is trying to put up a timber canopy over its outside seating.

The planning process so far has taken FIVE YEARS. That’s longer than it took to build the entire Hoover Dam. capx.co/nimby-watch-...

capx.co

6 20 110

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 6d

Yeah, I expect it'll be a mixed bag given some are basically extensions of towns, some are new towns, they'll all be different development corporations, etc.

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 6d

(Or not banned exactly, but basically close to impossible to fit after 2025)

1 1

Martin Robbins @mjrobbins.com · 7d

Gas boilers are banned in new builds now anyway I believe

1 1

Reposted by Martin Robbins

Terence Eden @edent.tel · 7d

New blog post: You did no fact checking, and I must scream

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10/i-have-no-facts-and-i-must-scream/

I'm neither a journalist nor a professional fact checker but, the thing is, it's has never been easier to check basic facts. Yeah, sure, there's a world of …

You did no fact checking, and I must scream

I'm neither a journalist nor a professional fact checker but, the thing is, it's has never been easier to check basic facts. Yeah, sure, there's a world of misinformation out there, but it doesn't take much effort to determine if something is likely to be true. There are brilliant tools like reverse Image Search which give you a good indicator of when an image first appeared on the web, and…

shkspr.mobi

5 20

Reposted by Martin Robbins

Paul Clarke @paulclarke.com · 7d

Great post. You should all read it. Especially if you thought the Patricia Routledge 'life thoughts' piece was cute. shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10...

You did no fact checking, and I must scream

I'm neither a journalist nor a professional fact checker but, the thing is, it's has never been easier to check basic facts. Yeah, sure, there's a world of misinformation out there, but it doesn't tak...

shkspr.mobi

2 6 12