mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06I'm not like a regular media sociologist. I'm a cool media sociologist. • Associate professor, Department of Journalism and Communication at Lehigh University • Study net culture & activism • Networks, communities and self-publishing are kind of my thing.
Research and teaching interests: self-publishing, digital community, internet culture
This piece on Wired about Black Twitter is worth your time. It's something I've been thinking about a lot, about how uneven a migration to a new space ends up being.
It also is one thing I'm eyeing about Mastodon. There's a danger that servers become silos if we aren't intentional. If you listen to some of the Black scholars in my field, they are saying as much. Twitter makes their work visible across groups.
So how do we federate for inclusion? It will be a challenge.
New words from me: “One of the revealing things about AI is our questions are much vaguer than we think. That’s why I often compare talking with an AI to talking with a child. It’s only in their open-minded confusion that we see how much we take for granted in our speech."
The more I use Bing and Bard, the more I realize that the news industry is replaying with AI explainers its mistake in not leading on search (seeking money from big tech instead of owning the tech). Technologies that answer questions are a natural fit for an industry whose whole deal is helping people find answers.
My buddy @MediaLawProf@mastodon.social has been writing about his Immaculate Grid answers and it's delightful. A sample from a couple days ago: https://medialawprof.medium.com/immaculate-grid-texas-rangers-edition-96d2ab8fc3cb
New from me in The Atlantic on the Rogan/Hotez dustup, about how the demands of electronic media formats have turned debate into sport, to the point that challenges serve those who benefit from ratings. We need to reclaim the format in the name of civic good.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/06/joe-rogan-rfk-jr-interview-debate/674515/
(and on a personal note, it's been a longtime dream to have a byline in this publication)
Tears Of The Kingdom can get dark at times, but incorporating Alden Global Capital’s business model into the story is more terrifying than any of the game’s bosses.
I wrote a bit about whether we are at all prepared for the scale of help needed in a world transformed by AI. I'm not pessimistic about AI itself, just whether humans are going to accept that we are our brother's keeper. https://jeremylittau.substack.com/p/am-ai-my-brothers-keeper
The only time I have ever run into an RSVP Google form for a large public event that features a "no I cannot attend" choice is in academia.
Clipped for class, a classic X-Files scene where Fox Mulder realizes wishing for something requires precision. A nice entry point for thinking about the importance of asking good, precise questions to get the most out of AI. Thought of that clip the other day after reading Ezra Klein's piece on AI and the future, where he notes that thinking of AI interrogation as spellcraft is a useful way to think about the technology.
Exactly 10 years to the day after I got my invitation to pick up Google Glass, Apple announced its new AR/VR headset. In this piece for Slate FutureTense, I reflected on what my class learned about Glass and social dynamics 10 years ago, and why it didn't land for me when Apple pitched Vision Pro's capability for human connection. I say this as an Apple fan: the social vision Apple gave us ignored the product category baggage of Glass, making it all feel bleak and weird. https://slate.com/technology/2023/06/apple-vision-pro-ar-vr-google-glass.html
The Yiga Clan trying to kill Link (the one guy trying to save the world as it’s falling apart) because of some petty beef is very 2020 pandemic denier energy.
(My son finally beat BOTW tonight)
ChatGPT 3 vs. 4 on who I am. I'd call 4 a lot more accurate in that it's more specific. Version 3 turned me being a member of NAHJ in order to support the organization into me being highly active. Version 4 gets the nuances of my teaching and research better, but whiffs on what I got my PhD in at Mizzou. Including a last shot from GPT 3 though, which concocted a fake publication for me (which my CV appreciates!).
Last night's episode only reinforces that Mando's most badass qualities are his diplomatic skills and ability to interact with other cultures without making things worse.
