David Lazer Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Computer and Information Sciences d.lazer@northeastern.edu 617.329.1010 Expertise COVID-19, Election 2020, governance, how the patterns of institutional relations yield functional or dysfunctional systems, midterm elections, Novavax, pandemic, Political science, public health, Resiliency, social networks, technology and its use in communication, Twitter and mood of the nation, Variants David Lazer in the Press Politico Why Western democracy faces a nightmare made online “People’s segregation remains incredibly high,” said David Lazer, a professor at Northeastern University who analyzed political polarization on Facebook. Changing Meta’s algorithms did not help US political polarization, study finds Together, the findings suggest that Facebook users seek out content that aligns with their views and that the algorithms help by “making it easier for people to do what they’re inclined to do,” according to David Lazer, a Northeastern University professor who worked on all four papers. New study shows just how Facebook’s algorithm shapes conservative and liberal bubbles “It’s not a grand scientific observation,” said David Lazar of Northeastern University, a co-author of the study. “We’d need more data to see and we’d need more crises.” Deep dive into Meta’s algorithms shows that America’s political polarization has no easy fix Together, the findings suggest that Facebook users seek out content that aligns with their views and that the algorithms help by “making it easier for people to do what they’re inclined to do,” according to David Lazer, a Northeastern University professor who worked on all four papers. Here’s Why the Science Is Clear That Masks Work David Lazer, a political scientist at Northeastern University, calculated that before vaccines were available, U.S. states without mask mandates had 30 percent higher Covid death rates than those with mandates. The Associated Press FDA’s own reputation could be restraining its misinfo fight “Because the FDA puts that information on its website, it will actually crowd out the misinformation from the top 10 or 20 Google results,” said David Lazer, a political and computer scientist at Northeastern University. Nature.com Researchers scramble as Twitter plans to end free data access Furthermore, key information about a proposed new payment plan is missing, says David Lazer, a political scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Wired Magazine Twitter’s API Crackdown Will Hit More Than Just Bots “The impact is potentially devastating,” says David Lazer, a computational social scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. The Telegraph The man trying to save the world from toxic conspiracy theories Another study – involving 16,442 Twitter accounts in the period around the 2016 US election, and led by David Lazer, professor of political science at Northeastern University, Boston – suggests that the proportion of people actually spreading fake news is quite small. Buzzfeed Twitter Is Shedding Users, Most Of Them Democrats, A New Survey Shows David Lazer, professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern University and part of the consortium of academics who organized the study, told BuzzFeed News that he was surprised by the survey findings. “I would have expected Democrats to have dropped their utilization of Twitter because Musk has said some very partisan things,” he […] David Lazer for Northeastern Global News New book describes how Black Americans used the power of networks and allies to organize largest protests in nation’s history New book describes how Black Americans used the power of networks and allies to organize largest protests in nation’s history “Black Networks Matter” author David Lazer says networks contributed to scale and diversity of “unprecedented” Black Lives Matter protests. A generational divide on views of Israel … in both parties, according to new survey A generational divide on views of Israel … in both parties, according to new survey “I think one topline finding that resonates with prior survey findings and some prior research is that there are both partisan and generational differences in attitudes towards Israel and Palestine,” David Lazer says. ‘We owe it to each other.’ How to listen to opposing points of view in an age of political divide ‘We owe it to each other.’ How to listen to opposing points of view in an age of political divide David Lazer and other panelists in series on tackling difficult issues say it’s important to listen to others, not shut down political speech. Northeastern receives $17.5 million from CDC to launch infectious disease prediction center Northeastern receives $17.5 million from CDC to launch infectious disease prediction center Renowned network scientist Alessandro Vespignani will head a new innovation center that will prepare the United States for future epidemics. Democrats and Republicans consume very different news content on Facebook, researcher says Democrats and Republicans consume very different news content on Facebook, researcher says Facebook political news is segregated, “asymmetrical” and a lot more content labeled as misinformation is from the right than the left. Many Republicans don’t believe the election results, a new survey says Many Republicans don’t believe the election results, a new survey says Most Democrats believe Joe Biden won the election fairly while skeptical Republican voters say otherwise, a new survey says. Trust in COVID-19 vaccines aligns with political parties, new national study finds Trust in COVID-19 vaccines aligns with political parties, new national study finds Supporters of Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci were significantly more likely to get vaccinated than backers of President Donald Trump. Trump’s pandemic approval ratings rise for the first time, new national study finds Trump’s pandemic approval ratings rise for the first time, new national study finds The increase was small, but it was enough to reverse a continuous decline, according to a survey by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers. Most US residents don’t think it’s safe for K-12 schools to reopen for in-person learning, new national survey finds Most US residents don’t think it’s safe for K-12 schools to reopen for in-person learning, new national survey finds The findings of a new national survey, conducted by Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern and Rutgers, come as a growing number of school districts across the United States have announced that they will provide entirely remote learning this fall, while others consider hybrid models. Racial justice protests were not a major cause of COVID-19 infection surges, new national study suggests Racial justice protests were not a major cause of COVID-19 infection surges, new national study suggests States that had some of the largest protests in May and June were also among the least likely to report a surge in cases of COVID-19 in subsequent months, according to a new national study by Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers.
Politico Why Western democracy faces a nightmare made online “People’s segregation remains incredibly high,” said David Lazer, a professor at Northeastern University who analyzed political polarization on Facebook.
Changing Meta’s algorithms did not help US political polarization, study finds Together, the findings suggest that Facebook users seek out content that aligns with their views and that the algorithms help by “making it easier for people to do what they’re inclined to do,” according to David Lazer, a Northeastern University professor who worked on all four papers.
New study shows just how Facebook’s algorithm shapes conservative and liberal bubbles “It’s not a grand scientific observation,” said David Lazar of Northeastern University, a co-author of the study. “We’d need more data to see and we’d need more crises.”
Deep dive into Meta’s algorithms shows that America’s political polarization has no easy fix Together, the findings suggest that Facebook users seek out content that aligns with their views and that the algorithms help by “making it easier for people to do what they’re inclined to do,” according to David Lazer, a Northeastern University professor who worked on all four papers.
Here’s Why the Science Is Clear That Masks Work David Lazer, a political scientist at Northeastern University, calculated that before vaccines were available, U.S. states without mask mandates had 30 percent higher Covid death rates than those with mandates.
The Associated Press FDA’s own reputation could be restraining its misinfo fight “Because the FDA puts that information on its website, it will actually crowd out the misinformation from the top 10 or 20 Google results,” said David Lazer, a political and computer scientist at Northeastern University.
Nature.com Researchers scramble as Twitter plans to end free data access Furthermore, key information about a proposed new payment plan is missing, says David Lazer, a political scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Wired Magazine Twitter’s API Crackdown Will Hit More Than Just Bots “The impact is potentially devastating,” says David Lazer, a computational social scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Telegraph The man trying to save the world from toxic conspiracy theories Another study – involving 16,442 Twitter accounts in the period around the 2016 US election, and led by David Lazer, professor of political science at Northeastern University, Boston – suggests that the proportion of people actually spreading fake news is quite small.
Buzzfeed Twitter Is Shedding Users, Most Of Them Democrats, A New Survey Shows David Lazer, professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern University and part of the consortium of academics who organized the study, told BuzzFeed News that he was surprised by the survey findings. “I would have expected Democrats to have dropped their utilization of Twitter because Musk has said some very partisan things,” he […]