Computational Communication Science Lab (CCL)

This week, our colleagues @maikovska.bsky.social and @aytalina.bsky.social presented their ongoing work involving agent-based modeling at the Graz Schumpeter Winter School themed “Modeling Opinion Dynamics and Social Change” 👏👏

After a long time in development, {traktok} #rstats is now finally on CRAN!

Whether you have access to the Research API or just want to scrape some pages, traktok has you covered

jbgruber.github.io/traktok/

Join us for the first Computational Methods Labs Showcase @icacm.bsky.social Registration is free and open to colleagues interested in computational methods! DM me if you have questions 1/2

I’m very honored to be elected as International Liaison of the ICA CM Division and to serve our vibrant community! 🙏 Looking forward to starting the work very soon 🙌

Congratulations to Aytalina on her election as the International Liaison of ICA CM Division! We are proud to share that Aytalina Kulichkina has been elected International Liaison of the International Communication Association (ICA) Computational Methods Division!

Big news! 🎉 Our colleague @aytalina.bsky.social has been elected International Liaison of the @icacm.bsky.social! 🌍👏We’re thrilled to see her representing and connecting the global #CompMethods community.

compcommlab.univie.ac.at/news-detaila...

Have a multilingual cross-country text analysis project? We just published a paper in @computationalcommunication.org with advice for validating your empirics! 👉 doi.org/10.5117/CCR2....

Karolina and Lise-Lore stand side by side outdoors against a stone wall, smiling at the camera. Karolina wears a black top and jeans, with arms crossed, while Lise-Lore wears a bright blue blouse and black trousers. The photo conveys a friendly and professional atmosphere.

Karolina Garančovská presents in a classroom, standing beside a projection slide titled “Crisis all around? Crisisification of the EU Institutional Discourse.” She gestures while speaking, wearing a light grey sweater and black trousers. A chalkboard and classroom lights are visible in the background.

Lise-Lore Steeman stands at the front of a classroom giving a presentation titled “From Bias to Balance: Examining media representations, public attitudes and campaigns in understanding discrimination.” She is smiling, wearing a bright blue blouse, and standing in front of a projected slide and a chalkboard filled with math formulas.

We currently have the pleasure of hosting Karolina Garančovská & @lise-loresteeman.bsky.social for a research stay at the CCL!

Both presented their fascinating ongoing work – from EU crisis communication to media representations & discrimination. 🧩

Thank you for sharing your insights with us! 🤗

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.

Work!! 🚨

We are looking for a #postdoc in our AI, media and Democracy Lab @aimediademlab.bsky.social

Dynamic position, great team, nice colleagues 💥

Profile: communication/ poli sci/ computational social sci

🗓️ DL November 1

Spread the word 📣

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Screenshot of https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2024.2305792 first page.

Hey! Look what's now out in print! And I am very happy to see that #Altmetrics currently logs our paper at 5000+ views and 6 citations already. 🤗 @digitaljournalism.bsky.social @compcommlab.bsky.social

Full original thread linked below.

Join us for the 2026 @qutdmrc.bsky.social Summer School – registration opens next Monday !

2/2 And I am excited to announce that we are hiring a PostDoc and a PhD student to work with us on these topics.

Group description: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/en/research/...

PhD position: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/news/detail/...

PostDoc position: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/news/detail/...

One postdoctoral Research Position Deadline: November 15th, 2025

Join us as postdoc at the Inequality Discourse Observatory at the University of Konstanz: stellen.uni-konstanz.de/jobposting/7...
We will do epic research between Linguistics and Computational Social Science at the Cluster of Politics of Inequality. Feel free to DM if you have any questions.

Meta’s decision to ban ads about politics, elections, and social issues on their platforms like Facebook and Instagram in the EU is now implemented.

This is the new policy. Any ad about fx elections, civil rights, economy, health, climate, immigration, or foreign policy is now (presumably) banned.

Screenshot of an academic article titled “Rally and Recalibrate: Political Dynamics of Audience Expectations of Journalism During Times of Crisis” published in The International Journal of Press/Politics (OnlineFirst, Sage Journals). Authors: Claire Roney, Daniel Wiesner, Andreas A. Riedl, and Jakob-Moritz Eberl. The abstract explains that the study examines how audience expectations of journalism in Austria evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies shifts toward emerging journalistic roles such as Fact Checker and Science Communicator, based on data from three waves of the Austrian Corona Panel Project. Findings show fluctuating audience expectations tied to changes in public trust and crisis dynamics, emphasizing journalism’s need for adaptability. Keywords listed: journalism, audience expectations, trust in institutions, crisis attitudes, survey research, COVID-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612251375203

New publication out in #IJPP! 📑
We study how audience expectations of journalism 📰 shifted during COVID-19 in Austria 🇦🇹 – showing both short-term rally effects & longer-term recalibration 🔄.
Led by @clmron.bsky.social & @danielwiesner.bsky.social , w/ @andreasriedl.bsky.social & me. 1/n

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.

Come work with us 🚨

We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab.

Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science.

Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions.

DL 🗓️ November 1

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

How to move forward Collaborate on improving data coverage Filling gaps in poliitical text orpora Collecting online platform data via APls, webscraping and the Digital Services Act Share open-source software, R packages and infrastructure components Improve conditions for data sharing Critically evaluate and improve the application of Al Requires collaboration and funding at the European level

@sebstier.bsky.social at #MEDem Conf: computational research of democracy stands in the shoulders of the few enthusiasts who create datasets, software and infrastructure for it. How can we move forward? Short answer: more collaboration & sharing!

Misinformation researchers benefit from real-world insights. Practitioners benefit from scientific evidence on what interventions actually work. Our partnership with the media literacy & fact-checking organizations Learn to Check! and @maldita.es combines both 🤝

🧵 below

Earlier this month, @fabiennelind.bsky.social & @veronikaebner.bsky.social had insightful cross-fertilization sessions within @cidape.bsky.social about social media data on climate change, emotions, and inequalities 🌐
It’s great to see the project moving forward! 🙌

Sofia Gil-Clavel stands at a podium presenting AmCAT at the 3rd MEDem Conference. Behind her, a slide shows the AmCAT team (Kasper Welbers, Wouter van Atteveldt, Johannes Gruber, Sofia Gil-Clavel) with the tagline: “Developed by researchers for researchers, society, and data savvy users.” Logos of MEDem, VU Amsterdam, and the Societal Analytics Lab are displayed at the top.

Sebastian Ziaja stands at a podium presenting HarDIS (Harmony in the Democratic Ideological Space) at the 3rd MEDem Conference. A slide behind him shows the HarDIS team (Lea Kaftan, Paul Bederke, Selçuk Timur Uluer) with the logos of MEDem, GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, and OSCARS (the funding initiative).

Day 2 of the #MEDemConference at @gesis.org starts with powerful tool demos:
🔍 AmCAT @sof14g1l.bsky.social on enabling large-scale text analysis of media & political debates.
🌐 HarDIS @sziaja.bsky.social on harmonizing and sustaining cross-national democracy data (surveys, parties, experts).

Somewhat ironically, we have come together to #MakeDemocracyResearchGreatAgain. Always a pleasure – and quite humbling – to see the #MEDemCommunity gather to discuss where @medem.bsky.social should be headed in the coming years. #ResearchInfrastructures ⚙️

Coming Up: The 2025 MEDem Conference & Workshop! - Monitoring Electoral Democracy Coming Up: the 2025 medem Conference! We are thrilled for the upcoming 3rd MEDem Conference, scheduled to take place from September 29-30 at GESIS in Cologne!The 3rd MEDem conference will bring togeth...

Coming up on Monday the @medem.bsky.social conference at @gesis.org in Cologne. Stay tuned for the future of democracy research infrastructures www.medem.eu/coming-up-th... Keynotes from @simonsaysnothin.bsky.social and @sldelange.bsky.social

Open science in democracy research: the research infrastructure “Monitoring Electoral Democracy” (MEDem) - European Political Science Ensuring universal access to scientific research and upholding the principles of keeping data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable is of paramount importance to the democratization of science. However, upholding these principles becomes increasingly complex with the increasing scope of data collection, the more different types of data we collect (e.g., survey, text, or institutional and country-level macro data), and the more research teams are involved in data collection. In the domain of democracy research, scientists across Europe are therefore joining forces to launch the research infrastructure monitoring electoral democracy (MEDem), which aims to establish itself as an open platform where the fragmented crowd of researchers in the various research fields can coordinate and develop common standards for data collection both retrospectively as well as prospectively to make their data interoperable, and (comparative) democracy research more productive. Moreover, MEDem will help make democracy research data and findings accessible to the general public (e.g., citizens, journalists, and policymakers).

Find the full open access piece here: doi.org/10.1057/s413...
Authored by @hajoboo.bsky.social, @alexiakatsanidou.bsky.social, S. Kritzinger, G. Lutz, J. Willmann & @jamoeberl.bsky.social – just in time for the upcoming #MEDemConference.

Screenshot of the article “Open science in democracy research: the research infrastructure ‘Monitoring Electoral Democracy’ (MEDem)” published in European Political Science. The header shows the journal name, DOI link, and the label “DEBATE.” Below, the title is followed by the author list: Hajo Boomgaarden, Alexia Katsanidou, Sylvia Kritzinger, Georg Lutz, Johanna Willmann, and Jakob-Moritz Eberl. The abstract explains the aims of MEDem as a European research infrastructure to make democracy research data FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable). Keywords listed include open science, FAIR data, ESFRI roadmap, research infrastructure, democracy research, data harmonization, data linking, and data set search. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-025-00534-8

They say: once there’s a paper 📝, it’s real…
🎉 #MEDem in #EPS @ecpr.bsky.social

The paper outlines how MEDem will strengthen #OpenScience by making data #FAIR in #DemocracyResearch – and how scholars across Europe are joining forces to build a truly open #ResearchInfrastructure ⚙️

Last week, I defended my dissertation! 🎉

A big thank you to everyone who made this possible—especially (but not exclusively) @anniewald.bsky.social, @nicolarighetti.bsky.social & the whole @compcommlab.bsky.social! 🫶

Wide view of Jakob-Moritz Eberl presenting on stage at the Congress of the Polish Communication Association in Katowice. A large projected slide titled “Why research infrastructures?” is visible, listing features such as data provision, method development, networking, and training.

Jakob-Moritz Eberl standing at a black lectern, giving a presentation at the Congress of the Polish Communication Association in Katowice. Behind him a slide about MEDem services is projected, including text on harmonization and linking services.

This week, I joined the #PolishCommunicationAssociation in #Katowice 🇵🇱.
I presented @medem.bsky.social – where we stand as #EuropeanResearchInfrastructure ⚙️ & what lies ahead.
Many thanks to the MEDem teams at #UniversityOfSilesia, #JagiellonianUniversity, & #UniwersytetSWPS for the warm welcome.

#MEDem’s added value for the #EuropeanResearchCommunity was front and center in #Katowice 🇵🇱: connecting dispersed datasets, advancing shared standards, and improving access to high-quality, comparable data for democracy researchers all across Europe. Thank you @jamoeberl.bsky.social for presenting!

The Role of Choice Architecture in Mitigating News Avoidance News avoidance has become more common and is associated with negative democratic outcomes. However, only a handful of studies have explored solutions to reduce news avoidance, with nudges offering ...

🚫📰 Can we use nudges to mitigate news avoidance?
Yes and no — it depends on what nudges we use!
Together with @hajoboo.bsky.social & @solecheler.bsky.social I wanted to test whether nudges can reduce news avoidance as limited news consumption—and to do so beyond established Western democracies. 🧵👇

Photograph of Dr. Miriam Fahimi seated at a desk and Dr. Raphaële Xenidis standing beside her, leaning over to look at the computer screen. Both are looking into the camera inside an office setting. The text of the picture says "Working group: Standardising Justice in the Algorithmic Society. Exploring Standardisation Practices for Artificial Intelligence Systems in the European Union."

🚀 Kick-off of the new CAIS #WorkingGroup on AI & Justice!
Co-organizers Dr. Miriam Fahimi & Dr. Raphaële Xenidis visited us to prep for November’s first group meeting. The international team will study how EU standards for AI redefine fairness, fundamental rights & justice.
@mfahimi.bsky.social

New publication, out in Political Analysis:

There is an increasing array of tools to measure facets of morality in political language. But while they ostensibly measure the same concept, do they actually?

I and @fhopp.bsky.social set out to see what happens.

Big thanks also to her thesis reviewers, @thorstenquandt.bsky.social and @evamayerhoeffer.bsky.social! 🙏 - as well as the defense chair, @hajoboo.bsky.social. We saw very proud supervisors today w/ @anniewald.bsky.social & @nicolarighetti.bsky.social 🤗