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Laia Castro

@laiacastro.bsky.social

Associate Professor, Political Science Department, University of Barcelona; Digital Media & Politics | https://www.laiacastro.com

623 Followers  |  443 Following  |  4 Posts  |  Joined: 08.01.2024
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Posts by Laia Castro (@laiacastro.bsky.social)

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โ€˜In the end, you feel blankโ€™: Indiaโ€™s female workers watching hours of abusive content to train AI Women in rural communities describe trauma of moderating violent and pornographic content for global tech companies

when people talk about AI used in moderation of social media posts, you must remember there is always the human-in-the-loop, often a woman, often in the Global South, always dehumanised and forgotten

1/n

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

24.02.2026 16:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 549    ๐Ÿ” 351    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 23
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Have you conducted a content analysis and want to share your variable operationalizations? Or are you about to start one?

If so, check out DOCA: a great openscience initiative offering a shared database of content-analytical variables for communication science.

โžก๏ธ www.hope.uzh.ch/doca

14.01.2026 12:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Call for Authors ๐Ÿ“ฃ
Contribute to the Database of Variables for Content Analysis (DOCA) โ€“ thematic call on Digital Publics!
We invite variable entries for the analysis of digital publics (manual & automated approaches).

๐Ÿ”— Full call: t.uzh.ch/1Wn

#DigitalPublics #ContentAnalysis #CommResearch

12.02.2026 20:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

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/

24.11.2025 20:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 82    ๐Ÿ” 33    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The Public Opinion Analytics Lab (POAL) is a collaboration by Southampton, Reading, and the LSE to leverage our strengths in public opinion research for academia and beyond. Today we've published our first methods briefโ€” a short primer on conjoint experiments by the fantastic Thomas Robinson (LSE).

10.11.2025 10:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Cover titled "The Power of the Crowd" by Sabrina Stรถckli, Benjamin A. Lyons, and Hannah Krekler, published by Cambridge Elements in Political Science. The cover features a vibrant, multicolored geometric background.

Cover titled "The Power of the Crowd" by Sabrina Stรถckli, Benjamin A. Lyons, and Hannah Krekler, published by Cambridge Elements in Political Science. The cover features a vibrant, multicolored geometric background.

NEW - 'The Power of the Crowd: How the Public Can Both Spoil and Improve Social Media as a Source of Information'

This Cambridge Element by F. Stรถckel, S. Stรถckli, B.A. Lyons, H. Kroker & @jasonreifler.bsky.social is free to read for 2 weeks.

cup.org/4344Tyl

#cambridgeelements #politics #Polisky

08.10.2025 14:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 17    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Social media users adopt the toxic behaviors of ingroup members

An analysis of 7 million tweets from over 700,000 accounts finds that exposures to toxic behavior by ingroup members is the primary driver of contagious toxicity online academic.oup.com/jcmc/article...

22.10.2025 13:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 413    ๐Ÿ” 174    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 11    ๐Ÿ“Œ 45
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How common are โ€œsurvey professionalsโ€ - people who take dozens of online surveys for pay - across online panels, and do they harm data quality?

Our paper, FirstView at @politicalanalysis.bsky.social, tackles this question using browsing data from three U.S. samples (Facebook, YouGov, and Lucid):

07.10.2025 18:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 136    ๐Ÿ” 54    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
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How do people think different sectorsโ€™ use of generative AI will change their experience of interacting with them?

More optimists than pessimists for e.g. science and search engines, but more pessimists than optimists for news media, government, and โ€“ especially โ€“ politicians 1/3

07.10.2025 09:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Explaining public preferences for regulating Artificial Intelligence in election campaigns: Evidence from the U.S. and Taiwan The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in election campaigns, such as AI-generated political ads, automated messaging, and the widespread โ€ฆ

๐Ÿงต New publication: How do people feel about regulating #AI in election campaigns? ๐Ÿงต

In a new article, @adrauc.bsky.social, @kunkakom.bsky.social, and I examine when and why people support stronger AI regulation in political competition.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

๐Ÿ‘‡

06.10.2025 11:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Abstract

Abstract

New paper out with @dasalgon.bsky.social: โ€œFar-Right Agenda Setting: How the Far Right influences the Political Mainstreamโ€ doi.org/10.1017/S1475676525100066 #openaccess in @ejprjournal.bsky.social๐Ÿงต

07.10.2025 07:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 474    ๐Ÿ” 206    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 16
Screenshot of the article โ€œOpen science in democracy research: the research infrastructure โ€˜Monitoring Electoral Democracyโ€™ (MEDem)โ€ published in European Political Science. The header shows the journal name, DOI link, and the label โ€œDEBATE.โ€ 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

Screenshot of the article โ€œOpen science in democracy research: the research infrastructure โ€˜Monitoring Electoral Democracyโ€™ (MEDem)โ€ published in European Political Science. The header shows the journal name, DOI link, and the label โ€œDEBATE.โ€ 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 thereโ€™s a paper ๐Ÿ“, itโ€™s realโ€ฆ
๐ŸŽ‰ #MEDem in #EPS @ecpr.bsky.social

The paper outlines how MEDem will strengthen #OpenScience by making data #FAIR in #DemocracyResearch โ€“ and how scholars across Europe are joining forces to build a truly open #ResearchInfrastructure โš™๏ธ

27.09.2025 09:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 48    ๐Ÿ” 27    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Proud to be part of such a productive research group!

๐Ÿ”ŽLooking for a panel survey? Feel free to use ours!

29.09.2025 16:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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A multilevel network approach to revealing patterns of online political selective exposure Selective exposure, individualsโ€™ inclination to seek out information that supports their beliefs while avoiding information that contradicts them, plays an important role in the emergence of polarizat...

New publication with @abovet.bsky.social @esserfrank.bsky.social @laiacastro.bsky.social

With todayโ€™s political environment becoming increasingly complex, how can political selective exposure be measured beyond the traditional โ€˜left vs. rightโ€™ lens?

Read more:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

26.09.2025 21:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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In_equality Conference 2026 The "Politics of Inequalityโ€ research center invites interdisciplinary & international researchers to Konstanz, Germany, for the In_equality Conference, 15-17 April 2026.

๐ŸšจCall for papers for the 2026 Inequality conference in Konstanz. I'm co-organizing it and we welcome submissions from Computational Social Science. The deadline is approaching quickly!
inequality-conference.de

25.09.2025 09:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Call for expressions of interest for a PhD scholarship within the project GPOL โ€“ Democracy, Elections and Citizenship

๐Ÿงฒ We are hiring!
โœจ PhD position to join @dec-gr.bsky.social
๐Ÿ 4-year FPI contract
๐ŸŽ“ Pol Sci / Social Sci background + Masterโ€™s + English
๐Ÿ“ง Send expression of interest with CV and motivation letter to gr.dec@uab.cat
๐Ÿ”— tinyurl.com/yc3epmv2

17.09.2025 09:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 31    ๐Ÿ” 35    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4

๐Ÿ“ฃ Weโ€™re launching the London Social Media Observatory! ๐ŸŽ‰

โžก๏ธ We are a new multidisciplinary research centre, directed by @andreucasas.bsky.social & funded by the @ukri.org Future Leaders Fellowship

๐Ÿงต [1/4]

16.09.2025 08:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

05.09.2025 06:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2169    ๐Ÿ” 973    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 58    ๐Ÿ“Œ 174
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Scapegoating the Algorithmโ€”Asterisk Americaโ€™s epistemic challenges run deeper than social media.

How much can we blame social media for our polarized political climate?

@danwphilosophy.bsky.social argues that the narrative that the platforms cause polarization โ€œoverlooks deeper political and institutional problems that are reflected on social media, not created by it.โ€

14.08.2025 16:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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To all the #DSA experts and data access enthusiast out there, before you go on holiday, sign up & save the date for the #dsa40 data access days in Berlin, September 25 & 26!

2 days with keynotes, panels, expert insights and practical guidance ๐Ÿ‘‰ dsa40collaboratory.eu/data-access-...

29.07.2025 14:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 16    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

๐Ÿšจ Big News for European Political Science ๐Ÿšจ

Weโ€™re thrilled to announce the launch of the European Political Science Society (EPSS): a new, member-led, not-for-profit association built to support our scholarly community.

๐Ÿ”— epssnet.org

Hereโ€™s a thread with everything you need to know.

๐Ÿงต

26.06.2025 17:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 375    ๐Ÿ” 210    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 58
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Our Digital News Report 2025 is out!

๐Ÿ“Š48 markets
๐ŸŒAlmost 100K respondents
๐Ÿ“ฐKey headline: Audiences lean into video news and influencers, raising misinformation concerns and new dilemmas for publishers

๐Ÿ“ฑExplore now buff.ly/xLP67Tg
๐ŸงตFindings in thread #DNR25

17.06.2025 05:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 94    ๐Ÿ” 81    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 25
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Thrilled to share the program for the III Yale-UB HPE Workshop โ€” a joint initiative bringing together HPE researchers across continents and disciplines. Huge thanks to our sponsors, presenters, and discussants. Canโ€™t wait for a great conference!
cc @cescamat.bsky.social (UB co-host)

18.06.2025 07:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 23    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Digital Democracy Fellowship x TrygFonden Fellowship Program Digital Democracy Fellowship x TrygFonden Fellowship Program

Scholar, journalist, policy maker, NGO working on digital technologies and democracy topics?

Check out this exciting Fellowship program at the @ddc-sdu.bsky.social.

Flexible conditions, inspiring environment, great colleagues.

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ DL: September 15 (check instructions โฌ‡๏ธ)

www.sdu.dk/en/forskning...

18.06.2025 07:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 40    ๐Ÿ” 29    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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The real story isnโ€™t young men supposedly voting far right. Itโ€™s what young women are up to | Cas Mudde There is an opportunity staring centre-left parties in the face โ€“ if they reject the male gaze distorting our politics, says political scientist Cas Mudde

From Bluesky to the Guardian!

In my new op-Ed, I argue that the โ€œmale glazeโ€ of media and politics is empirically, normative, and politically wrong and that progressives should focus more on the left turn of young women.

21.05.2025 10:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 709    ๐Ÿ” 236    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 20    ๐Ÿ“Œ 30
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Special issue on Democratic Listening forthcoming @polcommjournal.bsky.social. 9 excellent articles using experimental, observational, & philosophical methods to study this key component of political comm. Check out the TOC + intro essay by Michael Neblo & myself: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

30.05.2025 14:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 29    ๐Ÿ” 17    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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๐Ÿšจ We're hiring! Join us at @LMU_Muenchen for the DFG-funded project "Democratic Persuasion: How to Make the Case for Democracy."

Interested in making scholarly & societal impact?

Weโ€™re looking for:
๐Ÿ”น 1 Postdoc (100%)
๐Ÿ”น 1 PhD researcher (70%)
Starting: Oct 2025 | Apply by: July 8
More info โฌ‡๏ธ (1/7)

08.05.2025 15:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 119    ๐Ÿ” 106    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Kicked off our #Fuel2Fire ๐Ÿ”ฅ project in Hamburg!

In this cross-country collaboration, we're studying polarization across Europe โ€” from meta discourse to polarizing topics & practices โ€” with partners from Spain, Sweden, Poland & @netzwerkrecherche.org.

#Polarization #Journalism

20.05.2025 15:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Effects of Forecasts on the Accuracy and Precision of Expectations Abstract. Quantitative forecasts have become increasingly prominent as tools for aiding public understanding of sociopolitical trends. But how much, and wh

Out now at @poqjournal.bsky.social! Do election forecasts set realistic election expectations? doi.org/10.1093/poq/... ๐Ÿงต (w/ @mbarnfield.bsky.social, @florianstoeckel.bsky.social, @benlyons.bsky.social, @vittoriomerola.bsky.social, @jasonreifler.bsky.social and other awesome BlueSky-less colleagues)

12.05.2025 10:46 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 22    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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The role of far-right party performance in shaping disinformation concerns of European voters: evidence from the 2024 European Parliament elections Concerns about the risk of disinformation in the 2024 European Parliament elections were widespread in European capitals. Simultaneously, the far-right โ€“ often linked to the spread of disinformatio...

โ–ถ๏ธ Do far-right wins fuel disinformation fears? ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

@kgattermann.bsky.social, @elskevdhoogen.bsky.social and @claesdevreese.bsky.social show that strong far-right showings in the 2024 EP elections heighten public concern about disinformation ๐Ÿ‘‡

25.04.2025 07:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0