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Gregory Convertito

@gregconvertito.bsky.social

Philosophy adjunct. Political philosophy, Marx, Latin America, and some other stuff. he/him https://gregoryconvertito.wordpress.com/ Series editor of @apaphilosophy.bsky.social Teaching and Learning Video Series. Not expressing the views of my employer.

249 Followers  |  481 Following  |  219 Posts  |  Joined: 14.01.2025  |  2.5163

Latest posts by gregconvertito.bsky.social on Bluesky


A great book that everyone should read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_...

23.02.2026 18:19 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

bsky.app/profile/lutz...

23.02.2026 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Not that I am supposing either party involved in this transaction cares much about the problems with (1).

This is all so bleak.

23.02.2026 16:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Perhaps I am wrong, but I can only think of two ways this can be done: (1) giving away your secure credentials by just typing them into third party software; or (2) linking a third party application through Canvas, which your instructor and/or IT department will be able to detect.

23.02.2026 16:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Please, if you are interested in writing for the series, reach out to me. We’re always looking for people who use video resources in interesting ways to teach philosophy. @apaphilosophy.bsky.social

20.02.2026 18:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
The political effects of X's feed algorithm
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2
Received: 16 December 2024
Accepted: 4 January 2026
Published online: 18 February 2026
Open access
β€’ Check for updates
Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m
Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects.
Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.

The political effects of X's feed algorithm https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2 Received: 16 December 2024 Accepted: 4 January 2026 Published online: 18 February 2026 Open access β€’ Check for updates Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.

A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right.

Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement.

This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.

19.02.2026 18:57 β€” πŸ‘ 5162    πŸ” 2576    πŸ’¬ 129    πŸ“Œ 314

Thank you @whatremains.bsky.social for this great contribution to the series!

19.02.2026 02:19 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Combating β€œOpinion”: Gilles Deleuze Meets Timothy β€œSpeed” Levitch | Blog of the APA Below we find a clip from The Cruise, a 1998 documentary by Bennett Miller that follows the now-infamous New York City tour bus guide Timothy β€œSpeed” Levitch on some of his untraditional excursions in...

I wrote about Deleuze, Timothy Speed Levitch, and the ideology of common sense for the APA Teaching and Learning Video Series.

blog.apaonline.org/2026/02/18/c...

19.02.2026 01:34 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Combating β€œOpinion”: Gilles Deleuze Meets Timothy β€œSpeed” Levitch | Blog of the APA Below we find a clip from The Cruise, a 1998 documentary by Bennett Miller that follows the now-infamous New York City tour bus guide Timothy β€œSpeed” Levitch on some of his untraditional excursions in...

Excited to announce February’s post in the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social’s Teaching and Learning Video Series: Eric Aldieri’s approach to pushing students beyond β€˜common opinion,’ with a clip of β€œnow-infamous New York City tour bus guide Timothy β€˜Speed’ Levitch.” blog.apaonline.org/2026/02/18/c...

18.02.2026 18:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Keep in mind that some teachers are already teaching kids to use AI in ways that aren't that far removed from this -- and or because school policies are encouraging it.

It's usually phrased something like "students may use AI in the writing process as long as the final product is theirs."

17.02.2026 11:22 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

Not really in the sense demarcated in the passage. Otherwise everything excluded would be included.

16.02.2026 17:41 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Also very funny in that it is not even an example of knowledge of β€œthe strategic components of the art of war”…?

16.02.2026 17:29 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

One reason I believe this is that AMLO’s term in office was marked by the dissolution of independent agencies and the aggregation of their power to the executive. The opposite of what is described here as a set of possible solutions to our current constitutional crisis. bsky.app/profile/libe...

16.02.2026 02:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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High School English and the Making of American Readers Abstract. The high school English classroom is the most influential literary institution in the United States, and the most overlooked by literary scholars

As some of you may know, I’m writing a book on the history of high school English in the United States, and I’m excited to share a new article from that projectβ€”β€œHigh School English and the Making of American Readers”—out today in American Literary History! 🧡

academic.oup.com/alh/article/...

13.02.2026 19:21 β€” πŸ‘ 276    πŸ” 102    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 24

I forgot that β€œSpike is a modernizing technocrat” is basically the plot of Buffy s2.

16.02.2026 01:56 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I'm pretty sure I know. They aren't. We're not going to really be able to make a lot of progress in dealing with the implications of this tech unless and until we get rid of all this "woo-woo" talk about LLMs. Anthropic pushing this line is PR, unserious.

13.02.2026 14:15 β€” πŸ‘ 1869    πŸ” 336    πŸ’¬ 81    πŸ“Œ 108

retweeting this because I really believe that comparison of our current political situation with the recent trajectory of Mexico is instructive, both in the similarities and the divergences.

06.02.2026 17:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Damn I’m gonna have to watch the new show, aren’t I.

31.01.2026 20:11 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

youtu.be/vvtp-dKfbco?...

31.01.2026 19:41 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Those were formative in their different ways, but others I really loved:

- Critical Views/Critical Values (art crit class in the theater dept)
- Morality and Literature
- Linear Algebra
- Abstract Algebra I & II
- the lab sections of Physics I, II & III (which is where I acquired stats competency)

31.01.2026 01:02 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ok, five classes I took in college:

- Analysis II (math)
- Europe Since 1715 (history)
- Adorno (philosophy)
- Marx (philosophy)
- Mobility and Sustainability (anthropology)

31.01.2026 00:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?

Microsoft and Blackrock have "have largely given up on organic adoption [of AI] by consumers. They have moved on to a new dream of forced adoption mandated by government and managerial coercion."

Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social

29.01.2026 12:38 β€” πŸ‘ 659    πŸ” 343    πŸ’¬ 21    πŸ“Œ 79

I have just had a strange realization: I believe my tenth grade modern global history teacher had read a bunch of Robert Dahl.

29.01.2026 23:05 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

FYI, besides everything else, there’s a pretty severe blood shortage in the US. If you can, go donate.

29.01.2026 16:55 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

a fun exercise might be to stop saying "threat to democracy" when what you're talking about is a breach or suspension of democracy

27.01.2026 23:16 β€” πŸ‘ 36    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

www.liberalcurrents.com/why-we-need-...

27.01.2026 14:29 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I think a lot about Parmy Olson's observation that AI companies actively push everyone to talk about existential risk, because it distracts from more prosaic current day concerns like copyright theft, conditions for data workers, energy & water use, and their financial situation

27.01.2026 12:26 β€” πŸ‘ 822    πŸ” 296    πŸ’¬ 17    πŸ“Œ 12
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Rick Rubin, Kant, and the Tasteful Genius | Blog of the APA What does it mean to be a creative genius? The following clip is from a 2023 60 Minutes interview with legendary music producer Rick Rubin. In it, Rubin describes his creative process and provides an ...

January’s post in the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social’s β€œTeaching and Learning Video Series” is @redsubway.bsky.social’s really interesting approach to teaching Kant’s aesthetics with reference to an interview with Rick Rubin:
blog.apaonline.org/2026/01/21/r...

24.01.2026 23:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Rick Rubin, Kant, and the Tasteful Genius | Blog of the APA What does it mean to be a creative genius? The following clip is from a 2023 60 Minutes interview with legendary music producer Rick Rubin. In it, Rubin describes his creative process and provides an ...

January’s post in the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social’s β€œTeaching and Learning Video Series” is @redsubway.bsky.social’s really interesting approach to teaching Kant’s aesthetics with reference to an interview with Rick Rubin:
blog.apaonline.org/2026/01/21/r...

24.01.2026 23:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

From @jamellebouie.net: β€œAll occupations resemble one another in some way, and it is striking to read descriptions and accounts of the occupation of Boston in light of events in Minnesota.”

17.01.2026 16:46 β€” πŸ‘ 242    πŸ” 105    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3

@gregconvertito is following 20 prominent accounts