J. Nathan Matias 🦣

Social & computer scientist who works alongside communities on science for a safer, fairer, more understanding Internet.

Founder, Citizens and Technology Lab · Visiting Scholar, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia · Assistant Prof at Cornell · Guatemalan-American · Co-founder of @transparenttech

Enjoys taking photos & listening to books/poetry on very long bike rides.

natematias.com: https://natematias.com
Citizens and Technology Lab: https://citizensandtech.org
Coalition for Independent Technology Research: https://independenttechresearch.org/

Public Key

npub1ej7wgkfvjf5dg6fcrz2gn6ws662dayzzcdcnntz78pedkg0w3hcsz7ergk

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsve08ytykfy6x5dyup39yfa8gdd9x7jppvxufe430rsukmy8hgmugpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsnrxt73

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1ej7wgkfvjf5dg6fcrz2gn6ws662dayzzcdcnntz78pedkg0w3hcsz7ergk

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Last Notes

2024-09-04 02:35:37

Rising Voices at @npub18wl…wxmu is doing amazing work to organize folks working to expand internet and indigenous language resources. Here’s a short video about a project by one group in Chiapas Mexico
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_eQuUWy8nC/?igsh=MWU4eXRyMXZhdXhrZQ

2024-08-04 19:57:57

Fascinated that Olympics deepfakes are being used to circumvent copyright restrictions online.
Basically, as soon as someone wins a medal, I'm seeing deepfake YouTube shorts about their victory.
I can see why: people are searching for information about winners, and low res video can quickly be enhanced to skim ad revenue in the period before rights-managed media can be published.
Disturbed by the grotesque, race/gender stereotype images this is propagating, clearly informed by porn data :(

2024-08-02 00:45:38

Earlier this week, a friend in UK civil society told me: "I don't think there's been an election year in recent memory where I knew less about the internet and politics."
That's not an accident. In two weeks, Meta plans to shut down its leading transparency tool called CrowdTangle, a tool used by researchers & journalists for so much reporting about current affairs.
Today @npub14vl…2u7h released a report highlighting the impacts that Meta's decision will have
https://independenttechresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CrowdTangle-Survey-Report-Final.pdf

2024-07-31 23:17:28

Today I learned that undocumented immigrants in the US pay roughly $96.7 billion in taxes every year https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article290533609.html#campaignName=fresno_abeja_newsletter&linkType=nmeintro

2024-07-25 18:36:41

(Please share) Do you use encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, or Element?
And have you faced challenges/frustrations related to privacy, encryption, and moderation?
CAT Lab is launching a new study to collect & share anonymous stories about people's needs and challenges with encryption/moderation — to better inform design and policy debates that seem stuck on safety vs privacy.
Website & Survey in EN & ES:
https://opcandado.citizensandtech.org/

2024-07-21 17:44:49

Today I learned that most Americans live within 2 miles of a public EV charger, and that proximity to a charger is correlated with support for phasing out production of gasoline cars.
Source: Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024/05/23/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-in-the-u-s/
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/825/239/977/166/944/original/1cac31f52cd4670d.png

2024-07-20 23:38:22

Sometimes when things don’t go as planned, they still go all right. #OutdoorMoments
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/820/975/438/100/603/original/3f96f158c60f025d.png

2024-07-20 04:49:50

Within hours of posting a call for help collecting data on air quality relevant to my health, I am getting amazing notes offering to help from some of the world's leading air pollution analysts.
Moved beyond words 🥹💗

2024-07-20 02:49:02

How can we train people in the art of learning to read scholarly research like a scientist?
Fascinated by this project that studied how biologists read papers, from undergrads to faculty, and why undergrads get so lost on things that experienced researchers find fast/easy.
More experienced readers focused on the data. More junior ones focused on the narrative.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21548455.2022.2078010
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/816/047/876/796/106/original/8401a80730038e3f.png

2024-07-19 00:50:23

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the photos from Ithaca NY are On Brand
https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/6537478893/

2024-07-15 23:16:23

Fascinating paper arising from an extraordinary data project:
"Capital punishment is more commonly practiced in places where lynching of Blacks occurred more frequently and in states in which slavery was legal as of 1860."
"Scholars have debated whether capital punishment reflects a legacy of lynching or slavery. Our analysis shows lynching on its own is a significant predictor of contemporary executions, but once slavery is accounted for, slavery predicts executions"
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00027162211016277

2024-06-19 19:52:24

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I agree that reply-gating would be a useful feature & I'm encouraged to see it on the list of features being explored.
The only exception to reply-restrictions would be elected officials, where some state law and case law require official government accounts and the accounts of public officials to remain open to messages from the public.
A reply-gating feature would allow some accounts to use it while also allowing public officials to follow applicable law.
https://knightcolumbia.org/content/supreme-court-ends-long-running-lawsuit-over-trumps-now-defunct-twitter-account

2024-06-19 15:20:30

"Opal Lee, the 97-year-old Texan known for her push to make Juneteenth a national holiday, was given the keys Friday to her new home, which was built on the same tree-lined corner lot in Fort Worth that her family was driven from by a racist mob when she was 12."
https://apnews.com/article/opal-lee-new-house-racist-mob-texas-549697c3f027e58d68c040d3a0387510

2024-06-17 21:08:45

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oh cool, thanks for clarifying!

2024-06-17 18:25:01

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great bot idea! @npub145g…mrpm It looks like some of the map links are mismatched, as with this one, unless I'm mistaken?

2024-06-17 04:50:28

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a gut punch :(

2024-06-17 04:45:20

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Marshall's brilliant work with Sisi Wei and Olga Pierce on the Surgeon Scorecard was a profoundly influential project in my development as a scholar.
The project reported data on inpatient surgery complications for over 16k doctors in America, covering 63k complications and over 3.4k deaths.
Together they demonstrated the power of transparency and public knowledge for driving change.
https://projects.propublica.org/surgeons/

2024-06-17 04:40:20

A good man is hard to find, and Marshall Allen was one of them. From missionary and pastor to investigative journalist, he brought boundless curiosity and tireless care for people in need.
I'm so grateful to have known him and deeply saddened by his passing. Also, I'm deeply moved by this ProPublica obituary, which reflects beautifully on the role of his Christian faith in his investigative journalism.
https://www.propublica.org/article/marshall-allen-propublica-health-care-reporter-dies

2024-06-13 15:54:23

Next year, a new MN law will require tech firms to report results from experiments involving > 1000 people.
This could be *huge* for public knowledge. It could also pollute science, since fast-moving firms don't always have time to validate tests & didn't expect them to become public.
This validation is essential for reliable science. In a new post, I report on work to validate problems with 22% experiments in the Upworthy Archive & update the scientific record.
https://upworthy.natematias.com/2024-06-upworthy-archive-update.html

2024-06-06 04:31:39

Not a fan of Nature writing full-on editorial stories from pre-prints in AI before they have been peer reviewed.
Today's reminder that Springer Nature is fundamentally a business.

2024-05-28 04:06:30

Today I am grateful for conscientious objectors who gave their lives over the centuries to establish paths for people to choose not to participate in the violent parts of a conscripted military.
According to this UN report, the earliest recorded conscientious objector was a Christian — Saint Maximilian, who refused to serve in the Roman army due to religious convictions. As the idea of the nation state & conscription grew, so did the idea of conscientious objection.
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/ConscientiousObjection_en.pdf

2024-05-21 06:18:56

What does it mean for a company to "know" that their products are harming people, how do corporate scientists convince themselves not to look at the truth, and how does that change?
Stop what you're doing and read this *extraordinary* story right now by Sharon Lerner for ProPublica and the New Yorker.
https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story

2024-05-18 05:51:08

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here's an article from February in the New England Journal of Medicine that looks at cognition & memory in a large community sample.
Out of ~113 thousand participants, people who recovered from COVID had small deficits in global cognition compared to those without COVID, and larger deficits were correlated with longer recovery times. This included memory, reasoning, and executive function.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330

2024-05-04 20:53:41

Saddened to think about how much infrastructure relies on the whims of an unstable leader.
A group of US auto-makers recently agreed to switch their cars to the Tesla Supercharger standard. Now Musk has laid off the *entire* supercharger team, putting the future of EV charging at risk.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/3/24147402/tesla-supercharger-layoffs-stalled-ev-infrastructure-projects
Fortunately, a new firm supported by auto makers plans significant investments in chargers:
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ionna-ev-charging-joint-venture-nacs-ccs-bmw-honda-gm/707513/

2024-04-21 16:27:03

In the middle of a tough day, the neighborhood kids stopped by and asked for help with a stuck bicycle chain. I doubt they realize it did me more good than them <3

2024-04-07 01:10:23

I am finding LinkedIn's AI guided responses to be so insightful.
A real value-add to HR conversations that will help me follow employment law.
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/226/795/564/951/032/original/68012316489cffb4.png