Antone Johnson

@[email protected]
743 Followers
576 Following
508 Posts
Full-stack general counsel to emerging technology ventures, platforms & products. Policy wonk, law geek, very concerned citizen. SF/SV native devoted to CA, north & south.
Verifiedhttps://fedified.com/@antonejohnson
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My Workhttps://about.me/antone
Blueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/antone.bsky.social
Antone JohnsonNov 15, 2024
Ethan ZuckermanNov 13, 2024
Alexandros Efstratiou presented a terrific paper from UCL, Binghamton U and the fine folks at iDrama lab, which helps unpack the spread of COVID-19 misinfo. We all know that misinformation about COVID flooded the internet, but this study examines how scientific literature was used and misused during the pandemic and how it spread on Twitter. (https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.13248)
"Here's Your Evidence": False Consensus in Public Twitter Discussions of COVID-19 Science

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an extraordinary rate of scientific papers on the topic that were discussed among the general public, although often in biased or misinformed ways. In this paper, we present a mixed-methods analysis aimed at examining whether public discussions were commensurate with the scientific consensus on several COVID-19 issues. We estimate scientific consensus based on samples of abstracts from preprint servers and compare against the volume of public discussions on Twitter mentioning these papers. We find that anti-consensus posts and users, though overall less numerous than pro-consensus ones, are vastly over-represented on Twitter, thus producing a false consensus effect. This transpires with favorable papers being disproportionately amplified, along with an influx of new anti-consensus user sign-ups. Finally, our content analysis highlights that anti-consensus users misrepresent scientific findings or question scientists' integrity in their efforts to substantiate their claims.

arXiv.org
Antone JohnsonNov 15, 2024
STATNov 15, 2024
Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. at HHS: The scientific community, and biopharma investors, respond https://www.statnews.com/2024/11/14/trump-rfk-jr-hhs-nomination-reactions-science-pharma-biotech/
Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. at HHS: The scientific community, and biopharma investors, respond

Reporters @statnews asked leaders in the life sciences commuity for reactions to RFK Jr.'s selection as health secretary. Many were aghast, while others played down the news.

STAT
Antone JohnsonNov 15, 2024
TechmemeNov 15, 2024

Mark Zuckerberg says Threads is testing custom feeds for certain profiles or topics; the Threads' version seems easier to use than Bluesky's custom feeds (Emma Roth/The Verge)

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/15/24297313/threads-custom-feeds-test
http://www.techmeme.com/241115/p14#a241115p14

Threads is testing custom feeds for your favorite topics

Threads is testing a new feature that will let you create custom feeds to follow specific topics and profiles.

The Verge
Antone JohnsonAug 31, 2024
Steve HermanAug 31, 2024
Police taser a Trump rally attendee in Pennsylvania who stormed the media riser moments after the former president complained about his press coverage. https://apnews.com/article/trump-rally-arrest-taser-media-68fe78b79ae65556c4efc850e142998c
Police say a man will face charges after storming into the press area at a Trump rally

Police say a man will face misdemeanor charges after he stormed into the press area at Donald Trump’s rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, before being surrounded by authorities as the former president spoke at the campaign stop. The man was eventually subdued with a Taser. The incident Friday came moments after Trump had criticized major media outlets for what he said was unfavorable coverage and after he had dismissed CNN as fawning for its recent interview with Democrat Kamala Harris. The man's motives aren't immediately clear. Johnstown police say he'll be formally charged next week with misdemeanor offenses.

AP News
Antone JohnsonMay 28, 2023
Mastodon MigrationMay 24, 2023

Climate Scientists Leave Twitter For Mastodon

So, it is possible for a group to make the collective decision to leave Twitter. Scientists "suffering insults and mass-spam are abandoning Twitter," and setting up shop on Mastodon.

Climate scientists flee Twitter as hostility surges >>> https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230524-climate-scientists-flee-twitter-as-hostility-surges

"Glaciologist @Ruth_Mottram had more than 10,000 followers on Twitter but left in February and joined an alternative scientists' forum powered by Mastodon."

1/

#twittermigration #climate

Climate scientists flee Twitter as hostility surges

Scientists suffering insults and mass-spam are abandoning Twitter for alternative social networks as hostile climate-change denialism surges on the platform following Elon Musk's takeover.

FRANCE 24
Antone JohnsonMay 28, 2023
TidBITSMay 25, 2023
TidBITS Arrives on Mastodon, Continues (Reluctantly) on Twitter and Facebook
https://tidbits.com/2023/05/25/tidbits-arrives-on-mastodon-continues-reluctantly-on-twitter-and-facebook
TidBITS Arrives on Mastodon, Continues (Reluctantly) on Twitter and Facebook - TidBITS

After Twitter put a  $42,000-per-month API fee for enterprises into effect, the WordPress Jetpack service dropped its Twitter connections, ending automatic posting of TidBITS articles on Twitter. Curious if he could sort out a free replacement, Adam Engst dug around and pieced one together. 

TidBITS
Antone JohnsonMay 28, 2023
Dr. Casey FieslerMay 25, 2023
We ( @bkeegan @MattNicholson @blakeley ) are researchers at University of Colorado Boulder conducting a survey about social media platform migration. If you are at least 18 and have used Twitter and/or Mastodon you are eligible to share your experiences with leaving (or choosing not to leave) Twitter and/or joining (or choosing not to join) Mastodon. You can optionally provide your email address to enter a drawing for a $75 gift card. Please boost! Survey link: https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3BLXjcmBmKpyR2S
Qualtrics Survey | Social Media Platform Migration Survey

The purpose of this research is to explore the factors that lead to and challenges of leaving and joining social media platforms, including federated social media. This research will help us to understand how socio-technical infrastructures are regenerated and remain resilient from influxes of newcomers, in order to inform better designs and processes.

Antone JohnsonMay 5, 2023
CarlGMay 5, 2023

#ClarenceThomas has already demonstrated that he has no honor by accepting millions from a GOP megadonor - the lack of reporting is just the icing on the cake.

But if he cared one iota for #SCOTUS as opposed to his own career or the conservative majority, he would resign so the Court can work on restoring its reputation.

The fact that he thinks his seat on the court is more important than the institution itself speaks volumes about how low he truly is.

#LawFedi

EDIT - fixed typo.

Antone JohnsonApr 28, 2023
Rob PegoraroApr 27, 2023

If you thought Amazon's transparency report was a joke, check out Twitter's belated and inadequate excuse for one. As @mmasnick writes: "This isn’t a transparency report. It’s an obfuscation report."
https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2023/an-update-on-twitter-transparency-reporting

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/26/twitter-turns-in-its-transparency-homework-late-and-incomplete/

An update on Twitter Transparency Reporting

As we review our approach to transparency reporting in light of innovations in content moderation and changes in the regulatory landscape, we believe it’s important to share data from H1 2022 on our h

Antone JohnsonApr 28, 2023
Philip BumpApr 28, 2023
Some bad actors who are targeted by federal law enforcement are actually bad actors who deserve to be targeted by law enforcement and not White Christian martyrs.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/27/jack-teixeira-disclosures-green-tucker-carlson/?itid=ap_philipbump
If Jack Teixeira isn’t a hero, maybe the Jan. 6 rioters aren’t either?

A thought experiment for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and others on the right.

The Washington Post