@sharonaris
Sociologist, social researcher studying who succeeds in education, how and why; policy, professions & AI; Nexus Fellow, University of NSW; passionate about education for all. Occasional medievalist formerly known as LadyBertilak
In this systematic review and meta-analysis of up to 153 longitudinal studies:
Social media use was associated with higher depression, behavioral problems, self-injury, and substance use, and lower self-perception and academic achievement tinyurl.com/47z3anym
This is the *fifth* study to undermine the idea that the muted political response to inequality is due to growing meritocracy beliefs, esp. among the poor.
- Inequality erodes meritocracy beliefs
- Poor meritocrats still want redistribution
- What matters is the politicization of inequality
Links:
We often treat education as the primary engine of social mobility, but conventional models may be overestimating its impact.
Not correcting for selection into schooling will artificially inflate any indirect effect through schooling...
1/3
#socialmobility #sociology
'Strengthening public education is one of the most practical ways Australia can build social cohesion and counter racism'- so why is the govt doing little to support this while students leak to the private sector which champions who they keep or kick out? www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/topi...
Severe irritability in teens can be reduced by daily doses of vitamins and minerals – new research
theconversation.com/severe-irrit...
Inject this entire piece into my veins 👇🎯💯
New post: Can AI Replace Social Science Researchers? (No. No it can't. Come on, now.)
davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/can-ai-rep...
My PhD research showed most parents looked for other families looked for other families like themselves when choosing a school - so we can anticipate this trend continuing www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...
The international boycott of ChatGPT has absolutely exploded.
2.5M people have already joined, and this is just the beginning.
Go to quitgpt.org.
Cancel your subscription, delete your account.
And tell at least one person why.
My op-ed: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"The most effective consumer boycotts in history share two qualities: they are narrow and they are easy," writes @rutgerbregman.com
Incredibly thoughtful piece that reviews the present landscape and likely future impacts for what AI means for the social sciences www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
I’m on the Meta Oversight Board. We need AI protections now | Suzanne Nossel
Feels like a good time to reup this piece I published with Janet Haven in Foreign Policy the week before the 2024 election
datasociety.net/wp-content/u...
The richest man owns X.
The second and third richest men control Google.
The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.
And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.
See the problem here?
The number of submissions in arxiv is growing exponentially
This is interesting. AI will break the academic publication system. Exponentially more submissions, less reviewers, devaluation of published articles. We are drowning in slop.
Dr Toby Walsh from UNSW’s AI institute warns Ausrralia is failing to protect itself from AI harms and is in thrall to big tech www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
As a Black man with Tourette Syndrome, the Public Advocate has some thoughts on BAFTA, Pt. 1:
Hear about his experience with Coprolalia, his thoughts on how BAFTA mishandled the moment, and the need for care for all who are harmed:
Full video: youtu.be/FgaqKIxS4Hs
Authoritarian regimes perceive many humanities and social sciences as useless and dangerous. But while their truths might be inconvenient, they are vital to preventing technological developments from tearing already frayed social fabrics, says Saikat Majumdar #AcademicSky
https://ow.ly/2YMB50YiIJn
they’re talking about the decision to add facial recognition to the camera glasses. this company needs to be shut down.
It is well past time for the Albanese Labor government to stop this penalising of arts and humanities students through ridiculous course fees - the future of our arts, social science and humanities culture, disciplines and industry depends on it. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
In praise of librarians
Are you a social science society looking for advice on encouraging & facilitating inclusivity in your organisation? Explore our EDI hub for lots of free resources on how to embed inclusivity across events, funding, governance, membership, publishing & more.
"By the end of the two-year period, 94% of participants reported they were housed."
A million pilot programs show the same thing: when people are given enough money to afford housing, homelessness ends.
Other supports matter, but housing comes first. Not policing. Not moralizing. Homes.
This is really good.
Every Australian should know about the influences underpinning our politics - which goes a long way to explain the mess we’re in #auspol
In unsurprising but concerning findings, Australian news sources are downplayed by AI news aggregation in favour of US ones, even when reader IDs in Aus, risking further media concentration and news deserts www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...
Knowledge unified under the outstretched arms of Philosophy
BL Add 30024; Brunetto Latini, Li Livres dou Tresor; 1260-1299 CE; France, S.; f.1v
“Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity.”
www.media.mit.edu/publications...
It's inevitable, you simply must adapt to it and use it, you have no choice, but also please use it more or it's going to die
Fantastic post by @add-hawk.bsky.social outlining a class assessment project on use of AI and future skilling that doesn’t dispirit all!
