Curd Knüpfer

Wait.. Is it a boomer thing to hate when people don't mute their phones??

I thought that was a cross generational consensus.

They should add a sign banning people from holding their phone like a slice of bread and putting it on speaker.

Wow! Thanks Kevin! That means a lot. ☺️

Knüpfer, C. B. (2026). Into the woods: Using digital platforms to learn about political communication. In Teaching Political Communication (pp. 235–244). Edward Elgar Publishing. www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/b...

Teaching Political Communication ‘Coe and Zulli’s Teaching Political Communication features the top minds of our discipline tackling the thorniest issues we face: polarization and partisan motivated reasoning, AI, increased media fra...

It's obviously a huge honor for me to be part of this volume (thanks Kevin & Diana ☺️❤️) and I highly recommend checking out the other chapters!! Super useful to anyone teaching or learning about #PolComm!
www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/tea...

My second main reason for writing this was to see how far I could stretch my tree-based, D&D-inspired analogy. 🌳🌳🧌🌳🤓🌳🌟🌳

...

I mainly wrote this, to point to the fact that these environments are becoming increasingly hostile and that they react differently to different people and positionalities of power. At the very least, we should be aware of this fact -- and be able to disconnect/exit whenever we deem necessary.

...and in which I liken the digital ecosystem we seek to study to a dense forest: If we enter, we are also participating in this ecosystem. And much like any adventure or mythical quest, both rewards and dangers await.

🌳New book chapter: "Into the Woods: Using Digital Platforms to Learn about Political Communication"🌳

In the wonderful new edited volume "Teaching Political Communication", by @kcoe.bsky.social and Diana Zulli.

DDC CDAI Rapport 6 Dansk SoMe YouTube video by Digital Democracy Centre SDU

NEW DDC REPORT: DANES ARE INCREASINGLY USING AI
The sixth Citizens, Digitalisation, & AI (CDAI) report continues to track the Danish population’s evolving relationship with digitalization & AI.
DDC researcher & first author Therese Waalen Sandberg provides a quick overview.

youtu.be/94GZzCPo5Ts

the former host of celebrity apprentice and the former host of fox & friends weekend are launching bombs and destabilizing the world for generations all because voters decided their biggest issue was a trans kid playing jv tennis with their friends 4 states over

Verkauf Warner Bros.: Paramount überbietet Netflix - Tagesschau - Play SRF Mit dem Kaufangebot von Paramount für Warner Bros. in der Höhe von rund 111 Milliarden US-Dollar kann Netflix nicht mithalten und steigt aus. Was das für die US-Medienlandschaft bedeutet.

Here's me on the Swiss evening news, talking about how the latest push for media consolidation in the US has been accompanied by hyper-wealthy familiar ties and personal favors to the regime.

⭐ Call for Applications - ICA PolComm Summer School 2026

📍 University of Leeds
🗓 13–17 July

📅 Deadline: 17:00 GMT, Monday, 30 March 2026
📢 Cohort selected by: 15 April 2026

Full details: polcomm.github.io/summer-school/

Far-right authoritarian tactics to socially marginalize, intimidate, and disenfranchise a group. The oppression of one group signals to others you could be next. This goes far beyond bigotry. The authoritarian playbook enabled and empowered by anti-trans and anti-woke actors.

Also: In what world are bananas not absolutely the easiest fruit? No pit, no need to wash them. The entire metric is meaningless if it ranks them this close to watermelons, which you basically need to wield a machete to slice!!?

Really enjoyed the collegial exchange today, where I presented previous work with @yunkangyang.bsky.social & @mikecowburn.bsky.social on Connective Factions.

While @andre-k-rodarte.bsky.social presented our current project where we expand this study to the case of 🇧🇷

Thanks for comming everyone ☺️🌞

📣 Extension of Deadline for Travel Grants Applications!

We invite applications for travel grants from ICA attendees without sufficient funding. These grants are especially directed at students and junior scholars from Tier B/C.

Apply here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Measuring factional conflict: A comparative approach using party leadership contests - Mike Cowburn, Amelia Malpas, Rachel M Blum, 2026 Intra-party factions have attracted increased scholarly attention in the twenty-first century as party systems have fragmented. Yet, we lack a comparative appro...

🚨🎉 New Publication! 🎉🚨

Measuring Factional Conflict: A Comparative Approach Using Party Leadership Contests

w/ @malpas.bsky.social & @blumrm.bsky.social

Out now in Party Politics. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/1354...

(🧵 below)

Reforming Primary Elections The American system of partisan primary elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate is often blamed for contributing to political polarization and conflict in Congress. These concerns ha...

I’m excited to share a new book, Reforming Primary Elections: Voters, Campaigns, and the Future of Congressional Politics, exploring how reforms could improve primaries. In our chapter, @msaeltzer.bsky.social & I analyze candidates in primaries. Free download: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

First DDC Brown Bag Lunch talk of 2026:
This Thursday (Feb 19th), @curdknupfer.bsky.social and @andre-k-rodarte.bsky.social present ideas and ongoing research on "Connective Factions".
If you are at SDU, grab some lunch and join us in Dynamo, at 12!

Very sorry for your loss. My condolences. 🖤

Terms travel, ideas grow. But today's far right can draw on internationally connected digital networks to craft shared imaginaries, set agendas, and influence global debates.

Marco Rubio says US and Europe 'belong together' despite tensions The US secretary of state reassures European leaders that the Trump administration backs the transatlantic alliance.

In 2026, the secretary of state of the US uses the same terminology to address European leaders and outline official policies.

Matthias Hoffmann & I traced these terms across various actor types and uncovered hierarchies in where they emerged and circulated. Right wing news sites helped establish them. The German party AfD used them in their campaign rhetoric.

Countering the “Climate Cult” – Framing Cascades in Far-Right Digital Networks In many contemporary democracies, digital networks on the far-right have established themselves as “alternatives” to liberal institutions. Within this nexus of parties, hyper-partisan news, and soc...

6 years ago, we first noticed sudden upticks in German fringe far right networks, using terms like "climate cult" to disparage climate activists and green policy initiatives.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Abbau bei Washington Post: US-Medien unter Druck Die Washington Post entlässt rund einen Drittel der Mitarbeitenden. Der Abbau fällt in eine Zeit, in der unabhängige Medien in den USA unter stärkeren Druck geraten, auch durch die US-Regierung. Curd ...

Wenn Milliardäre Medienhäuser kaufen und diese dann zerstören, um Trump zu gefallen: Medien-Experte @curdknupfer.bsky.social im „Echo“-Gespräch.

This week, I attended a conference of the 🇩🇪 Communication Associations #polcomm section on "Democratic Resilience" in snowy Hamburg.
Annett Heft & I presented work on conspiracy theories, & @jolukito.bsky.social gave a keynote on right-wing digital surrogates.
Highly impressed with the panels I saw!

Blink 187

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trump scolds CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for not smiling as she asks about Epstein abuse survivors – as it happened This live blog is now closed.

Even at this point of general inoculation, I will read something like this and literally have to catch my breath for a solid minute.

I hope I never get used to whatever these news cycles are and how they make us feel.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

My favorite genre of Epstein emails are powerful people emailing WITH JEFFREY EPSTEIN about how MeToo has gone too far and the woke mob must be stopped.