Rense Corten πŸŸ₯'s Avatar

Rense Corten πŸŸ₯

@rensec

Sociologist at Utrecht University, NL, studying cooperation, trust, social networks, social media, platform economy, using computational social science and experimental methods. I mostly follow academics. Also: @RenseC@mastodon.online

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Latest posts by Rense Corten πŸŸ₯ @rensec

Kan wel in Signal

05.03.2026 12:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

As a fellow native speaker of a language containing bizarre sounds (Dutch) I feel I have to sympathize with the Danes here.

03.03.2026 15:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Want to learn about computational social science *for free* and identify new research partners across academic fields? Apply to one of the 2026 Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science (described in yellow in the attached map) here: sicss.io/locations

03.03.2026 15:01 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

In veel buitelanden is het veel gebruikelijker dat promovendi zakken bij hun verdediging, wat zonder de poeha dan ook minder pijnlijk is.

27.02.2026 18:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Toch is het hele circus eromheen niet alleen voor de sier. Het geeft de hele verdediging ook meer gewicht en zichtbaarheid, waarbij vooral de promotores (maar ook de promovendus zelf) reputatieschade oplopen als er toch iets mis blijkt met het proefschrift.

27.02.2026 15:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

There was still no answer.

27.02.2026 08:37 πŸ‘ 89 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

For those following along, some thoughts on Thurner et al.'s reply to our critique to their "connectivity causes polarization" claim. At first sight, this looks like a solid rejoinder, perhaps even justifying the mildly sarcastic tone. Upon closer inspection, not so much. So, another thread... 1/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We mentioned this in our critique. If I where THK, I would get to the bottom of this and make crystal clear that these data exist, and where they can be found. I find the fact that they didn't do so increasingly puzzling. 9/9

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Most alarmingly, they once more fail to clarify the source for precisely this one crucial post-2010 US/GSS data point. To the best of our knowledge, GSS 2020 did not measure core discussion networks. The original paper does not provide a plausible reference for it either. 8/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Nearly *all* their "post-transition" measure are based on different instruments than the "before" measures; with the "post" measures likely to produce higher estimates of network sizes. In fact, the *only* consistent time series in their figure are the 3 red squares for US/GSS (2004, 2008, 2020). 7/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

THK furthermore fail to acknowledge that establishing a trend requires measures that are consistent over time (Stats 101), while theirs differ *systematically* over time. 6/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

By doing so, they seem to treat polarization somehow as a cross-country phenomenon, even though the paper's title says "polarization in societies" (in fact they measure it in only one society, the US). 5/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

They also do not address the issue that when looking *only* at the US, the alleged increase in connectivity cannot be established as preceding the increase in polarization. Without justification, they pool the data of *several countries* to establish the causal order. 4/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Likewise, THK invoke inclusion criteria (for measures) that turn out to be rather broad ("close friendships, core discussion networks, and strong ties") and do not in fact exclude our alternative measures 3/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

First, not that THK bring up post-hoc exclusion criteria for our counterexamples, which are not even consistently applied. Eg., post-communist societies are now excluded (but not Germany, which is in their Fig), kin ties don't count (although also included in their GSS-based measures), etc. 2/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

For those following along, some thoughts on Thurner et al.'s reply to our critique to their "connectivity causes polarization" claim. At first sight, this looks like a solid rejoinder, perhaps even justifying the mildly sarcastic tone. Upon closer inspection, not so much. So, another thread... 1/

25.02.2026 21:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I'd be happy to do so but I'm not sure when an LLM would consider its resources as "wasted"... (or even what it would consider as "its" resources - can an LMM claim any ownership over resources?)

25.02.2026 13:26 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Claude.ai just apologized for wasting my time

25.02.2026 09:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Today at 12:00, join us for an Online Introduction to High-Resolution Geospatial LISS Data in SANE πŸ§‘β€πŸ’»

πŸ”—Β zoom.us/j/93104040907

18.02.2026 09:07 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Grafiek van sterfte in NL met primaire doodsoorzaak drugs.			
Data			
Jaar	Drugs excl alcohol en tabak	Alcohol	Tabak
2014	123	882	19017
2015	198	957	19244
2016	235	989	19587
2017	262	974	19420
2018	224	1034	19275
2019	252	939	19272
2020	295	1019	20481
2021	298	991	20955
2022	332	1092	20221
2023	338	1125	19880
2024	378	1056	19220

Grafiek van sterfte in NL met primaire doodsoorzaak drugs. Data Jaar Drugs excl alcohol en tabak Alcohol Tabak 2014 123 882 19017 2015 198 957 19244 2016 235 989 19587 2017 262 974 19420 2018 224 1034 19275 2019 252 939 19272 2020 295 1019 20481 2021 298 991 20955 2022 332 1092 20221 2023 338 1125 19880 2024 378 1056 19220

Sterfte NL met primaire doodsoorzaak drugs, absolute aantallen.

18.02.2026 08:34 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 4

β€œDon’t worry,” said Frog. β€œWe will go back to all the places where we walked. We will soon find your button.”

18.02.2026 08:37 πŸ‘ 109 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Out of curiosity, in which industry did you witness this? Also, I wonder what sort of thinking they're still expected to do by themselves (and how we are supposed to teach and evaluate that)....

18.02.2026 08:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Please enlighten us!

17.02.2026 21:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Zeker, dat kan haast niet missen dan

16.02.2026 14:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The β€œEpstein Files” and the anatomy of hidden social networks How secrecy reshapes structure and why its analysis is conditional on the data

A lot of β€œnetwork analysis” about the Epstein Files.

Nearly all of them missing the point: when a system operates under strong incentives for discretion, what gets documented is NOT a neutral sample of reality.
Results are conditional on what is observed!

open.substack.com/pub/manlius/...

16.02.2026 12:43 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Maar was die koffie voor of na zijn Nobelprijswinnende werk?

16.02.2026 13:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Vacancies | ICS ICS Sociology PhD positions vacancies Graduate school program Social Sciences Methodology

I’m looking for three PhD students for my new ERC project, starting 1 September. The goal is to understand how firms shape inequality in workers’ careersβ€”using population registers.

Please spread the word! Deadline is March 8, more info here (see projects 4-6):

ics-graduateschool.nl/vacancies/

16.02.2026 11:06 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Deze collega's schrijven:
"Zo berichte NRC over een studie die liet zien dat migratieonderzoekers met uiteenlopende ideologische opvattingen tot tegenstelde conclusies kwamen op basis van dezelfde dataset"
Deze grafiek uit de studie laat zien dat dat n volstrekt onjuiste interpretatie is.

14.02.2026 11:13 πŸ‘ 101 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 6

I know, of course. I was (jokingly) comparing to the Netherlands in the past

13.02.2026 13:08 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Just their livers though. Also, it's no longer as common here.

13.02.2026 12:54 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0