Daniel Silver

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

What happens when we permit the sociological imagination to run wild, unrestrained by judgement? That may be the true legacy of MIlls’ book.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

The imagination has long been considered both essential and dangerous. It is essential because it represents a capacity to make new connections among existing ideas and to propose new ones. It is dangerous for the same reason.

https://t.co/RqJ5ByMiQb

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

It is striking, then, that the text which has become the model and inspiration for the sociological enterprise, C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination, puts imagination at the centre of that enterprise.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

But it does help to understand the promise and perils of both. https://t.co/8IwMG83tTi

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

Is influence zero-sum? To a surprising degree, disputes about how to understand the contemporary media ecology come down to this question. One view sees status as inherently zero-sum, and therefore capable of infecting positive-sum domains, such as money.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

In this post, I argue that in fact influence can become positive-sum in the right institutional setting, which is one that makes it money-like. We call these settings platforms. This does not make platforms "good" any more than money is "good."

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

Thank you! Summer project is to work these up into modules that others can use and adapt as part of a broader platform

[Dr. Ashley T. Rubin @ashleytrubin]

This is such a cool idea and a wonderful incorporation of AI into pedagogy, making something possible that would have been impossible before. h/t @danielasilver12 https://t.co/fpBvUfdPfR

[Dr. Ashley T. Rubin @ashleytrubin]

This is such a cool idea and a wonderful incorporation of AI into pedagogy, making something possible that would have been impossible before. h/t @danielasilver12 https://t.co/fpBvUfdPfR

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

This means that for both enthusiasts and critics of recent trends, it is most likely a mistake to treat those trends as evidence of the ultimate telos of the field.

disciplinary history is more fractal-like, defined by arrays of overlapping and recurrent branchings.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

A (Straussian??!!) analysis of over a century of sociology journal articles, extending explorations by @ashleytrubin. The main result is that topics and styles come and go in waves.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

The usual pattern is a quick ascent followed by a return to a new baseline, as part of the background set of possible topics.

https://t.co/YJx9wxXT5V

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

@cesifoti Very interesting work and thread! One effort in this direction, which forms the basis of related simulation and empirical work looking more at the internal structure: https://t.co/1Xi0iGa0ti

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

If the external justification of social capitalism involves the social benefits that flow from staging a clout competition, the internal ethics involves guidance as to how to do so well.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

Why do we fight so much for attention and influence on social media platforms? A theory of social capitalism.

[Daniel Silver @danielasilver12]

This does not mean that anything goes, however, any more than competition within a sports league means that one can use any means necessary to destroy one’s competitor.