Newsletter

Why is that random controversy blowing up on social media? Is it even real?

Agents of Influence is my newsletter about the people and systems shaping what we believe online: influencers, algorithms, crowds, platforms, power brokers, and institutions.

It's for occasional short essays, quick explainers, and notes on current controversies. One post might break down an influence operation or new platform policy; another might cover how AI is supercharging scams. Sometimes I’m the analyst; sometimes I’m the case study.

It's where I publish quickly and more directly than I can in media outlets or books.

No paywall, no spam, no sponsors. Just updates when there’s something worth saying.

Recent posts

  1. Why X's Community Notes is Struggling to Factcheck the LA Mayoral Election

    The "Spencer Pratt got 0 out of 24,000 votes” rumor was obviously false. Fifty Community Notes tried to debunk it. So why did none of them appear?

  2. Red Mirage, Blue Shift, Online Cope

    What Spencer Pratt's viral campaign tells us about online hype, election fraud spin, and what we'll see in the 2026 midterms.

  3. Settlements-as-Spin: The Trump DOJ’s Slush-Fund Politics

    Pandemic contrarian Alex Berenson just got a $150,000 payout, and the spin machine is hard at work. But a look at the primary documents makes it clear: no court found that Biden officials had him censored.

  4. I Was Falsely Accused of "Censorship" in The Free Press. Then Their Editors Censored The Truth.

    I prefer to keep drama off main in this newsletter, so I would rather not have to publish a post like this. But one of the things I've been meaning

  5. Participation Trophies and Million-Dollar Verdicts

    TL;DR: In just three days, two social media “censorship” decisions, two major jury verdicts on platform design harms, and a cautious Meta Oversight Board advisory opinion highlighted the limits of framing

  6. From Epstein to Everything

    The Epstein files are real. The conspiracy theories they're re-fueling aren't. Here's why Pizzagate and Wayfair are surging once again, and why Cenk Uyghur went 9/11 truther.
Browse the full archive →