Harmony Labs

10/18/2019

Learning from cable news’ Trump-Russia coverage

Featured today in Columbia Journalism Review, our latest narrative analysis project looking at cable news coverage of the collusion scandal, the potential opportunity cost, and its impact on public opinion. Read more: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/cable-news-trump-russia-ukraine.php

With Donald Trump now facing an impeachment inquiry, cable news is, understandably, all-in on the Ukraine story. Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the whistleblower complaint that stemmed from it, has meant that a national press corps already obsessed with T...

03/19/2019

Opportunity alert! We’re looking for two field researchers/data collectors in Atlanta and NYC to support our lead researcher in an exciting project studying the social impact of VR.

This is a freelance position starting in April and runs for approximately two months, evenings and weekends, 20 - 30 hours per week. For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/2HrX8dm

Ready to apply? Email [email protected] with your resume.

01/30/2019

New Media Ventures

Does your idea for social progress need funding to scale? Now is the moment to go for it! Apply to the New Media Ventures 2019 Open Call: http://bit.ly/NMV2019 (The deadline is Feb 11, so don’t wait!)

@newmediaventures is looking for startups building movements, media and technology to shift power and move democracy forward! Nonprofits and for-profits can apply.

Grants and investments range from $50k-$250k. Plus, you get introductions, exposure and support from an amazing network of people!

New Media Ventures is the first seed fund and national network of angel investors supporting media and tech startups that disrupt politics and catalyze progressive change.

01/17/2019

A New Approach for Understanding the Media Ecosystem

Check out our latest blog post for a look back at our inaugural media tech accelerator and the six amazing startups working at the intersection of media and civic action: https://bit.ly/2QWKhQT

At Harmony Labs, our mission is to understand the social effects of media and to use this understanding to experiment with new solutions…

01/16/2019

New Media Ventures

👏👏Calling all innovators👏👏 We are pleased to announce the 2019 New Media Ventures Open Call! Apply now: http://bit.ly/NMV2019. From January 14th to February 11th, NMV is calling for pitches from activists and entrepreneurs thinking big and working hard to shift power. Can you help us find the next big thing by sharing this widely or tagging a friend who’s been telling you about that great idea they are building?

From Blavity and Sister District Project to Mijente and MobilizeAmerica, the groups who seek and win investment in the Open Call are diverse and transformative. Are you next? Find our FAQ and apply for the Open Call now: http://bit.ly/NMV2019.

12/07/2018

ICYMI, our latest news narrative analysis examines whether the media tends to act as neutral observer, perpetuator, or instigator when covering events of national interest, like mass shootings. More on our blog: http://bit.ly/2Q8dAEq

12/03/2018

Anatomy of a News Media Event – Harmony Labs – Medium

We recently completed a news narrative analysis project centered on mass shootings and how they are covered by the media. What we found is that in almost every case, there were fairly consistent narrative patterns, in day-to-day reporting across different events, and in the treatment of these events by particular media publishers. You can read the results from this project here: https://medium.com/@HarmonyLabs/anatomy-of-a-news-media-event-ba18f262385a

10/25/2018

Thanks to all who attended our first media data science meetup last night! Great to chat with like-minded folks and hear what everyone has been working on. If you’d like to be notified of our next meet up, sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/1Tn0USJcpRUts9MA3

10/19/2018

New Media Ventures

How can campaigns research, create, test, and deploy better, more persuasive messages? In our latest blog post, Managing Director Julie Menter shares some of what she's seen, as well as the questions anyone sending a message should think about.
https://www.newmediaventures.org/tools_for_change/details/sending-a-message-new-approaches-to-political-messaging

08/08/2018

Viral Political Ads May Not Be As Persuasive As You Think

Engagement != Persuasion. Recent results from our Meme Factory project featured in WIRED. Read more below or learn more about this project on our website.

https://www.wired.com/story/viral-political-ads-not-as-persuasive-as-you-think/?mbid=social_twitter_onsiteshare

Does more engagement mean your message is resonating with more people? For politicians campaigning on social media, focusing too much on shares and likes might be a mistake.

07/31/2018

Careers

New job alert! We are currently seeking a Data Engineer to join our amazing team at Harmony Labs. Learn more about this new role and our team on our website.

http://harmonylabs.org/careers

See our open positions and help us help people leverage the power of media to build a better world.

05/17/2018

Vizlab

Announcing another new project from Harmony Labs: Vizlab

Using computer vision, image forensics, and metadata analysis to build meme family lineages and identify originating source communities online, Vizlab seeks to provide journalists, researchers and the public visual search and discovery tools to help track memes as they travel and evolve. The project started in March 2018 and has already collected over 100,000 memes.

Learn more at https://harmonylabs.org/vizlab

Vizlab: Surfacing the visual malware text-based tracking misses

05/09/2018

Ratio

The latest from the lab: One of our newest projects, Ratio, seeks to evolve our information ecosystems by providing a first-of-its-kind cross-platform mapping of news content, as it moves through the "information funnel.” Learn more: https://t.co/IA6gkbI519

Project Ratio: Evolving and improving the news information ecosystems that underpin democracy.

02/08/2018

7th Innovation Fund Open Call: Shift the Story - New Media Ventures

Reminder: deadline to apply for @harmonylabs & @newmediaventure Innovation Fund is tomorrow, 2/9! If you’re a media tech start-up working on issues like the spread & influence of information online & could benefit from funding, apply now: https://t.co/tppmNUJkQk #ShiftTheStory

We are excited to announce the Open Call for the New Media Ventures Innovation Fund! Apply now and spread the word! Over the past year, we have seen alarming attacks on vulnerable communities and rising threats to democratic institutions, including the media. Instead of giving in to outrage and over...

02/01/2018

7th Innovation Fund Open Call: Shift the Story - New Media Ventures

Have an idea for tackling filters bubbles or the spread & influence of misinformation? Does your startup need funding to take it from prototype to product? We’ve teamed up w/ @newmediaventure to fund early-stage companies working in these areas. Apply now: https://t.co/tppmNV0VHS

We are excited to announce the Open Call for the New Media Ventures Innovation Fund! Apply now and spread the word! Over the past year, we have seen alarming attacks on vulnerable communities and rising threats to democratic institutions, including the media. Instead of giving in to outrage and over...

01/29/2018

7th Innovation Fund Open Call: Shift the Story - New Media Ventures

We’re excited to team up with New Media Ventures to help fund new companies looking to solve some of society’s biggest systemic challenges via innovative technology and media approaches. Apply by 2/9 to have your idea considered. More info here: http://bit.ly/2Gs4QR5

We are excited to announce the Open Call for the New Media Ventures Innovation Fund! Apply now and spread the word! Over the past year, we have seen alarming attacks on vulnerable communities and rising threats to democratic institutions, including the media. Instead of giving in to outrage and over...

01/17/2018

10 reasons why Americans don’t trust the media – Trust, Media and Democracy – Medium

A new Knight-Gallup survey of more than 19,000 U.S. adults shows that Americans believe that the media have an important role to play in our democracy — yet they don’t see that role being fulfilled.
Here are 10 findings that stood out in the report:

https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/10-reasons-why-americans-dont-trust-the-media-d0630c125b9e

Public trust in the media is at an all-time low. Results from a major new Knight-Gallup report can help us understand why.

12/15/2017

t.co

Yesterday, scientists at the MIT Media Lab announced that they’ve taught a machine how to manipulate our emotions–a technology that they believe can help filmmakers create more engrossing movies and TV https://t.co/likW8mlC5K

12/12/2017

t.co

Don't blame the election on fake news, write @duncanjwatts & @DavMicRot in @CJR: "..the volume of reporting around fake news, and the role of tech companies.. diverts attention from the culpability of the mainstream media itself." https://t.co/p9VuQbSoar

11/30/2017

VR Action Lab - Trailer

VR Action Lab is live! If the trailer piques your interest, check our materials at https://harmonylabs.org/vr-action-lab

VR Action Lab is a program of Harmony Labs in collaboration with Google VR's Daydream Impact program, Screenwriters Colony, Sensorium Works and Institute of ...

11/28/2017

Reboot: Informing the Electorate

Join Harmony Labs and Reboot Democracy tonight at The Brown Institute for Media Innovation for an event focused on informing the electorate. Some of the people you'll hear from include Peter Koechley (Upworthy, MoveOn.org, The Onion), James Slezak (The New York Times, Purpose), Alexis Wichowski (Columbia University in the City of New York, NYC Veterans), David Rothschild (Harmony Labs Project Ratio), Lauren Holmes (Buoy Up), D.C. Vito (The LAMP), and John Kelly (Graphika).

Reboot Democracy brings together innovators in the technological and political spheres, helps them connect with each other, and supports their development of tools that will revolutionize our democratic system. This month we’re teaming up with Harmony Labs and the Brown Institute for Media Innovat...

11/22/2017

Reboot: Informing the Electorate

Join us this Tuesday as we partner with Reboot Democracy for a conversation focused on Informing the Electorate at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation

Reboot Democracy brings together innovators in the technological and political spheres, helps them connect with each other, and supports their development of tools that will revolutionize our democratic system. This month we’re teaming up with Harmony Labs and the Brown Institute for Media Innovatio...

10/27/2017

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Little-Known, Arresting Modernist Data Visualizations of Black Life for the World’s Fair of 1900

Modern data visualizations have nothing on W.E.B. Du Bois's arresting visualizations of black life from 1900 https://t.co/T0HbrCq2CG

A trailblazing effort “to give, in as systematic and compact a form as possible, the history and present condition of a large group of human beings.”

10/20/2017

'After, I feel ecstatic and emotional': could virtual reality replace therapy?

How virtual reality as therapy helps treat phobias, paranoia, PTSD, and depression.

https://t.co/9hcQKke2Xz

If you’ve got acrophobia, paranoia, fear of flying, PTSD, even depression, software could soon be the solution

10/17/2017

The scientist who spots fake videos

"It’s an arms race." Specialist worries the technology to create fake videos will get really good in 5 to 10 years https://t.co/sykuWeIYOm

Hany Farid discusses how to detect image manipulations — and the increasing sophistication of forgers.

10/13/2017

In the fight against fake news, artificial intelligence is waging a battle it cannot win

Fake news a challenge to AI: Novelty of news stories means information needed for verification might be unavailable https://t.co/XExIydUemF

The problem of sorting truth from lies is much bigger than Facebook or Google.

10/11/2017

Google's new browser experiment lets you learn about basic AI

Learn about basic AI with Teachable Machine: A two-minute summary of what a modern AI can - and can’t - do

https://t.co/w84qlA7Uz5

Just how does machine learning work? You’ve probably read a primer or two on the subject, but often the best way to understand a thing is to try it out for yourself. With that in mind, check out...

10/10/2017

Careers

Come join our team! Harmony Labs is hiring a Tech Director and Marketing & Communications Director. For more information and to apply, please visit: https://harmonylabs.org/careers/

We're hiring. Help us help people leverage the power of media to build a better world.

09/12/2017

Scientists are analyzing your tweets and FB posts—is it ethical?

Mining online user data? These institutions are developing ethics and guidelines for your research.

https://t.co/orelY3FFBr #Privacy

Did you know researchers are reading and analyzing your tweets and Facebook posts in the name of science? If so, how do you feel about it? If you feel unsettled, what would make you feel better?

09/07/2017

Harmony Institute on Twitter

Study: moral contagion is strong within groups on social networks but doesn't cross ideological lines.

https://t.co/IL1RXHsMZ5 https://t.co/mRMLGbkgLw

“Study: moral contagion is strong within groups on social networks but doesn't cross ideological lines. https://t.co/IL1RXHsMZ5”

09/06/2017

Those 3% of scientific papers that deny climate change? A review found them all flawed

Researches investigate scientific papers that deny climate change. Find none had results that were replicable. https://t.co/adwT061sVp

Scientists who deny climate change are not modern-day Galileos.

09/06/2017

VR Promises a Surprising Tech Alternative to Painkillers in Deadly Opioid Crisis

In small clinical trial, virtual reality shows it's twice as effective as using opiates to manage pain. https://t.co/iyIAM8KSAi

Virtual reality could be an alternative to painkillers or treatment in the massive national opioid crisis the United States is currently going through.

09/06/2017

Your body is the controller with this wireless 'e-skin' shirt for HoloLens

Body control: Japanese company launching printed circuit fabric shirt to use as VR controller. https://t.co/Kmv1Bla1jR

A company called Xenoma founded by researchers from the University of Tokyo has created a shirt that tracks the motion and position of the upper body. This data can then be used to control actions in virtual and augmented reality…

09/06/2017

Can 'cli-fi' actually make a difference? A climate scientist's perspective

Can climate-fiction movies and shows motivate people to seek out scientific evidence for themselves? https://t.co/tm7ECJ1bOI

Climate change - or global warming - is a term we are all familiar with. The warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to the consumption of fossil fuels by human activity was predicted in the 19th century. It can be seen in the increase in global temperature from the industrial revolution onwards, and…

09/01/2017

What Philosophers Say About the Inevitability of Virtual Reality

"Each new [VR] device… offered a vision of what technology could be, even if it wasn’t quite there yet.”

https://t.co/YGFkZvzS22

Virtual reality has long been something of a stand-in for all forms of digital technology.

09/01/2017

See, also: Featured visualizations of Wikipedia

Fun! A big batch of visualizations built on Wikipedia data: https://t.co/LzobW8lrpJ

A collection of visualization projects built on Wikipedia data

08/31/2017

The Chartmaker Directory

From Amazon QuickSight to ZingChart - A big chart of tools for creating specific types of visualizations: https://t.co/IhRNuAAV2r

08/30/2017

Look Who's Fighting Our Algorithmic Overlords

Important: open-source bias detection tool tests algorithms to determine their flaws. But here are some limitations. https://t.co/mRkvkGPSgM

Researchers and politicians are trying to make

08/30/2017

Political Donors Put Their Money Where the Memes Are

"You don’t need a complicated website with hundreds of white papers. You need quick, memeable, shareable content.

https://t.co/qkhI3sPdjt

Funding is flowing into social media, where partisan organizations are specializing in creating viral messages to reach voters.

08/29/2017

How Real-time Rendering Is Changing VFX And Animation Production

Really-time visual effects rendering is nearing reality. What this could mean for your storytelling. https://t.co/8cngLQrwAw

Real-time tools are giving animation and vfx creators more flexibility in generating cg worlds and characters.

08/21/2017

Phil Salvador on Twitter

Good one to know. https://t.co/Bs613IE3wr

“Today's word: degralescence. A combination of media degradation and format obsolescence https://t.co/oqyzm6JNAh”

08/20/2017

Linguistic data analysis of 3 billion Reddit comments shows the alt-right is getting stronger

"In other words, there’s a taxonomy of trolls." https://t.co/g8hswdaLln

To see the radicalization of young white men, just look at the words coming out of their mouths.