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Hidden gems of Twitter
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Hidden gems of Twitter

Some accounts to follow to improve your experience

Noah Smith
Aug 4, 2021
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Hidden gems of Twitter
noahpinion.substack.com
"Diamond in the rough" by daniel spils is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

As you all know by now, I’m a huge critic of Twitter’s effect on our society. But there’s plenty of good stuff on there too; you can make your Twitter experience a little bit less awful by following the right people. So here’s a list of “hidden gems” you might not know about yet.

1) Darrell Owens

Twitter avatar for @IDoTheThinkingDarrell Owens @IDoTheThinking
The problem is we regulate housing the way we should regulate cars and regulate cars the way we should housing.

July 20th 2021

121 Retweets897 Likes

There are few people I would honestly describe as a “wunderkind”, but Darrell Owens is one of them. By the age of 24 he has already helped create a pro-housing political group in the East Bay that actually managed to win elections, successfully persuaded the city of Berkeley to experiment with taking police out of traffic stops, and achieved various other things in local politics in an incredibly hostile environment. And that’s just his hobby — he’s studying to be a software engineer, and works part-time for CA YIMBY. One time when I organized a salon about housing policy, it basically turned into “Q&A with Darrell”, since his knowledge was so encyclopedic; he was 22 at the time. He tweets mostly about local politics, but also about dating culture, because…well, he’s in his early 20s.

2) Adam Tooze

Twitter avatar for @adam_toozeAdam Tooze @adam_tooze
Globalization plateaued a decade ago: The ratio of global trade-to-manufacturing output has been flat for over a decade. @SoberLook
thedailyshot.com/2021/07/29/the…
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July 30th 2021

176 Retweets488 Likes

I’m not sure what Adam’s field of study is — he understands economics better than many economists and seems to understand history better than many historians. He’s perhaps the only scholar I know who can seamlessly combine politics, economics, military knowledge, and international relations to weave coherent stories about nations and their destinies in real time. His books are excellent, his Substack is excellent, but it’s his Twitter account that introduces me to interesting, novel facts on a daily basis.

3) Chris Silverberg

Twitter avatar for @csilverandgoldLeVar Hosted Jeopardy July 26-30 Stan Account👁 @csilverandgold
So if these three continue to be untrue, what are the new material forces shaping gender, sex, and relationships, and what configurations might those encourage? This is essentially science fiction, but I think it’s very interesting and useful to speculate on!

August 4th 2021

1 Retweet6 Likes

The smartest and most thoughtful cultural critic I know is…just some guy who works in the TV industry! It’s hard to explain why Chris is so good at navigating the nuances of modern culture, from music to literature to gender to politics; he just is. And he does it with a sort of Captain Picard-like generosity, thinking about the needs, desires, and perspectives even of people he disagrees with. The wildest thing is that he mostly does his own original thinking, rather than cribbing from sources.

4) Eric Topol

Twitter avatar for @EricTopolEric Topol @EricTopol
Summary Delta breakthrough studies, Ct/viral load, vaccine effectiveness (VE) Only 1 large study of Ct/viral load, shows some vaccine reduction VE ranges 39-88%; it's likely ≤ 60% at best for mRNA More data needed, but points to need for boosters for at least some people
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August 4th 2021

161 Retweets400 Likes

Eric Topol is your one-stop shop for Covid data and info. He’s relentless, consistent, thorough, and measured in his approach. Just the facts, all the facts, all day. He has almost half a million followers, so not sure he counts as a “hidden gem”, but he’s the single best Covid-related account on Twitter, so even half a million is not enough.

5) The Social Science Research Hounds: Ethan Mollick and John Holbein

Twitter avatar for @emollickEthan Mollick @emollick
Homework used to help. Doing it improved final test grades for 86% of students in 2008, but only 45% in 2017. What caused the change? As this paper shows, a majority of students are now copying internet answers & it turns out doing homework yourself means better exam scores!
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August 2nd 2021

149 Retweets601 Likes
Twitter avatar for @JohnHolbein1John B. Holbein @JohnHolbein1
Fascinating new RCT out today at the @apsrjournal shows that classroom deliberation reduces political polarization.
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
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July 29th 2021

42 Retweets125 Likes

If you want to read interesting new social science research, these guys post a lot of it.

6) Making Econ Twitter fun: Khoa Vu and Rachel Meager

Twitter avatar for @KhoaVuUmnKhoa Vu @KhoaVuUmn
Diff-in-Diff paper be like
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August 3rd 2021

16 Retweets195 Likes
Twitter avatar for @economeagerRachael Meager @economeager
Tune in for my Bayesian vs Frequentist probability of a non-white swan story and other incredibly divisive statistical anecdotes!!

Mark Fabian @MarkFabian_Cam

New episode of ePODstemology! 🥳🤩 The LSE's @economeager on lies, damned lies, and statistics, also economics 🎧📈📊 Do you think there's maybe a bit more to economics & statistics than just causal inference? This one's for you. https://t.co/OTV6gPFFxL

August 3rd 2021

2 Retweets30 Likes

Econ Twitter isn’t necessarily something you’d associate with the word “fun”, but in fact there are some heroic accounts that manage to combine humor with smart, relevant info on what’s happening in the modern econ world. These are my two favorites. Not coincidentally, they’re both very much applied/stats people, which reflects the direction in which the field is evolving.

7) The Monetarist Teens: Maia, Jason Harrison, and Josh Miller

Twitter avatar for @EGirlMonetarismMaia @EGirlMonetarism
The effects of immigration on wages, explained
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March 29th 2021

2,737 Retweets11,569 Likes
Twitter avatar for @nominalthoughtsJason Harrison @nominalthoughts
The funniest thing about anti-economics tweets that go viral is that they usually have nothing to do with the work most economists do.

December 25th 2020

54 Retweets935 Likes
Twitter avatar for @Joshua_Z_MillerMonetarist Teen @Joshua_Z_Miller
Biden is only extending the eviction moratorium to protect Cuomo, who is about to be homeless.

August 3rd 2021

16 Retweets203 Likes

I know this is weird, but there’s actually a group of Gen Z kids who are really into economics. Somehow they’re mostly monetarists, which is strange, but OK. The thing is, being Gen Z, they’re very good at putting it all into memes, as well as keeping up with the online trends of the day. But of course they’re still quite young, so their feeds also include a lot of young-people stuff.

8) Mansa Keita

Twitter avatar for @rasmansaDr. Mansa Keita @rasmansa
@wesyang Yes, I think that's a fairly accurate assessment of how we view things. I'm glad though that you do actually think the current system is bad, but that it's just worth keeping as is. I can't rationalize it myself, but probably...different environments 😂

July 22nd 2021

4 Likes

Mansa Keita is a doctor who somehow ended up tweeting a lot about culture wars, racial issues, CRT, and so on. He’s ended up being something of a foil for Wes Yang, one of Twitter’s chief critics of wokeness. If all of our culture wars were as civil and reasonable as their debates, we’d be a more stable and prosperous nation than we are.

9) The Economic Historians: Pseudoerasmus and Leah Boustan

Twitter avatar for @pseudoerasmusPseudoerasmus @pseudoerasmus
A rant on labour productivity growth under agrarian & industrial capitalism, esp before the 20th c. (1) British agriculture in 1500-1850 did NOT ‘shed’, ‘expel, or ‘release’ labour. To the contrary, in that period, the absolute number of workers on farms approximately tripled.

July 30th 2021

33 Retweets198 Likes
Twitter avatar for @leah_boustanLeah Boustan @leah_boustan
We measure cultural assimilation using names that immigrant parents choose for their kids as they spend more time in US. Rate of assimilation is *strikingly* similar in past and present

AEA Journals @AEAjournals

There is a sense among some Americans that immigrants to the US are assimilating more slowly than generations ago. Research by Ran Abramitzky, @leah_boustan, and @K_A_Eriksson suggests those fears are misplaced. #ChartOfTheWeek https://t.co/6zBfkdl82O https://t.co/kjK3tamHFT

April 8th 2020

35 Retweets85 Likes

Economic history is very cool, and these two accounts will give you a lot of it.

10) Mari Saito

Twitter avatar for @saitomriMari Saito @saitomri
"It... appears grotesque that athletes who test positive have to spend their quarantine in prison-like conditions, while IOC members stay in expensive luxury hotels and are provided with high daily allowances"
Tokyo Games to improve ‘prison-like’ athletes’ quarantineTokyo Olympics organisers on Saturday said they were trying to improve conditions for athletes quarantined at the Games, following mounting complaints over a lack of air, food and basic necessities while in isolation.reuters.com

August 1st 2021

14 Retweets36 Likes

Not enough people outside Japan keep up with what’s going on in that country, but it really is still one of the most interesting places in the world, and it has evolved far far beyond all the old stereotypes. There are many accounts that keep up with Japan-related news (including Bloomberg’s own excellent Marika Katanuma!), but basically nobody beats Mari Saito for consistency and volume of interesting reports.

11) Robotbeat

Twitter avatar for @RobotbeatRobotbeat🗽🖖🏾 @Robotbeat
@Bryanwrld99 Almost no abort methods will work while, for instance, ascending from the Moon, so it makes sense to maximize the resiliency of the vehicle as that resiliency is useful in all flight regimes, not just when launching from Earth. Starship is not just a launch vehicle.

June 20th 2021

4 Likes

This guy is just some engineer who knows a ton about hardware engineering. Lately he’s been especially focused on space, but he also knows about a ton of other stuff.

12) Fun stuff: Tokyo Fashion and Rabbits Doing Work

Twitter avatar for @TokyoFashionTokyo Fashion @TokyoFashion
Asahi, Seira, and Sakura on the street in Harajuku wearing colorful retro 1960s inspired looks with items from Tokyo vintage shops, Vivienne Westwood, Kiki Koenji, Bye Bye, Shury, and Oyasumi Club #原宿 #groovy
tokyofashion.com/retro-vintage-…
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January 9th 2020

216 Retweets723 Likes
Twitter avatar for @rabbitdoingworkHave you ever seen rabbits doing work @rabbitdoingwork
So cute ❤️😍🐰
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July 31st 2021

2,287 Retweets10,289 Likes

If you want a break from politics and society and research and all that, I recommend Japanese street fashion and rabbits. But then again, I would, wouldn’t I?

13) Random fun people: Nikitha Rai and This guy

Twitter avatar for @nikitharai_Nikitha Rai @nikitharai_
Hey Elise, can you explain why you voted to repeal Obamacare, which would have ended the $2.3 billion New York gets right now for the Medicaid expansion?

Elise Stefanik @EliseStefanik

Today’s Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid reminds us to reflect on the critical role these programs have played to protect the healthcare of millions of families. To safeguard our future, we must reject Socialist healthcare schemes. https://t.co/mOdUuX7THT

July 30th 2021

Twitter avatar for @yhdistyminenuphold li wenwen thought 🐿️ @yhdistyminen
sex helps purge deleterious mutations via synergistic epistasis: kondrashov's hatchet sex increases geometric mean fitness in volatile environments: kondrashov's +1 battleaxe sex helps cross fitness valleys: kondrashov's vorpal chainsaw of dragon slaying

Jedidiah Carlson @JedMSP

Evolutionary Advantage of Recombination→ Muller's Ratchet Evol. Advantage of Nucleotide Excision Repair→ Muller's Crowbar Evol. Advantage of Translesion Synthesis→ Muller's Belt Sander Evol. Advantage of Non-Homologous End Joining→ Muller's Hydraulic Torque Wrench

March 25th 2019

25 Retweets254 Likes

These two accounts couldn’t be more different; Nikitha is a hill staffer who tweets about politics and other stuff, and the other guy — who changes his name and handle so often I don’t even know what to call him — is some kind of academic who tweets about very esoteric stuff. But they’re both just so down-to-earth and reasonable that I thought I’d throw them out there.

And of course, don’t forget to follow all the Noahpinion interview alums: Akiko Iwasaki, Claudia Sahm, Brian Armstrong, Paul Staniland, James Medlock, Liam Kofi Bright, David Shor, Patrick Collison, Saikat Chakrabarti, Jeff Yang, Julia Galef, Michael Tubbs, John Lettieri, Marc Andreessen, Jason Furman, and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman!

Anyway, I hope this makes your experience of Twitter a little bit less shouty and ridiculous. Soon I’ll follow this up with a list of good blogs to read.


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8ɃIT
Aug 4, 2021Liked by Noah Smith

i wish each one of them had their own place that didn't have algorithmic-feeds... i left twitter b/c you never really are sure if you're getting the folks you subscribed to.

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Paul Anzel
Aug 4, 2021Liked by Noah Smith

As a former EB4E-er, will confirm Darrell Owens is a cool dude.

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