Our team still studies “collective sensemaking” during breaking news events. What we see with MH17 and Jan6 are attacks on the sensemaking process itself… not just a distortion (like those described in this article) but a denial of service attack on sensemaking. www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
Facts, frames, and (mis)interpretations: Understanding rumors as collective sensemaking
The communicative solution to pervasive misinformation is not better facts, but better frames.
www.cip.uw.edu
December 14, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Our team still studies “collective sensemaking” during breaking news events. What we see with MH17 and Jan6 are attacks on the sensemaking process itself… not just a distortion (like those described in this article) but a denial of service attack on sensemaking. www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
Then they have all the transcripts (and the ai token bill) but no sensemaking. so they make another app — a layer that will make sense of all the useless transcripts. But of course sensemaking isnt just pattern spotting. It’s interpretation. AI cannot do either because AI cannot be curious
August 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Then they have all the transcripts (and the ai token bill) but no sensemaking. so they make another app — a layer that will make sense of all the useless transcripts. But of course sensemaking isnt just pattern spotting. It’s interpretation. AI cannot do either because AI cannot be curious
so jev should be really interesting for social media sensemaking/organizational type usecases right
September 17, 2026 at 12:12 AM
so jev should be really interesting for social media sensemaking/organizational type usecases right
Similarly, our work uses "collective sensemaking" as a lens, seeing it as taking shape thru interactions b/w facts & frames. From that view (1) misinfo = sensemaking gone awry; (2) conspiracy theorizing = corrupted sensemaking; (3) disinfo = manipulated sensemaking. www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
Facts, frames, and (mis)interpretations: Understanding rumors as collective sensemaking
The communicative solution to pervasive misinformation is not better facts, but better frames.
www.cip.uw.edu
April 6, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Similarly, our work uses "collective sensemaking" as a lens, seeing it as taking shape thru interactions b/w facts & frames. From that view (1) misinfo = sensemaking gone awry; (2) conspiracy theorizing = corrupted sensemaking; (3) disinfo = manipulated sensemaking. www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
LLM makers makers do not want you to be able to understand. It's about turning the means of understanding and sensemaking into externalized products to rent.
March 3, 2026 at 12:28 PM
LLM makers makers do not want you to be able to understand. It's about turning the means of understanding and sensemaking into externalized products to rent.
"A denial of service attack on sensemaking"
Precise and excellent
Precise and excellent
"A denial of service attack on sensemaking" is the perfect way to describe the rhetorical strategy deployed by Trump, Musk, and MAGA media in general. It's far preferable to simply calling them "liars," because that under-describes what they're doing.
Our team still studies “collective sensemaking” during breaking news events. What we see with MH17 and Jan6 are attacks on the sensemaking process itself… not just a distortion (like those described in this article) but a denial of service attack on sensemaking. www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
December 14, 2024 at 4:59 PM
"A denial of service attack on sensemaking"
Precise and excellent
Precise and excellent
try being someone actively prosecuted by this very DOJ! sensemaking is completely out the door
The question I am really struggling with right now is:
What is "law & order" and the entire American constitutional order *for* if it isn't a Go Directly to Jail card for guys like Donald Trump and Elon Musk for doing *exactly* what they're doing right now?
What is "law & order" and the entire American constitutional order *for* if it isn't a Go Directly to Jail card for guys like Donald Trump and Elon Musk for doing *exactly* what they're doing right now?
February 26, 2025 at 4:59 AM
try being someone actively prosecuted by this very DOJ! sensemaking is completely out the door
Our ability to comprehend daily events has been corrupted by a toxic info environment where political & attentional dynamics distort & manipulate our “collective sensemaking” processes. Our “official” sources are now products of that same environment. Reality fractures, along with the social fabric.
September 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Our ability to comprehend daily events has been corrupted by a toxic info environment where political & attentional dynamics distort & manipulate our “collective sensemaking” processes. Our “official” sources are now products of that same environment. Reality fractures, along with the social fabric.
I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works.
Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them
Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them
Notetaking in meetings is tiny case in point - used to be some predictable social assumptions who would do it; now anyone can offer to do ”notetaking” by turning on the AI listener. Further interesting scenario is human recollection / notes (taken by habit by a person) conflict with AI summary
August 1, 2026 at 5:56 PM
I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works.
Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them
Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them
We are all currently participating in a massive “collective sensemaking” process, attempting to gather and interpret evidence to give meaning to this terrible event. For an explanation, see: www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
Facts, frames, and (mis)interpretations: Understanding rumors as collective sensemaking
The communicative solution to pervasive misinformation is not better facts, but better frames.
www.cip.uw.edu
July 14, 2024 at 4:07 PM
We are all currently participating in a massive “collective sensemaking” process, attempting to gather and interpret evidence to give meaning to this terrible event. For an explanation, see: www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
yud's status of being widely respected as an intellectual among the rationalist community makes his absurdly unfounded over-the-top yet entirely-sincere egotistical bullshit in fact worthwhile evidence to consider when evaluating the sensemaking capabilities of the rationalist community at large
September 26, 2026 at 11:53 PM
yud's status of being widely respected as an intellectual among the rationalist community makes his absurdly unfounded over-the-top yet entirely-sincere egotistical bullshit in fact worthwhile evidence to consider when evaluating the sensemaking capabilities of the rationalist community at large
It’s called “fog of war” for a reason. Uncertainty drives the rumor mill. Online sensemaking during crisis events and conflict is extremely vulnerable to manipulation. The clout chasers, political point scorers, and disinformation agents are all out in full force. Consume (and share) with care.
April 14, 2024 at 12:11 AM
It’s called “fog of war” for a reason. Uncertainty drives the rumor mill. Online sensemaking during crisis events and conflict is extremely vulnerable to manipulation. The clout chasers, political point scorers, and disinformation agents are all out in full force. Consume (and share) with care.
Like you, I am exhausted. "The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." - Garry Kasparov #sensemaking
December 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Like you, I am exhausted. "The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." - Garry Kasparov #sensemaking
If anyone wants to see motivated and manipulated sensemaking in action… watch the framing wars from the right wing bullshit machine at work today around the MN murders of Democratic leaders.
Another example of the right wing media machine selectively presenting and then twisting “evidence” into their strategic frames. This is how they work ALL THE TIME. As soon as an event happens, it’s all hands on deck to assemble evidence to fit their frames.
Elon Musk blames Melissa Hortman’s murder on “the far left”
June 14, 2025 at 8:22 PM
If anyone wants to see motivated and manipulated sensemaking in action… watch the framing wars from the right wing bullshit machine at work today around the MN murders of Democratic leaders.
Vital point here. The frames of political discourse — which are shaped by the structure of the info environment and by both strategic & organic communication — shape how people interpret their own experiences. We're not dealing with a problem of bad "facts" ... but one of corrupted sensemaking.
What many of us warned, & what is unavoidably clear now, is that there is no privileged sphere of "real life" that is sheltered, separate from the information environment. It's narratives all the way down -- even to the point that they shape *how people experience their own material circumstances*.
May 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Vital point here. The frames of political discourse — which are shaped by the structure of the info environment and by both strategic & organic communication — shape how people interpret their own experiences. We're not dealing with a problem of bad "facts" ... but one of corrupted sensemaking.
Sensemaking is a key skill for leaders. It means being an explorer rather than an expert, constant experimenting & sound judgment. Tanmay Vora shares "6 key practices of sensemaking" by
@harold.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy & also sets out his own approach: claritycanvas.substack.com/p/leading-le...
@harold.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy & also sets out his own approach: claritycanvas.substack.com/p/leading-le...
November 18, 2024 at 9:09 AM
Sensemaking is a key skill for leaders. It means being an explorer rather than an expert, constant experimenting & sound judgment. Tanmay Vora shares "6 key practices of sensemaking" by
@harold.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy & also sets out his own approach: claritycanvas.substack.com/p/leading-le...
@harold.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy & also sets out his own approach: claritycanvas.substack.com/p/leading-le...
There’s great literature about “collective sensemaking” during disaster events. And might argue that modern information systems have eroded — and allowed for all out attacks — on our sensemaking capacities. You might like this article: www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
Facts, frames, and (mis)interpretations: Understanding rumors as collective sensemaking
The communicative solution to pervasive misinformation is not better facts, but better frames.
www.cip.uw.edu
October 11, 2024 at 12:03 AM
There’s great literature about “collective sensemaking” during disaster events. And might argue that modern information systems have eroded — and allowed for all out attacks — on our sensemaking capacities. You might like this article: www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
The distinction between facts & "sensemaking" is a great one that so so many people don't get.
May 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
The distinction between facts & "sensemaking" is a great one that so so many people don't get.
Since some seem determined not to get it:
Arguing science shouldn’t be political is like arguing that ducks shouldn’t be waterfowl.
Sure, whatever floats your boat, but they wouldn’t be ducks then would they?
Science is a collective human effort at sensemaking—the very definition of political.
Arguing science shouldn’t be political is like arguing that ducks shouldn’t be waterfowl.
Sure, whatever floats your boat, but they wouldn’t be ducks then would they?
Science is a collective human effort at sensemaking—the very definition of political.
When I was 5, I loved science, which I took to be planets and magnets and chemicals and shit.
Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.
Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"
Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.
Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"
November 22, 2024 at 7:53 AM
Since some seem determined not to get it:
Arguing science shouldn’t be political is like arguing that ducks shouldn’t be waterfowl.
Sure, whatever floats your boat, but they wouldn’t be ducks then would they?
Science is a collective human effort at sensemaking—the very definition of political.
Arguing science shouldn’t be political is like arguing that ducks shouldn’t be waterfowl.
Sure, whatever floats your boat, but they wouldn’t be ducks then would they?
Science is a collective human effort at sensemaking—the very definition of political.
"The truly visionary AI for Science company is not automating experiments or AI-generating Nature papers, but building technology to improve the collective sensemaking ability of scientists
@cosmik.network and alphaXiv are both examples of startups trying to build new sensemaking infrastructure"
@cosmik.network and alphaXiv are both examples of startups trying to build new sensemaking infrastructure"
Science as Collective Sensemaking
What is Science?
republicofscience.substack.com
June 23, 2026 at 2:28 PM
"The truly visionary AI for Science company is not automating experiments or AI-generating Nature papers, but building technology to improve the collective sensemaking ability of scientists
@cosmik.network and alphaXiv are both examples of startups trying to build new sensemaking infrastructure"
@cosmik.network and alphaXiv are both examples of startups trying to build new sensemaking infrastructure"
a computer cannot have nemeses
therefore
a computer must not be trusted with scholarly sensemaking
therefore
a computer must not be trusted with scholarly sensemaking
the point of doing this as a phd student is not just to summarize stuff and make a knowledge map. it is actually primarily to identify your allies, foes, rivals, and to decide who you want to start beef with
March 13, 2026 at 2:30 AM
a computer cannot have nemeses
therefore
a computer must not be trusted with scholarly sensemaking
therefore
a computer must not be trusted with scholarly sensemaking
Hordes of people listlessly roaming the flat planes of our networks trying to shake sensemaking out of random posters like ducklings who imprinted on a woodchipper
March 12, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Hordes of people listlessly roaming the flat planes of our networks trying to shake sensemaking out of random posters like ducklings who imprinted on a woodchipper
I think the fatal flaw with social media is that we weren’t meant to know what so many other people were doing at any given time. We are a species which evolved for living in small social groups, and the role of gossip as sensemaking doesn’t scale without immense harm.
The woman carrying the baby and food in the Giants game clip that went viral has written the full story of her marriage and what happened in the stands that night. If you’ve commented or shared any of the clips you also need to read and share her story themomoftheyear.substack.com/p/im-the-mom...
I’m the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband.
You saw me carrying our baby and food. There was more happening in our family that night.
themomoftheyear.substack.com
September 26, 2026 at 1:43 PM
I think the fatal flaw with social media is that we weren’t meant to know what so many other people were doing at any given time. We are a species which evolved for living in small social groups, and the role of gossip as sensemaking doesn’t scale without immense harm.
devs lately love to say they make sensemaking tools but this is exceedingly vague
April 13, 2026 at 6:22 PM
devs lately love to say they make sensemaking tools but this is exceedingly vague