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This is a Berkman Klein alum page. The information below may be out of date.

Bruce Etling is a Data Scientist at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He works primarily with the Media Cloud and media manipulation teams. His research is focused on methods for the study of online behavior and political speech, including social network analysis, network modeling, and automated text analysis.

He previously served as the Director of the Internet & Democracy Project at the Berkman Klein Center where he co-authored a number of papers on the Russian Internet and mapping of online political networks. Prior to Berkman, he was a Foreign Service Officer with the US Agency for International Development and served in Afghanistan, Russia, Cambodia, and Washington, DC. Bruce has a PhD from the University of Oxford (Oxford Internet Institute) and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.


Projects & Tools

Internet Robustness

The Internet Robustness project is developing, testing, and piloting software and protocols to safeguard the promise of the URL: that information placed online can remain there.

Media Cloud

Media Cloud is an open source, open data platform that allows researchers to answer complex quantitative and qualitative questions about the content of online media.

Past

Blogging Common

Blogging Common seeks to capture and present the spirit and wisdom of the blogosphere by surveying bloggers around the globe.

Past

Impact of the Internet on Russian Politics, Media, and Society

With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Berkman Center is undertaking a two-year research project to investigate the role of the Internet in Russian society.

Past

Internet and Democracy

The Internet and Democracy Project is an initiative that will examine how the Internet influences democratic norms and modes, including its impact on civil society, citizen media,…

Public Discourse in the U.S. 2020 Election

Studying digital media ecosystems and political discourse related to the U.S. presidential election


Publications

Publication
Oct 29, 2020

Polarization and the Pandemic: American Political Discourse

Public Discourse in the U.S. 2020 Election: March - May

Tracking political discourse in the U.S. for March, April, and May of 2020

Oct 22, 2020

Partisanship, Impeachment, and the Democratic Primaries: American Political Discourse

Public Discourse in the U.S. 2020 Election: January and February

Tracking political discourse in the U.S. for January and February of 2020

Publication
Oct 1, 2020

Mail-In Voter Fraud: Anatomy of a Disinformation Campaign

Working paper shows Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Risk of Voter Fraud Associated with Mail-in Ballots Follows an Elite-Driven, Mass Media Model; Social Media Plays a Secondary Role in 2020

Working paper explores disinformation campaign about mail-in voter fraud

Publication
Aug 16, 2017

Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election.

Publication
Feb 10, 2015

Score Another One for the Internet? The Role of the Networked Public Sphere in the U.S. Net Neutrality Policy Debate

A new paper from the Media Cloud team concludes that a diverse set of actors working in conjunction through the networked public sphere played a central, arguably decisive, role…

Publication
Sep 30, 2014

Russia, Ukraine, and the West

Social Media Sentiment in the Euromaidan Protests

"Russia, Ukraine, and the West: Social Media Sentiment in the Euromaidan Protests," authored by Bruce Etling, is the fourth paper in the Internet Monitor special reports series,…

Publication
Apr 28, 2014

Blogs as an Alternative Public Sphere

The Role of Blogs, Mainstream Media, and TV in Russia’s Media Ecology

"Blogs as an Alternative Public Sphere: The Role of Blogs, Mainstream Media, and TV in Russia’s Media Ecology," authored by Bruce Etling, Hal Roberts, and Robert Faris, is the…

Publication
Jul 25, 2013

Social Mobilization and the Networked Public Sphere: Mapping the SOPA-PIPA Debate

This paper uses a new set of online research tools to develop a detailed study of the public debate over proposed legislation in the United States designed to give prosecutors and…

Publication
Mar 20, 2012

Mapping Russian Twitter

Drawing from a corpus of over 50 Million Russian language tweets collected between March 2010 and March 2011, the Berkman research team created a network map of 10,285 users…

Mar 2, 2012

Exploring Russian Cyberspace: Digitally-Mediated Collective Action and the Networked Public Sphere

This paper summarizes the major findings of a three-year research project to investigate the Internet’s impact on Russian politics, media and society. We employed multiple methods…

Publication
Dec 9, 2010

Political Change in the Digital Age: The Fragility and Promise of Online Organizing

In this paper, we discuss the possible impact of digital technologies in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes.

Oct 18, 2010

Public Discourse in the Russian Blogosphere: Mapping RuNet Politics and Mobilization

This paper is the first release from the Berkman Center's Russian Internet research project. It analyzes the Russian blogosphere, with an emphasis on politics and public affairs.

Publication
Jun 16, 2009

Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere: Politics, Culture and Dissent

This case study is part of a series produced by the Internet and Democracy project. It analyzes the composition of the Arabic blogosphere and its possible impact on political and…

Publication
Apr 5, 2008

Mapping Iran’s Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogosphere

(English and Persian translation)

This case study is part of a series produced by the Internet and Democracy project. It analyzes the composition of the Iranian blogosphere and its possible impact on political and…


News

News
Oct 2, 2020

Tracing the disinformation campaign on mail-in voter fraud

Research shows elites, mass media play an important role in spreading voting misinformation

Feb 15, 2011

Questions for Secretary Clinton concerning "Internet freedom"

Faculty associate Matthew Hindman provoked an energetic email exchange among members of the extended Berkman Center community today, in anticipation of Secretary Clinton's …

Sep 15, 2008

Madison and the Smart Mob: The Promise and Limitations of the Internet for Democracy

The Internet & Democracy blog announces the release of Robert Faris and Bruce Etling's paper, “Madison and the Smart Mob: The Promise and Limitations of the Internet for Democracy…


Community

The Guardian

Facebook teams with rightwing Daily Caller in factchecking program

Site co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson has promoted misinformation and is known for pro-Trump content

Apr 17, 2019

Events

Event
Oct 19, 2010 @ 10:00 AM

Mapping the Russian Blogosphere

Hosted by USIP’s Center of Innovation for Science, Technology & Peacebuilding, researchers from the Berkman Center and their collaborators at Morningside Analytics will present…