Bots are people too now.
There was a great story in the NYT about how fake news divided a small city in Idaho. Russians were involved after the fact to help stir things up.
RT, Sputnik, Breitbart, Chobani yogart and Alex Jones were all drawn in:
Why use the generalized phrase âmalicious foreign governmentsâ? We all know it was Putinâs Russian government who interefered in our elections, and we all know it was Russia who interfered in Franceâs, Germanyâs, and other elections.
Is there any other government in the world right now using hacking. bots, and cybercrime to interfere with elections and government services, to such an extent that it amounts to casus belli, besides Russia?
Only if theyâre registered as corporations.
A quick reminder: this is still going on now. You can watch realtime tracking of primary Russian bots at the Hamilton 68 website.
So if that much Twitter traffic is generated by bots, can we assume that their revenue reports are less than trustworthy? Is anyone still buying Twitter stock?
Nice, detailed article!
Yes. I remember how a number of TPM users consumed this Russian propaganda by the barrelful, and plastered it all over TPM. I have the receipts.
You know who you are, you addled-brained bastards. Fuck you very much.
It is a primary problem for Twitter.
nasdaq.com: Twitter Bot Scandal Puts Further Pressure On CEO Jack Dorsey
CNBC: Early Twitter investor Chris Sacca says he âhatesâ the stock, calls bot issue âembarrassingâ
In a follow-up tweet, Sacca clarified that his fund sold âmostâ of its shares in Twitter after Jack Dorsey returned as CEO in 2015, and he personally sold his stake last fall. Twitterâs share price is down nearly 7 percent in the last 12 months.
This is all very well and good, but Iâm far more interested in the ad TPM is running at the bottom of the page:
âWatch Obamaâs Face at 0:33. This Leaked Video Will Destroy Obamaâs Legacyâ
or this one:
âWatch Obamaâs Face at 0:33. This Leaked Video Will Make You Sickâ
or this one:
âAlzheimerâs May Only Be Temporary This is Leaving Doctors Speechless (Watch)â
I guess TPMâs commitment to reality- and fact-based journalism takes a back seat when it comes to the need for ad revenue.
I suppose Russia is tge prime suspect. But China has similar views to Russia on what cyberwar looks like (propaganda and influence) and they have attacked the US in the past. So while we know Russia was the driving froce we shouldnât rule out opportunistic meddling by other countries.
(Sorry about misspelled âtheâ in top line. I cant see the top line when I type or edit it on my phone when in edit mode)
I think this could be a good discussion on privacy and advertizing. I have ads to reduce belly fat, do this to win the lottery and Trump signs a bill to save me $3500 on my morgatge. I always assume theyâer a scam.
But I belive a host site doesnât know all the ads shown. Theyâre paid for the space used. Bots use cookies and othe info like IP location to determine the ads shown to individual users.
But I believe a host site doesnât know all the ads shown.
This essentially implies that hosts like TPM are literally powerless to control who advertises on their sites. Does this mean TPM is helpless if obvious anti-Semitic advertisers want to run ads here? Advertisers have the responsibility to know where their ads are runningâFord and GM have a distinct vested interest in making sure their ads donât run on Stormfront or porn sitesâand hosts have the responsibility to keep tabs on what ads are running on their own sites.
Bots use cookies and other info like IP location to determine the ads shown to individual users.
There isnât anything in my browsing history or IP location to indicate Iâd be receptive to ridiculous conspiracy horseshit about Obama, or scams about reversing Alzheimerâs.
Speaking seriously, this issue of online advertising is of little direct significance compared to Russian interference in our electoral process. However, itâs more than a little odd to read an article about Russian bots spreading bullshit and lies and disinformation when at the same time TPM is running ads spreading bullshit and lies and disinformation.
Still buying?
Thereâs a helluva lot more wrong with Twitter as a company than âjustâ the bots, so the stock is a dog.
Essentially they have tried to con the investment community. If theyâd try that, I can imagine what Twitter management thinks of the Twitter users.
So my experience is one site I frequent on feminist thought, started showing ads for menâs rights sites and hot porn babes or something similar. Once we let the host know what we were seeing they were able to get those ads blocked from showing on their site. The bots are not that great at matching, and part of it is the preconceived notions of who programmed them. So there is a requirement on the side of the consumer to give feedback to the site host.
I wouldnât say sites are powerless, but it does require a new way of thinking about how we share information, host sites and requires a long discussion about ethics in computing. A lot of what is being created now (like the ad space) are sold as time savers to prevent people from having to worry or think about it. What the ads are showing is that we really cannot do that and trust programs to make the ârightâ decisions. Right, like we found out last week, that some Facebook program for selling ads was picking up key words by users and providing them as choices for advertisers to target, like would you like to target people who âhate Jewsâ.
For myself, the ad targeting is another side of the dice that includes Fake News and is putting more onus on the consumer to understand what theyâre consuming. I do not like the way this is going and do think we need to hold companies like TPM and Facebook and Twitter accountable somehow for the bot garbage spewed at us. And of course when laws are broken like Russians buying ads to influence other countries elections.
I am by no means an expert, but I have been following the work done by Julia Angwin at ProPublica on how algorithms are shaping our lives and recommend it.
Maybe not. But there is one where their head of state gets to directly address joint sessions of Congress, and their lobbyists on K-Street dole out millions of dollars per year to their favored candidates, who then vote against the interests of their own constituents as a resultâŚ
I think Josh specifically addressed the issue of advertisements from right wing groups etc. but it was a long time ago and I donât recall it specifically. Maybe someone could dig it up. I recall (vaguely) that he said he doesnât mind the opposition funding his works, especially since theyâre wasting their money, the TPM audience is unlikely to be responsive.
Tweater, facebook, they(MOST Americansâ) ALL have a one track mind: $$$. Câest triste, nâest pas.