Contents
Why is Twitter So Toxic?
While spamming became widespread in the early 2010s, it soon morphed into destructive trolling. While engineers in Harvey’s group developed internal tools to filter illegal content, they weren’t prepared for the rise of harassment. As a former engineer of the platform explained, there are more people outside trying to fuck you over than inside. This is especially true in the case of online personalities, such as TV personality Charlotte Dawson, who suffered abusive tweets after speaking out about online abuse. As a result, Dawson was hospitalized after receiving a spate of abusive tweets.
Yair Rosenberg’s plan to troll the trolls
Recently, a senior writer at Tablet Magazine, Yair Rosenberg, has been one of the most targeted people by anti-Semitic Twitter users. In a surprisingly non-racist move, Rosenberg decided to start putting parentheses around people’s names, a tactic that raises awareness of anti-Semitic hate speech and shows support for Jews who are harassed online. His plan has been so successful, he’s joined by Haaretz journalist Barak Ravid.
In order to combat this problem, Rosenberg developed an automated bot called Imposter Buster. It inserted itself into the same Twitter threads that hoax accounts were making, politely exposing their masquerade. See the article : How to Reactivate a Twitter Account. The bot then followed the trolls and shut down their hateful comments. Eventually, Rosenberg reached the top of the Twitter list for Jewish journalists.
Twitter’s echo chamber
The problem with social media is that it tends to create echo chambers. The reason is that people who are active on Twitter are often those with more extreme opinions, which can amplify extremist ideas. The authors of the new paper propose ways to quantify these echo chamber parameters. This may interest you : What Does ASL Mean on Twitter?. This would help determine which topics and issues are most likely to generate polarization. If people were more aware of these issues, the echo chamber would not exist.
However, the authors of the study recommend that researchers look beyond the “echo chamber” metaphor and consider the possibility that Twitter’s network structure is a contributing factor to the polarization of opinions. There might be some cross-ideological exposure on Twitter, but it would not contribute to the communicative integration of follower-follower network groups. Further, the authors caution that the research findings may not be generalizable.
Spam problem
The Spam problem on Twitter is a growing concern for many users, particularly for those who want to use the platform as a means of social communication. Although the social networking site has developed several anti-spam mechanisms over the years, they are inefficient and do not catch spammers in real time. Although there are a variety of methods researchers have developed to detect spam, these methods do not scale well when dealing with large volumes of data on Twitter. See the article : How Do You Change Your Name on Twitter?. To detect spam, researchers must request additional information from Twitter’s servers. The problem with this is that the servers are only capable of processing a small number of requests per 15-minute time window, which means the entire process can take several months.
In May, the spam problem on Twitter reached new heights when one Romanian user, Laurentiu Ciocoiu, took to Twitter to vent his frustration. The Romanian spammer has a complex network of fake Twitter accounts, following legitimate accounts and other fake ones, and posting a single tweet that contains a link to a nude picture. The spam problem on Twitter is not limited to Romanian accounts, however, and it’s growing as a global problem.
Elon Musk’s chaos
After all, Elon Musk is the founder of Tesla and the company has been in the news lately due to the chaos surrounding his takeover of Twitter. Several tweets about his absence have caused Twitter’s stock price to plummet, and there have even been threats against Twitter employees. Many Twitter employees have been busy polishing their resumes, but they can’t get straight answers to even the most basic questions. They are concerned about layoffs and content moderation policies. Some employees are even worried about the company’s hiring practices, since Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal has fired several executives.
If Musk’s tweets are any indication, it isn’t a good sign that he is trying to sell his company. The companies are surrounded by shady characters who are willing to say anything to get ahead of others. In the case of Tesla, Musk was using bots as an excuse to back out of the deal. It’s unclear whether he intended to buy Tesla, or if he wanted to fix the bots. Musk isn’t stupid. He’s trying to create drama with his public persona.
Elon Musk’s influence on Twitter
Twitter CEO Elon Musk is not a stranger to controversy. His influence on the company is a matter of public record. He recently asked Twitter users if he should add an authentication checkmark to “Twitter Blue” subscribers, converted Twitter’s headquarters into a homeless shelter, and even suggested changing the “w” in Twitter. His followers, however, didn’t seem to be swayed.
Musk has recently spoken out about his fear of AI and its potential to enslave humanity. As such, he has called for restrictions to stop this technology’s expansion. While advocates can debate the merits of Musk’s views, his ownership of Twitter places him in a stronger position. Despite Musk’s comments, however, many people seem to find his tweets a tad offensive.
