Big Brother’s Big Data

The BBC has been consistently ‘concerned’ about ‘Big Data’ and social media being used to manipulate what people think and sway their votes….much claiming that Trump and Brexit were won by underhand subterfuge using such methods.

Today we learn that Labour has been the fortunate beneficiary of Twitter bots streaming out pro-Corbyn and anti-May messages, not just Labour but the SNP have been disproportionately figuring in the data.

Labour dominating Twitter conversation in UK election campaign, says study

Hashtags such as #VoteLabour and #JezzWeCan are outperforming the likes of #VoteTory and #StrongAndStable, according to the new study.

But the ‘junk news’ that blighted the US presidential race is also playing a role in the UK election, accounting for almost 13% of relevant content shared.

The researchers analysed more than 1.3 million tweets produced between 1 and 7 May 2017, using hashtags associated with the primary political parties in the UK, the major candidates, and the election itself.

Interesting though how the BBC plays this…it does report it but plays it down...very little ‘junk news’ …fortunately most people are sharing ‘quality news’…..

The research was based on an analysis of political news links shared by UK users in the first week of May.

Of those shared, 53% linked to professional news and information sources, while 13% linked to junk news – stories that are misleading or conflate opinion and fact.

The rest of the sample included links to content created by politicians, experts and blogs.

The study found users shared marginally worse quality news and information sources than German and French users, but far better than those in the US.

“It’s concerning and shows that social media isn’t the best source of political news”, Monica Kaminska, one of the report’s authors said.

“We still have junk news, bots that are active, misinformation that is being spread.

“[But] it seems to be the case that people are [still] sharing good quality news.”

Yep, all those reports from the BBC telling us Brexit was the result of fake news spread on social media…now apparently, when Labour are in the frame, not so much….all is cool…one is reassured…..

After the dramatic and close campaigns that led to Brexit and President Trump’s election, there have been concerns about social media eroding democracy.

In particular, there have been allegations about how wealthy individuals or foreign powers buying advert space on social media, or using bots – automated software that mimics human behaviour – to influence how people vote.

But this examination of the quality of news people in Britain can find on Twitter, which admittedly reaches fewer people than Facebook, is reassuring.

And don’t worry…it’s all positive thinking for Labour, none of that horrible fake news or rampant abuse…

“It’s difficult to say even whether the conversation is positive or negative about Labour”, said Miss Kaminska.

“[From] the hashtags that we’ve selected, I would lean towards saying the conversation is positive.

Hmmm….tonight’s Great Leap Forward’s ‘Tweetstorm’ on Twitter is hardly what you might call ‘quality’…oh yes, quality production, just a shame the content is wanting….33mins 55 secs of slow death…..unwatchable I suspect even for the most committed…and you’d have to have been committed to want to watch it……that hair!…..and Labour seem to be bombarding us with adverts on Youtube …great!

https://twitter.com/nonideefixe/status/870223890500505600