Among the millions of real people tweeting about the presidential race, there are also a lot accounts operated by fake people, or “bots.” Politicians and regular users alike use these accounts to increase their follower bases and push messages. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how computer scientists can analyze […]
Helped with a BBC story on the battles between candidate bots. The suspected bot accounts tweeted more than 1.7 million times on the days of the debates and the next three days. The study warns they might “polarise” online debate and “muddy” issues. The work was led by Prof Philip Howard, […]
The Internet certainly disrupted our understanding of what communication can be, who does it, how, and to what effect. What constitutes the Internet has always been an evolving suite of technologies and a dynamic set of social norms, rules, and patterns of use. But the shape and character of digital […]
Helped with a story for Le Monde, on bots and computational propaganda. Mais Donald Trump sait lui aussi tirer profit des bots. Le chercheur d’Oxford Philip Howard, qui s’intéresse à la « propagande computationnelle », a analysé les tweets publiés autour du débat entre les deux candidats à la présidentielle américaine, rapporte […]
