Scientists have developed a new
method for spotting people who post false reviews or tweets from multiple
social media accounts to espouse opinions. Researchers from the University of
Texas have devised a statistical method that analyses multiple writing samples –
a practice known as “astroturfing”. They found that it was challenging for
authors to completely conceal their writing style in their text. Based on word
choice, punctuation and context, the method was able to detect whether one
person or multiple people were responsible for the samples. Researchers used
writhing samples from online commenter’s on news websites and discovered that
many people espousing their opinions online were all linked to a few singular
writers with multiple accounts. Astroturfing is legal, but it is questionable
ethically. The practice has been used by businesses to manipulate social media
users by having one paid associate posts false reviews on sites about products
for sale. Politicians have also been accused of astroturfing to create the
illusion of public support for a campaign. Former US President George Bush,
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been accused of astroturfing.
No comments:
Post a Comment