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Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

theintercept.com

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Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#101

Post by nkantar »

AaronFriel wrote: post #86
retox wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I refuse to create accounts on site that require even a phone number, let alone government ID. It will eventually get lost and things like passports being faked can land you in prison or watchlists if someone like Israel decides to steal your identity while committing an extra-legal assassination.

That escalated quickly. Are you sure if Israel wanted to pin an extra-legal assassination on you, they couldn't do so already?

I don't think it's about them wanting to explicitly target someone, but about one's odds of being randomly implicated increasing with every leak.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#102

Post by thinkloop »

chrisweekly wrote: post #77
thinkloop wrote: post #70

> finding these accounts is pretty easy, he used advanced google search and google reverse image search All Twitter has to do is develop the most intelligent software ever created and make sure it keeps inching towards generalized AI over time.

FWIW I read gp as "_use_ Google", not "_be_ Google".

That's why the piece is cute, it presents some personal fiddling as a possible solution. Twitter can't simply use a competitor's technology at scale, and if they did they would be opening a massive risk vector to their core business. The only takeaway is that Twitter has to replicate the most intelligent "ai" in the world.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#103

Post by unclebucknasty »

sandov wrote: post #50
twblalock wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly that's true, on Twitter as well as on Facebook, and it's pretty well documented at this point.

Then why not tackle the root problem?: Lack of critical thinking skills. I'm not from the US, so I don't know how extensive their philosophy courses are in school, but judging by these repetitive "Russians/bots are manipulating our people" headlines, it's probably lacking.

That'd be great but you can't teach everyone to be awesome critical thinkers. There is a question of aptitude.

That focus also overlooks the fact that much of the propaganda is emotionally-driven and appeals to certain instincts. For even the most rational of human beings, emotion can overwhelm critical thinking.

So, while we can definitely do better in teaching critical thinking skills, we're just going to have a percentage of the population that is susceptible. And, given the fact that we're split almost down the middle politically (the election came down to 85,000 votes across three states), the ability to affect even a small percentage of the population can have a huge impact on the direction of the country.

A more effective root cause mitigation might be to break the two-party monopoly so that a broader set of ideas can flourish. This binary for-or-against system is also unhelpful to say the least.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#104

Post by duxup »

jsemrau wrote: post #81
zeth___ wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: what's the point of twitter?

I tried to make Twitter work for me by only following people I am genuinely interested in. (Founders, CEO's, etc) but even after that I am not engaged.

Same, my feed was still filled with inane posts no matter how much I tried to mess with it.

I just gave up.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#105

Post by rdtsc »

zeth___ wrote: post #75
bigiain wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got fed up with Twitter's lack of enthusiasm in blocking all sorts of shitposts that I stopped using it. I've been significantly less angry ever since...

Honest question: what's the point of twitter?

Like the GP said, to get people angry by getting them to argue publicly using 140 character sarcastic quips (though limit has increased recently). The angrier they get the more they post, the more they post, the angrier others get, and so on. Therefore lots of engagement and activity. With bots around, and some probably with better AI, it is much easier to "engage" a lot more people on a lot more topics at the same time.

And it is interesting to watch because people get into arguments trying to convince each other seemingly but in 140 characters it just sounds insulting and terse. Well sometimes it is simply insulting: "Oh you called me a stupid idiot! Of course, that's a great point. I will step back and ponder an alternative approach to this problem"

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#106

Post by heylook »

CM30 wrote: post #26
johnc1231 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Twitter's biggest problem with fake accounts is not that they are hard to identify, but that if they do identify them and shut them down, it'll hurt their "number of active users" stats

I suspect their big problem is more that their site is too big for the moderation staff they have at the moment. Identifying bots is easy for people sure, but it's hard to automate with AI and hiring people to proactively hunt out and shut down bots is expensive. Of course, the fact doing it too well hurts the stats doesn't help either.

> it's hard to automate with AI

I disagree. At least it shouldn't be that hard for a company with Twitter's level of engineering and data science sophistication, and yes, I do realize that most of their best technical talent is long gone.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#107

Post by duxup »

zeth___ wrote: post #75
bigiain wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got fed up with Twitter's lack of enthusiasm in blocking all sorts of shitposts that I stopped using it. I've been significantly less angry ever since...

Honest question: what's the point of twitter?

To watch everyone mugging for the camera?

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#108

Post by duxup »

aphextron wrote: post #74

This whole problem could be solved by opening account verification up to everyone. Twitter would be amazing if every profile were guaranteed to be a verified human being with government issued ID. Leave it open to those who want to stay anonymous, but give users the option to filter those people out.

I could go for a service like that. Even without the anonymous option.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#109

Post by dmix »

nkg wrote: post #94

Hey I run a bot and people love it. It adds value and regularlt triggers conversation. All bots are not about porn and mixtapes!

This whole bot thing is turning into a classic hysteria.

I really hope it doesn't end up harming a bunch of the 'good guys' like most of the quickly assembled shoddy 'solutions' most public hysterias generate, rather than stopping the legit 'bad guys'.

There have been countless examples of well-intentioned but heavy-handed intervention being a net-negative for society [1].

There could very well be some really interesting legitimately useful bots that will get swept up in this. Or platform limitations added which cripple the utility of all bots...with some an unmeasurable potential loss via future bots which were never created as a result. ....Meanwhile the 'bad guys' find a hundred loop holes to keep operating.

The key is keeping this to a case-by-case enforcement...whether at an individual or specific use-case based level. Not some overarching limitation or stigmatization of bots (across all social media).

[1] See: the drug war, 1970s NYC/Toronto rent control laws resulting in a far lower supply of affordable housing and more dilapidated tenements, anti-oil pipeline activism resulting in more environmental harm via rail and truck transit, pro-poverty housing regulation creating isolated urban ghettos, wage laws reducing total long-term net income for all low-income workers than it gains employed workers in the short term, etc, etc.

Re: Hackers Are So Fed Up with Twitter Bots They’re Hunting Them Down Themselves

#110

Post by jonathankoren »

CM30 wrote: post #26
johnc1231 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Twitter's biggest problem with fake accounts is not that they are hard to identify, but that if they do identify them and shut them down, it'll hurt their "number of active users" stats

I suspect their big problem is more that their site is too big for the moderation staff they have at the moment. Identifying bots is easy for people sure, but it's hard to automate with AI and hiring people to proactively hunt out and shut down bots is expensive. Of course, the fact doing it too well hurts the stats doesn't help either.

> it’s hard to automate with AI

While nothing is a panacea, there’s little evidence that Twitter is doing even the bare minimum.

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