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Manufactured consensus on x.com

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Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#141

Post by EcommerceFlow »

throwaway7783 wrote: post #128
627467 wrote: post #123

The article’s angst over X’s “manufactured consensus” is overblown. Influence has always been curated—editors, town criers, or whoever grabbed the mic were the analog algorithms. X’s sin isn’t some evil algo: it’s just running at planetary scale. We’ve ditched thousands of small communities for one global shouting match, so naturally mega-influencers steal the show. Algorithms are just the gears keeping this chaos mo…

But there is no denying that there is a shift in narrative in X posts since its acquisition. So there is certainly more going on than just planetary scale. It was planetary scale before acquisition too. Algorithms have the power to nudge the narrative one way or another at planetary scale.

Yes, the natural order (that was mass censored for 10+ years) got uncensored. Look at who won the presidency.

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#142

Post by OmarShehata »

casenmgreen wrote: post #124

It looks like Twitter is suppressing posts until they are spammed by hate bots and then making those posts visible. https://bsky.app/profile/willhaycardiff.bsky.social/post/3lk... I've also seen evidence of posts Twitter likes (violent and hateful anti-immigration posts - literally a photo of a dummy tied to a chair being shot in the back of the head) being spammed by love bots. Twitter seems to be a propaganda chann…

important notes from the essay, this not unique to twitter:

> And if you think this only happens on one social network, you’re already caught in the wrong attention loop.

> The most effective influence doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t censor loudly, or boost aggressively. It shapes perception quietly — one algorithmic nudge at a time.

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#143

Post by grey-area »

zoogeny wrote: post #120
razster wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That dynamic of influence compounding certainly echoes the historical patterns we’ve seen with capital—those who have it can shape systems to acquire more. But it’s worth remembering that this only holds power if we choose to participate. Personally, I’ve stepped away from anything associated with X.com or Elon Musk. I deleted my accounts, disconnected from the ecosystem entirely—and life is better for it. No doomscr…

I think we should be careful of too much cynicism (although too little is bad as well). There is the old Aesop tale of the fox and the grapes. Being unable to reach the grapes the fox sulks away saying "they were probably sour". There is a lot to gain for the powerful if they can convince those that they wish to hold that power over that the "grapes are sour", so to speak. That leaves less people fighting for the few…

There's no probably here, and it is healthy to avoid social media platforms run by people who perform nazi salutes in public and attempt to destroy democracy.

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#144

Post by throwaway7783 »

EcommerceFlow wrote: post #141
throwaway7783 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there is no denying that there is a shift in narrative in X posts since its acquisition. So there is certainly more going on than just planetary scale. It was planetary scale before acquisition too. Algorithms have the power to nudge the narrative one way or another at planetary scale.

Yes, the natural order (that was mass censored for 10+ years) got uncensored. Look at who won the presidency.

No way of telling one way or another, no? Unless you actually work at X and know exactly how it works.

Note - My original comment was not about whether now is worse than before or vice versa. It is just that narratives shifted in a different way, that had nothing to do with scale. Algorithms are just as likely as uncensored (or censored - how does one know?)

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#145

Post by mcintyre1994 »

I wonder if the algorithm is affected by blocking the high profile account in these cases. Eg I blocked Musk ages ago because if you don’t then the algorithm just constantly pushes his ‘content’ at you. So does the algorithm still prioritise things he’s interacted with for me, or does it only do that for people who haven’t blocked him? I definitely get stuff recommended that I expect he might interact with, but I don’t know if that’s actually specifically why it’s being pushed at me.

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#146

Post by readhistory »

OmarShehata wrote: post #142
casenmgreen wrote: post #124

It looks like Twitter is suppressing posts until they are spammed by hate bots and then making those posts visible. https://bsky.app/profile/willhaycardiff.bsky.social/post/3lk... I've also seen evidence of posts Twitter likes (violent and hateful anti-immigration posts - literally a photo of a dummy tied to a chair being shot in the back of the head) being spammed by love bots. Twitter seems to be a propaganda chann…

important notes from the essay, this not unique to twitter: > And if you think this only happens on one social network, you’re already caught in the wrong attention loop. > The most effective influence doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t censor loudly, or boost aggressively. It shapes perception quietly — one algorithmic nudge at a time.

FWIW, I don't think the person you are responding to said it only happens on Twitter. Just that it happens on Twitter.

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#147

Post by Tireings »

casenmgreen wrote: post #124

It looks like Twitter is suppressing posts until they are spammed by hate bots and then making those posts visible. https://bsky.app/profile/willhaycardiff.bsky.social/post/3lk... I've also seen evidence of posts Twitter likes (violent and hateful anti-immigration posts - literally a photo of a dummy tied to a chair being shot in the back of the head) being spammed by love bots. Twitter seems to be a propaganda chann…

It's a propaganda platform since Musk bought it.

Im saying this for ages and never joked.

Plenty of real situations happening like blocking certain people, stoping of fact checking, bot protection and detection etc.

There is a reason why Twitter needed more people before

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#148

Post by jadbox »

Just my personal antidotal experience, my reach on X in the last six months has tanked more than 10-100x and my usage hasn't really changed. At this point, I feel my reach has basically dropped to near zero unless some "big name influencer" boosts it with a comment.

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#149

Post by neilv »

> When an account with 219 million followers interacts with a smaller one — not by blocking or arguing, but simply by muting — the consequences are immediate. The smaller account’s visibility drops from 150,000 views to 20,000 overnight.

Is this true on Twitter/X?

If so, what is the rationale?

Re: Manufactured consensus on x.com

#150

Post by numpad0 »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #145

I wonder if the algorithm is affected by blocking the high profile account in these cases. Eg I blocked Musk ages ago because if you don’t then the algorithm just constantly pushes his ‘content’ at you. So does the algorithm still prioritise things he’s interacted with for me, or does it only do that for people who haven’t blocked him? I definitely get stuff recommended that I expect he might interact with, but I don…

They've massively raised various penalization thresholds too, so that organically valued content cannot gain popularity. Unless you've blocked everything he sees, you're still affected.
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