Why are people mean on Twitter? - Smarter Every Day 214

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Twitter info on IRA dataset

Congress released this list of Twitter Usernames:

Twitter rules (beyond scope of this video, but relevant to current discussions around censorship)

Academic Papers (At least scroll through and look at the graphs):

Troll Behaviour in the Twitter Brexit Debate

Who falls for political manipualation

Check out "Robotrolling"

NATO (Our interview took place on NATO's 70th birthday).

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Warm Regards,

Destin

[smartereveryday]

Our Social Media Platforms are under attack. Twitter is being hit with systematic external attacks in the form of meta-manipulation and inauthentic users who attempt to shape the discussion by slowly and methodically radicalizing people. These attackers have demonstrated the desire to promote tribalism and the "us" vs "them" mentality. I propose proactive unity as a countermeasure.

It's kind of interesting how crazy typing a sentence like that makes a person sound... but it's absolutely true.

My twitter accounts are here (open in new tab?):

For those commenting on Twitter having a political agenda:
I've read the same articles and listened to the same podcast episodes you have on this subject.... and I've concluded that I seem to take a more nuanced perspective on this than others.


Whenever I hear about an individual ban/suspension/censorship, the first thing I do is read about the context of the ban. I then divide them into 2 groups.


*Group 1 Suspensions: Bans based off of Twitter's values and policy decisions. *
In this case it's clear to me a human actively makes a decision to ban someone, or a specific keyword or phrase etc. I agree that several of their policies (banning certain words, phrases, or "protecting" certain groups but not others) should be discussed and debated openly. In case you're not detecting my stance on this I'll spell it out... I have very strong feelings about these things but I'm avoiding disclosing how I feel in order to shine more light on Group 2 suspensions, which are the result of a far more technical threat. Group 1 Suspensions could be changed tomorrow if certain people change their mind.. Group 2 could not.


*Group 2 Suspensions. Bans/Suspensions taking place because Twitter is trying to fight literal armies trying to manipulate our society.*


Whenever I see someone who has been suspended, I try to be intellectually honest and read their complaints and run it through my engineer filter. If they seem emotional, I try to identify what types of emotions are being communicated and use that to figure out what category the ban fits in.


Group 1 Bans are usually pretty clear. These bans are usually a process, not a single event. Still, these victims feel that their speech is being controlled (and by definition it is) so they're usually angry.
Group 2 Bans are often collateral damage, so the sense of injustice is elevated. From what I can tell, Twitter doesn't provide indicate that the suspension was automatic, therefore the user is forced to assume they have crossed some type of ideological barrier and therefore been deemed "not politially correct". The anger in this case usually has a tiny dash of confusion mixed in.


Twitter usually tries to explain that it's a result of automatic filtering.... but without the context of what's going on in this episode, victims of group 2 bans are left to logically assume a political agenda on the part of twitter. They are assume they are the victim of a Group 1 ban. I do not think this is always the case.


Heightened emotions lead Group 2 ban victims to tell as many people about the injustices at Twitter, often as loudly as possible. I've noticed when Twitter is notified (as recently happened with the movie "Unplanned" ) the suspension is reversed immediately, followed by a statement by Twitter explaining that the suspension was the result of an autonomous system. To the victim, this explanation is insufficient, and they continue to think Twitter actually wanted to silence them. In the cases I've read, the victims sometime think that because they yelled loud enough the decision was reversed because they publicly shamed Twitter.


The implications of this are pretty big for Twitter. The result of all this confusion is that the public ends up thinking Twitter's efforts to "control" things are much lager than they actually are. I think it's a good idea for Twitter to be more transparent about this stuff, and Del said they're moving in that direction which is great. For the record, Twitter was 100% open with me and didn't restrict my message in any way.


Because these issues are related to countermeasures, Twitter's sometimes not at liberty to discuss what exactly triggered their system, because knowledge of such systems could lead to exploitation.
I'm personally empathetic because I recognize Twitter is fighting a war.


also think free speech is awesome.

[unpossible]

I work in Cybersecurity and I've been saying this for years. I'm so glad that SmarterEveryDay is covering this topic. Thanks Destin!

[KalpitTiwari]

You hit youtube gold with this incredible series, it's helping us, your channel, your sponsors and making this world (internet) a better place

[andrewphillips]

Destin, your hard work and dedication are making the world a smarter, safer, kinder and better-informed place. You are part of the solution, and I thank you, as do all who love our freedoms. From a proud Patreon.

[ramm]

I watch this video some months ago and one line resonated with me,

"...Political Grace. If the point of these attacks is to divide us, then proactive, intentional unity has the potential to be an effective countermeasure on the personal level. Maybe we should just not assume the worst of each other."

I came back today to get that line to share it with others.

[mahuk.]

Considering the amount of people requesting to add Reddit to the list, let's be honest, this series of media manipulation isn't really 3 videos long.
- The Future of War, and How It Affects YOU (Multi-Domain Operations) - Smarter Every Day 211.
- Why Your Newsfeed SUCKS - Smarter Every Day 212.
- Manipulating the YouTube Algorithm - (Part 1/3) Smarter Every Day 213.
- Twitter Platform Manipulation - (Part 2/3) Smarter Every Day 214.
You already have 4, Destin, and I'm eager to see more of this.

[TrashHeapCustodian]

Definitely, definitely do Reddit, but I wouldn't expect too much openness from their admins.

[btrammel]

"After the first episode...I was contacted by NATO..."
!!!! is that good or baaaad?

[Always.Smarter]

"1 percent of 300 million is... a lot"
quick maths

[jkddaddy]

The most under appreciated comment: “this is a lot of work.”
Thanks Destin.

[alissah]

Expanding this to reddit would be great. Loving the series

[aabeceedeeeff]

Yes! Please expand it to include Reddit aswell.
This is an awesome series, thank you! :)

[bioboy]

A platform that is limited to 240 something characters is already going to have problem with context and meaning. It’s whole design is to be a quote distributer, which is horrible at presenting legitimate and well thought ideas. The platform is a breeding ground for problems in communication and ingenious methods of mass distribution.

[rmreagle]

Yes add REDDIT please!!! Would be interesting to see that platform and its' unique structure!
Excellent video as always and cool info about ExpressVPN ram storage!

[jonathankjrandersen]

Commenting to help you in the algorithm :)

[Astra]

Hats off to you for actually engaging with the criticism about ExpressVPN from last video.

[OtherTheDave]

Given recent events, this video will probably need a sequel soon.

[VanillaLibrarian]

I'd like to see one about reddit indeed, perhaps with a look at voat, the purgatory of reddit exiles, too.

[najrenchelf]

YO, you are getting PUBLICITY with this series! 👏👏👏👏

Also, this is FASCINATING! 👀

[danm]

Destin, as always, I am thoroughly impressed by the quality of your content. I have no doubts that you are truly making a difference in the online world. As an engineering student, I really appreciate your approach to these very pertinent issues. Thank you for all your awesome work!