Mastodawn

New: Erica Marsh became one of the most consistently viral liberal accounts on Twitter. Only problem: She's probably fake. Her account was suspended after we asked Twitter workers about it. Doesn't this kind of rage baiting make you angry? Boost if you agree

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/04/twitter-erica-marsh-suspended/

A viral left-wing Twitter account may have been fake all along

For months, the Erica Marsh account had raised suspicions among online misinformation experts due to her lack of a real-world footprint and her devotion to attention-grabbing viewpoints one called “cartoonishly liberal.”

The Washington Post

John Breen Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell "The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by the Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan
I have a new phrase :
"The platform is the problem"
Reading Twitter is like reading garbage.

Doctor Biobrain Jul 4, 2023

@jab01701mid You know nothing of Marshall McLuhan’s work.

Jk, I don’t even know who he is besides Annie Hall. I’ve just always wanted to say that to someone.

John Breen Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell lol
“It is natural for us to assume that the information people provide on their profiles is true.”

me_valentijn Oct 20, 2023

@jab01701mid @drewharwell

It's pretty common to trust popular accounts with a large following. Another notable one on Twitter is "Chise," the Furry who supposedly developed the Moderna vaccine, a claim frequently believed even by otherwise intelligent people.

Doesn't matter that her real identity was buried in her own old tweets or that her contemporary claims around her employment were impossible. People find it natural to believe what other people already believe, and awkward to doubt it.

Peter Principle Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell i'm outraged by your outrage.

John Gordon Jul 4, 2023

@jobsboils @drewharwell “Doesn't this kind of rage baiting make you angry? Boost if you agree” was pretty funny.

Covidiocracy Jul 4, 2023

"She’s been especially popular with conservatives, who promoted her as a perfect symbol of how overly theatrical and inane progressives can be..."

So what I'm picking up is the Venmo is probably registered to Matt Gaetz.

Lauren Wu (Kayna on TFT)Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell I see the Twitter blue "verified" plan is working well to screen out bots/fake accounts! /s

Thomas Traynor Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Not surprised. It is a cess pit of fake, hate and trolls.

https://dailynetizen.blog/2023/07/04/evil-erica-marsh-account-exposed-european-leftists-interfering-with-us-elections/

Evil ‘Erica Marsh’ Account Exposed: European Leftists Interfering with US Elections

In a twist that exposes the dangers of bots and election interference, the case of Erica Marsh’s suspended verified Twitter account has sent shockwaves through the platform. What initially ap…

The Daily Netizen

cat static 🇺🇸🇺🇦Jul 4, 2023

@thomastraynor @drewharwell The source of the "European leftist" claim is a dailynetizen.blog article authored by "Froi Vincenton." His work lacks credibility and amplifies right wing conspiracy lies.

B K Jul 5, 2023

@cat_static @thomastraynor @drewharwell yeah, this guy posting this article is full of shit

cat static 🇺🇸🇺🇦Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell "Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously." https://clemson.world/archive/inspiring-tweet/

Clemson World Archive | That Uplifting Tweet? A Russian Troll Sent it.

Martin Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Wouldn't put it past Twitter under its current management to run such an operation in-house just to drive engagement. After all it has been documented that they feature real users like AOC that enrage and engage a wide spectrum audience albeit for contrasting reasons.

Renee DiResta Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell funny I looked at this one in March - it was clearly bait but couldn’t sort out what it was. What’s the story with that one connection she had on her Venmo account?

Drew Harwell Jul 4, 2023

@Noupside Can't tell. I asked Venmo about it (a PayPal company!) but no answer yet. I also requested $0.01 from Erica so I could send her a message via Venmo, just in case she (he? they? it?) didn't see my other messages

Greg Linden Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Generally, I think researchers and the press underestimate the impact of influential accounts on social media being promoted by hordes of fake accounts, as well as how easily it is to use fake crowds of shills to influence what we see in ranking algorithms like trending, search, and recommendations. From the article: "The accounts were often run from foreign countries and opined on divisive current events while posing as politically active Americans."

Greg Linden Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell The good news is that the FTC recently took action that might soon make manipulating social media more expensive for bad actors: "Businesses would be prohibited from selling false indicators of social media influence, like fake followers or views. The proposed rule also would bar anyone from buying such indicators to misrepresent their importance for a commercial purpose."
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/federal-trade-commission-announces-proposed-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials

Federal Trade Commission Announces Proposed Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials

The Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule to stop marketers from using illicit review and endorsement practices such as using fa

Federal Trade Commission

Steven Bodzin Jul 5, 2023

@glinden @drewharwell What's amazing is how the social companies can see all this happening in real time and choose to ignore it. And now the federal government is forbidden from so much as complaining about that.

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell I remember that account suddenly appearing and getting really popular super fast

msgbi Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell @charles_ex

John Gordon Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell “You can go a long way with a reasonably consistent, one-dimensional identity online if it has certain features: smart strategies for posting content, an attractive profile picture, a degree of spice and sassiness,”

One day they will all be well tuned LLMs that learn based on revenue streams.

Daniel Howard 🌻Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Your method of rage baiting is also offensive.

woolie Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell why should I care?

Robert M Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Who really cares what's going on at #Twitter? It's a far-right hate site. I'll still go there occasionally to troll fascist GOP politicians and officials but it would be best if the site just died. No one should be using it for any legitimate purpose. The owner is a disturbed fascist creep.

Robert M Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Elon Musk: Australia threatens to fine Twitter over online hate https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65981699

Elon Musk: Australia threatens to fine Twitter over online hate

Elon Musk bought the firm last year for $44bn and promised to protect free speech on the platform.

BBC News

Robert M Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Elon Musk boosts antisemitic ‘blood libel’ tweet https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/7/2173923/-Elon-Musk-boosts-antisemitic-blood-libel-tweet

Elon Musk boosts antisemitic ‘blood libel’ tweet

Twitter owner Elon Musk still seems to be going out of his way to be vile, but there's not much of a way to top "vile" once you've boosted the antisemitic blood libel conspiracy theory popularized by Nazi Germany. That's Musk adding his approving voice...

Daily Kos

jtb Jul 4, 2023

@rob11563 @drewharwell If it is a far right hate site, what is Jeremy Corbyn doing on there?

Robert M Jul 4, 2023

@jtb @drewharwell Other than the extreme far-right what is any public figure, government entity, news organization, etc ... doing there at this point? They should all leave.

edgeoforever 🍎Jul 5, 2023

@jtb @rob11563 @drewharwell another Putin stooge, the nazbol side (tankie). Same goals.

DireWolf_Jim Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Another @GOP fail

MA Caiti Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell On the bright side, these rage click farmers are actively discouraged from coming here, so...

GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell Image description: two photos of a blonde young woman

Sacha Prins Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell outrage farming

Robin Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell rage baiting…boost if you agree 🙃
That gets a permanent mute

Sheogorath Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell @paco Please don't boost stuff that makes you angry. We don't want the Fediverse to become the next outrage machine.

Boost cat pictures instead!

Agas Ramirez Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell well that's insane.

Joseph Kohlmann Jul 4, 2023

@drewharwell @ritawho The Venmo account is the “cherry” on top, yikes

Jason Madrid Jul 5, 2023

"Doesn't this kind of rage-baiting make you angry? Boost if you agree!"

Gangsta know gangsta...

author_is_ShrikeTron🔠💉x5 Jul 5, 2023

@drewharwell This broke in December, 2022. How are people just finding out?

https://twitter.com/T_HawkDaMan/status/1603141412807221249?s=20

I'd post the nitter link, but nitter seems broken even for old posts.

Mike Fraser Jul 5, 2023

@drewharwell This is an old playbook. Conservative talk radio used to feature a left wing guest that was either flaky or radical and put them against a moderate conservative who would then debate an issue with the right wing host as moderator. It gave the illusion that the left was incompetent and let callers vent fake outrage. The right has been tilling this earth for decades.

Enema Cowboy Jul 5, 2023

@mike @drewharwell

I always wondered if the callers that got dumped for allegedly using salty language was for other reasons.

roque (ロク)Jul 5, 2023

@drewharwell you managed to get blocked and muted by all the right people with that one lol

Emile Snyder Jul 5, 2023

@drewharwell I see what you did there

Thor Tallmon Jul 5, 2023

@drewharwell lol, I mean I'm kinda impressed it took so long to figure out.

Steve Oh 🇺🇸💙✊🟰🗽🇺🇦Jul 5, 2023

@drewharwell — Here’s an idea: how about the actual liberals & progressives and any others who care about the future of American democracy, mount a concerted effort to smoke out and drive out any and all fake political actors on social media!

Tony 💉x10 🇦🇺Jul 7, 2023

@drewharwell Twitter still has a trust and safety department?! 😳