Center for an Informed PublicSep 1, 2023

🧵 In a new @uwcip rapid research report, @mikecaulfield and @katestarbird found that YouTube’s search surfaced reliable information about the Lahaina fire’s causes, even when prompted with a search targeted at bringing up coverage of non-existent deliberate causes. However, “other factors both internal to YouTube (existing channel subscribers) and external (social sharing on other platforms) may be driving a different kind of consumption.” [1/3]

https://www.cip.uw.edu/2023/08/31/youtube-lahaina-wildfires-causes/

#UWCIP #Maui #Wildfire

YouTube search surfaces good information about the causes of the Lahaina Fire, but external links reveal a different world

The Lahaina wildfires were still raging as the first questions about whether they might have been “deliberately set” emerged online. Though all current evidence points to an accidental start, poten…

Center for an Informed Public
Show threadCenter for an Informed PublicSep 1, 2023

Caulfield and Starbird write: “Given past research about some of the failings of YouTube search and recommendations, the strong performance of the search engine during an unfolding event was a welcome surprise, and adds to recent research showing that YouTube’s algorithms do not currently seem to be a driver of new viewers to extremist or alternative media content.” [2/3]

#UWCIP #YouTube #MisinformationResearch

John LamSep 2, 2023
Show threadCenter for an Informed Public

In their @uwcip rapid research report, Caulfield and Starbird also examined Twitter/X discourse around the Lahaina fires on Maui. They write: "Both during the fires themselves and in the aftermath, X discourse has leaned into conspiracism, with much of the discourse centering around theories the fires may have been deliberate." [3/3]

Read their report: https://www.cip.uw.edu/2023/08/31/youtube-lahaina-wildfires-causes/

#UWCIP #Wildifires #Misinformation #MisinformationResearch #SocialMedia #Maui #Lahaina

YouTube search surfaces good information about the causes of the Lahaina Fire, but external links reveal a different world

The Lahaina wildfires were still raging as the first questions about whether they might have been “deliberately set” emerged online. Though all current evidence points to an accidental start, poten…

Center for an Informed Public
Sep 1, 2023 at 10:16pmWeb