
Fake Facts on Twitter - soundsop
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/04/fake_facts_on_t.html
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tokenadult
This is a very interesting example of a concern that Schneier has long had
about "semantic attacks" on the Web. Since I started participating on Usenet
in 1994, and even before that on commercial online services since 1992, I have
noticed that some participants are quite willing to poison discussion of
contentious policy issues with made-up "facts." That's why I think it is a
good idea, here on HN and everyone online where people discuss important
issues, to check facts and ask for sources or further details for any "fact"
that seems striking.

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pj
I find HN is pretty good about finding sources and backing up facts.
Commenters here will call you out if you say something they can show is false
and I like that.

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silentbicycle
Important observation, from the post he's referring to:

"But second, be careful of what you read and believe on Twitter. I think some
of the leeway granted to InTheStimulus is _based on the soundbite nature of
the site; people can get away with no citations_ , which is less likely than
with a conventional blog." (emphasis mine)

Something that reinforces ones' worldview tends to be less likely to get
questioned than something that contradicts it, and a complete lack of evidence
can get overlooked: After all, it's _obviously_ true.

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tokenadult
_Something that reinforces ones' worldview tends to be less likely to get
questioned than something that contradicts it_

Yes, confirmation bias

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias>

afflicts most discussion, and especially most online discussion. Agreeing with
another reply above, I greatly appreciate it when anyone on HN asks follow-up
questions to another reply, to check facts and sources.

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amalcon
This has the feel of the Sokal Affair about it. The guy should have announced
that it was a hoax over the wire, but the goal is basically the same. Put
something together that has the same appearance as what you're trying to
satirize, but include some critical flaw, and see if anyone notices.

I wonder if we'll end up seeing any of these in mainstream reporting; that
would be quite the thing.

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aristus
The internet has made agitprop more efficient along with everything else.
Social media is by definition a large group of civilians on a coffee break.
Anyone with an agenda and a certain twist of mind can cause large
disturbances... when I bring this up to people in abstract they don't really
get it. Maybe this example will help.

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tptacek
Wow, it looks like they even scrubbed this from search.twitter.com...? I
didn't look hard, though.

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scorpion032
I am keen to see how long the twitter search as it is today seems to be
relevant before it gets spammed enough and a tweet-rank algorithm needs to be
used rather than a purely realtime algorithm.

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pj
Spreading false information to prove that you can spread false information is
morally corrupt.

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mechanical_fish
If only Jonathan Swift were here to laugh at you in person.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal>

