⏱️This edition of the National Account’s newsletter is a five minute read.
👋 G’day everyone, Archie here.
📡 Hope Monday is treating you well. On Friday I was on Triple J chatting last week’s news. You can hear that by clicking here.
While you’re over on Spotify why not give the podcast a follow? My interview with comedian Blake Pavey is now live and it’s one of the funniest I’ve ever done.
Now let’s get on with today’s story 🗞️.
A study of 315 accounts using the hashtag #ArsonEmergency during the Black Summer Bushfires revealed that a third were suspected to be bot or troll accounts. However, real users were primarily responsible for continuing to spread these falsehoods, which were then picked up by mainstream media.
🗣️ Why did it say that?
Who decides what you see on social media?
A person?
Kind of.
But really, it’s a computer, farming for engagement above all else.
The longer you stay online, the more money big tech companies make out of you.
I had a look at how this has played out in reality, with an example from the Black Summer Bushfires recently being cited by a Senate inquiry looking at the mis/disinformation around climate change and energy.
As you can see in the box above despite the number of bots peddling false info, “real users were primarily responsible for continuing to spread these falsehoods.”
We know these algorithms are causing harm, so why doesn’t our government try and do something about it?
For my full run down check out today’s video:
Thanks for catching up with me. I hope you enjoyed this issue, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just reply to this email and I’ll be on the other side 👋
I’ll be back on Wednesday with an interview I’m really looking forward to showing you.
Cheers, Archie