Computer Scientist Warns of Social Media Manipulation in U.S. Election

Computer Scientist Warns of Social Media Manipulation in U.S. Election via @IEEESpectrum

Because it’s just six years old, Twitter has been around for only one U.S. presidential election, in 2008. As the tide of Twitter users swells and the political stakes rise, candidates will increasingly use this social media platform to enhance our perception of their popularity and tarnish that of their opponents. There is ample opportunity to spread misinformation cheaply, argue Wellesley College computer scientists Panagiotis “Takis” Metaxas and Eni Mustafaraj, in the journal Science this week. Metaxas, who says his students’ willingness to believe information on the Internet brought him to examine the issue, says that the ability to manipulate social media and search results remains underappreciated by the media and the public. IEEE Spectrum: Has social media manipulation increased with the current election? Panagiotis Metaxas: In the past, I have done research on spec...

Full article: http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/computer-scient...