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It is interesting that WhatsApp is credited with so much of the fake news and disinformation in the recent Brazilian election as opposed to Twitter. Do you have

by spuz 8y ago

It is interesting that WhatsApp is credited with so much of the fake news and disinformation in the recent Brazilian election as opposed to Twitter. Do you have an idea of why this is? I read this article [1] which mentions that while most Brazilians have mobile phones, their data plans only include free access to Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp and ordinary data is expensive (i.e. no net neutrality). That means that information is spread more often through these apps rather than by people reading news websites. However, WhatsApp seems a very inefficient method to spread propaganda. You have to share each message either with an individual or a group and there is no "news feed" curated by some algorithm to target your interests specifically. Also, given that Twitter is also free for most Brazilians, I would expect that to be a more effective method to find and spread propaganda. One explanation given by the article is that "Since WhatsApp text messages are forwarded and reforwarded by friends and family, the information seems more credible." This makes sense but it doesn't explain why this phenomenon would happen more in Brazil than in the US. [1] https://theconversation.com/whatsapp-skewed-brazilian-election-proving-social-medias-danger-to-democracy-106476 https://theconversation.com/whatsapp-skewed-brazilian-electi...

lbebber 8y ago
Simply pretty much everyone here uses WhatsApp, including people who have no other contact with the internet.
hervature 8y ago
I think you are forgetting about six degrees of separation. It doesn’t take many shares/forwards to reach every one. As for the news feed part, I think people would more readily believe something their friend/family sent in the group chat as opposed to on a news feed. But that second point is just my opinion.
- lozaning 8y ago
  Friends and family sharing things that pertain to a field I know they're knowledgeable in sure. However I've got plenty of family (thankfully not too many friends) that are happy to amplify the signal of things that they're not qualified to speak to. Aunt Anti-vaxx if anything gets more scepticism about anything she tries to tell me.
phil248 8y ago
How many people even use Twitter compared to services like Facebook and WhatsApp? Twitter gets endless media attention for some reason, but it's direct reach is severely limited by the fact that it's a niche service, at least compared to its largest competitors.

by spuz 8y ago

lbebber 8y ago

Simply pretty much everyone here uses WhatsApp, including people who have no other contact with the internet.

hervature 8y ago

I think you are forgetting about six degrees of separation. It doesn’t take many shares/forwards to reach every one. As for the news feed part, I think people would more readily believe something their friend/family sent in the group chat as opposed to on a news feed. But that second point is just my opinion.

lozaning 8y ago
Friends and family sharing things that pertain to a field I know they're knowledgeable in sure. However I've got plenty of family (thankfully not too many friends) that are happy to amplify the signal of things that they're not qualified to speak to. Aunt Anti-vaxx if anything gets more scepticism about anything she tries to tell me.

phil248 8y ago

How many people even use Twitter compared to services like Facebook and WhatsApp? Twitter gets endless media attention for some reason, but it's direct reach is severely limited by the fact that it's a niche service, at least compared to its largest competitors.