5 ms·

> Not only is there a bias towards “Lefty” (quotes) views... Is there a source for this? While it sounds credible, I don't think I've seen any data on it, and

> Not only is there a bias towards “Lefty” (quotes) views... Is there a source for this? While it sounds credible, I don't think I've seen any data on it, and I've certainly seen a lot of "Righty" folks with blue checkmarks. (The ones the article you linked to talks about are entirely on the far right, in fact, although of course that article is in Mother Jones, which is...not on the far right.)

dijit 7y ago
FD: I align with the left politically. I don’t have (and can’t get) data direct from twitter. But it’s a common accusation. https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/9354-twitter-accused-left-bias-verifying-eminent-accounts https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/9354-twitter-accused... https://theoutline.com/post/1323/verified-blue-checkmark-derogatory-insult-twitter https://theoutline.com/post/1323/verified-blue-checkmark-der... https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/verified-politics/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/verified-politics/
- chipotle_coyote 7y ago
  Well, it's a common accusation from some louder parts of the Right, to be sure. But I've also heard folks on the left accuse Twitter of having a conservative or even alt-right bias because of the common occurrence of alt-right trolls gaming the reporting system to get leftist activists suspended. While that may be an exploitable flaw in Twitter's system, I doubt Jack Dorsey is a secret neo-Nazi; likewise, I take "Twitter is run by anti-conservative SJWs because they kicked off Milo and Richard Spencer" with more than a few grains of salt. :)
  - type0 7y ago
    > I take "Twitter is run by anti-conservative SJWs because they kicked off Milo and Richard Spencer" with more than a few grains of salt. :) They probably not, just regular progressives, although they could have friends in those circles. Btw taking too much salt isn't good for you.
Zenst 7y ago
Maybe not best example, but the last UK election on social media like Facebook and Twitter you would of thought Labour was going to landslide it going by what was promoted and trending. Yet the reality was different. If anything - that highlighted how out of touch social media has become with reality of the populus. This and so often seen people who are what I'd call hard-left label anything not sat inline with themselves as right-wing and when you are so far left, everything is right-wing, label and dismissed. Or Twitch-hunts as the article articulates it.
- nailer 7y ago
  Likewise. I never realised there was so many people outside remaining totalitarian communist regimes who would openly support communism until I got on Twitter.
busterarm 7y ago
Getting a blue check is pretty much standard starting procedure for any new journalist at vice/buzzfeed/vox/etc. It's like part of the on-boarding process. Even if you don't have much of a following, your colleagues email someone they know at Twitter and your verified check follows soon after. Twitter's most important and most active users are journalists and they've made that abundantly clear.
- gizmo385 7y ago
  Once again, do you have a source for this? Many right-wing journalists are also verified on Twitter.
  - busterarm 7y ago
    Twitter themselves? "An account may be verified if it is determined to be an account of public interest. Typically this includes accounts maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas. A verified badge does not imply an endorsement by Twitter." NeimanLab just sent Twitter an excel spreadsheet to get all o f their employees in. https://twitter.com/ylichterman/status/484780960471592961 https://twitter.com/ylichterman/status/484780960471592961
- chipotle_coyote 7y ago
  I don't doubt that -- but as Gizmo385 noted, conservative journalists get blue checkmarks, too. (Just as a sort of anecdotal check, I looked up the eight people on the masthead of The Bulwark, a pretty new conservative online publication, and everyone but the art director has a blue checkmark, as do three of the five non-masthead contributors.) So the question still stands. (If you're implicitly suggesting that journalists tend as an overall class to skew left-of-center, there's a good case to be made for that -- but that's not a Twitter bias!)
  - busterarm 7y ago
    Yeah, I'm not saying it's to the exclusion of right-leaning journalists. That said, Twitter has removed the blue check almost exclusively from public figures on the right. IMO, even if someone's opinions are monstrous, if they have a verifiable twitter account in good standing, either they should also have a blue check or probably nobody should. Lest somebody impersonate _them_ and say things that are reasonable and confuse people. Not sure it matters though. I think Twitter is a net-negative for society and if we had any sense about us we'd shut such things down.
Zenst 7y ago
Oh maybe a better example - fresh out of the pot: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51621812 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51621812
blackflame7000 7y ago
Look at the sentiment analysis of Twitter the day after Trump was elected if you want to see how skewed it is.

dijit 7y ago

FD: I align with the left politically. I don’t have (and can’t get) data direct from twitter. But it’s a common accusation. https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/9354-twitter-accused-left-bias-verifying-eminent-accounts https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/9354-twitter-accused... https://theoutline.com/post/1323/verified-blue-checkmark-derogatory-insult-twitter https://theoutline.com/post/1323/verified-blue-checkmark-der... https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/verified-politics/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/verified-politics/

chipotle_coyote 7y ago
Well, it's a common accusation from some louder parts of the Right, to be sure. But I've also heard folks on the left accuse Twitter of having a conservative or even alt-right bias because of the common occurrence of alt-right trolls gaming the reporting system to get leftist activists suspended. While that may be an exploitable flaw in Twitter's system, I doubt Jack Dorsey is a secret neo-Nazi; likewise, I take "Twitter is run by anti-conservative SJWs because they kicked off Milo and Richard Spencer" with more than a few grains of salt. :)
- type0 7y ago
  > I take "Twitter is run by anti-conservative SJWs because they kicked off Milo and Richard Spencer" with more than a few grains of salt. :) They probably not, just regular progressives, although they could have friends in those circles. Btw taking too much salt isn't good for you.

Zenst 7y ago

Maybe not best example, but the last UK election on social media like Facebook and Twitter you would of thought Labour was going to landslide it going by what was promoted and trending. Yet the reality was different. If anything - that highlighted how out of touch social media has become with reality of the populus. This and so often seen people who are what I'd call hard-left label anything not sat inline with themselves as right-wing and when you are so far left, everything is right-wing, label and dismissed. Or Twitch-hunts as the article articulates it.

nailer 7y ago
Likewise. I never realised there was so many people outside remaining totalitarian communist regimes who would openly support communism until I got on Twitter.

busterarm 7y ago

Getting a blue check is pretty much standard starting procedure for any new journalist at vice/buzzfeed/vox/etc. It's like part of the on-boarding process. Even if you don't have much of a following, your colleagues email someone they know at Twitter and your verified check follows soon after. Twitter's most important and most active users are journalists and they've made that abundantly clear.

gizmo385 7y ago
Once again, do you have a source for this? Many right-wing journalists are also verified on Twitter.
- busterarm 7y ago
  Twitter themselves? "An account may be verified if it is determined to be an account of public interest. Typically this includes accounts maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas. A verified badge does not imply an endorsement by Twitter." NeimanLab just sent Twitter an excel spreadsheet to get all o f their employees in. https://twitter.com/ylichterman/status/484780960471592961 https://twitter.com/ylichterman/status/484780960471592961
chipotle_coyote 7y ago
I don't doubt that -- but as Gizmo385 noted, conservative journalists get blue checkmarks, too. (Just as a sort of anecdotal check, I looked up the eight people on the masthead of The Bulwark, a pretty new conservative online publication, and everyone but the art director has a blue checkmark, as do three of the five non-masthead contributors.) So the question still stands. (If you're implicitly suggesting that journalists tend as an overall class to skew left-of-center, there's a good case to be made for that -- but that's not a Twitter bias!)
- busterarm 7y ago
  Yeah, I'm not saying it's to the exclusion of right-leaning journalists. That said, Twitter has removed the blue check almost exclusively from public figures on the right. IMO, even if someone's opinions are monstrous, if they have a verifiable twitter account in good standing, either they should also have a blue check or probably nobody should. Lest somebody impersonate _them_ and say things that are reasonable and confuse people. Not sure it matters though. I think Twitter is a net-negative for society and if we had any sense about us we'd shut such things down.

Zenst 7y ago

Oh maybe a better example - fresh out of the pot: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51621812 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51621812

blackflame7000 7y ago

Look at the sentiment analysis of Twitter the day after Trump was elected if you want to see how skewed it is.