3 ms·

More mental gymnastics... I'm not even sure what point is being made by this move, other than devaluing the blue check to the point of meaninglessness. It's not

by uoaei 4y ago

More mental gymnastics... I'm not even sure what point is being made by this move, other than devaluing the blue check to the point of meaninglessness. It's not even "utilitarian": if leveling the playing field was Musk's interest, he would have eliminated the blue check altogether. There is no mechanism for anti-impersonation if all it takes to get a blue check is payment. Bot farms can also pay money for blue checks...

ericd 4y ago
It substantially changes the economics of bots - cheap for a person, expensive for a person running 10,000 bots that want to appear legitimate.
- oneeyedpigeon 4y ago
  Expensive for a person running 10,000 bots, irrelevant to a hostile nation doing the same.
  - TeMPOraL 4y ago
    Almost everything is irrelevant to a hostile nation state, because by its very nature it can outspend your security if it cares badly enough. In the immortal words of James Mickens[0], "If your adversary is the Mossad, YOU’RE GONNA DIE AND THERE’S NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT." Raising the costs has a general effect of cutting out people who do not care enough to pay - be it individuals, companies, or governments. ---- [0] - https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1401_08-12_mickens.pdf https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1401_08-12_mickens.pdf
- comboy 4y ago
  I think the expensive part comes mostly from the part that it is hard to make anonymous payment. Sending money is kind of a verification (unless dogecoin is accepted ;) ). I still have no clue why bots would care to have it though, since there is obviously a very high percentage of people who don't.
- uoaei 4y ago
  So you've limited the success of bot farms only to the set of state actors. Yay, such a great improvement...
  - ericd 4y ago
    Well yeah, that actually is. Most spammers aren’t government backed.
muststopmyths 4y ago
mental gymnastics is being too kind. You've summarized quite succinctly the effect of this change. I guess I don't get this 5-D chess the masters of the universe are playing. From my plebian plane it looks like a monkey flinging poop at a wall.

by uoaei 4y ago

ericd 4y ago

It substantially changes the economics of bots - cheap for a person, expensive for a person running 10,000 bots that want to appear legitimate.

oneeyedpigeon 4y ago
Expensive for a person running 10,000 bots, irrelevant to a hostile nation doing the same.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  Almost everything is irrelevant to a hostile nation state, because by its very nature it can outspend your security if it cares badly enough. In the immortal words of James Mickens[0], "If your adversary is the Mossad, YOU’RE GONNA DIE AND THERE’S NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT." Raising the costs has a general effect of cutting out people who do not care enough to pay - be it individuals, companies, or governments. ---- [0] - https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1401_08-12_mickens.pdf https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1401_08-12_mickens.pdf
comboy 4y ago
I think the expensive part comes mostly from the part that it is hard to make anonymous payment. Sending money is kind of a verification (unless dogecoin is accepted ;) ). I still have no clue why bots would care to have it though, since there is obviously a very high percentage of people who don't.
uoaei 4y ago
So you've limited the success of bot farms only to the set of state actors. Yay, such a great improvement...
- ericd 4y ago
  Well yeah, that actually is. Most spammers aren’t government backed.

muststopmyths 4y ago

mental gymnastics is being too kind. You've summarized quite succinctly the effect of this change. I guess I don't get this 5-D chess the masters of the universe are playing. From my plebian plane it looks like a monkey flinging poop at a wall.