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That site got a fair bit of press (and not in a good way) after they set up one of those bots pretending to be the author Jon Ronson. Jon interviewed the people

That site got a fair bit of press (and not in a good way) after they set up one of those bots pretending to be the author Jon Ronson. Jon interviewed the people behind it, judge them for yourself: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2012/mar/27/jon-ronson-spambot-video http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2012/mar/27/jo...

phpnode 14y ago
that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen, they certainly take an interesting position
bobds 14y ago
The Weavr guys have posted the backstory of the jon_ronson bot on their blog. It's an interesting read. http://philterphactory.com/2012/04/02/jon_ronson-a-weavr-of-a-gonzo-documenter/ http://philterphactory.com/2012/04/02/jon_ronson-a-weavr-of-...
smcl 14y ago
Not sure if it's just me, but those guys come across as extremely unlikeable in that video. I don't get how they seem oblivious to why Jon is upset about it, and even at one point one gets (faux?) annoyed that real Jon is telling people following fake Jon to stop doing so.
- brackin 14y ago
  The central guy comes across as a total psychopath. Twisting everything he says in a strange way. Almost saying the fact that he uses his name on Twitter makes him self-obsesed. I've just looked at my list of @replies and the last ten are all users using their real names. They have some of the most absolutely weakest arguments I've ever heard yet get away with it. It's as if they don't care if the thousands watching the video aren't convinced at all but if they can annoy Jon they have succeeded. He says the reason he annoys people by making these accounts is because "I want to understand the algorithms that are used by wall street". These aren't really 'robots', they're just scraping wikipedia and pushing out terms in tweets it believes are relevant, which this has shown aren't. "I don't know how you relate to the economic collapse". I don't understand this guy, I don't know if they're acting but if they're serious then I'm worried.
  - stfu 14y ago
    The video has almost some Troll bait feeling. Found it highly amusing how concerned that guy becomes about the communication of his non existent eating habits on Twitter.
  - ecocentrik 14y ago
    They were just making fun of Jon Ronson. I think their arguments hold up just enough to make Jon's request to kill the bot sound a little absurd. That seems to be their only objective in the video. I thought the bit about trading algorithms and how it relates to what they're doing was a little over the top. The analogy to photography made by the guy on the left at the end of the video was genius. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum
- novalis 14y ago
  I take it they force themselves to come across as extremely unlikeable but do throw in that they want to show how an inverted stock put compensation Algo is not good for anyone, or at least that is how they whitewash it. While picking on a very soft target. Not being able to express themselves coherently doesn't help either. Just make a half assed bot and ride the wave in the most nonsensical level you are able to perform at. Tip, it's not even interesting at all. Someone could of have set up that video like this : "Three twats playing clueless to identity theft, manifest in sync when the interviewer calls them trolls". That was priceless and very revealing of how they want to be regarded. Yet fail so hard at it. Guess neuromarketing was too crowded for these three not so luminous lightbulbs. At times it strikes like they really believe they are on to something that is worth being "discovered", kind of hard when pushing glorified irc bots around but whatever. The twat in the middle was the funniest, guess they went for a soft target to spare him from contempt of court charges in a identity theft case... you know, for arguing of sitting arrangements. This stuff is priceless, niche priceless.
- evanlivingston 14y ago
  I find these guys extremely likable. Its obvious that they're aware Jon is upset and they're toying with him. They are challenging his desire to use flimsy social media to represent himself. They also challenge his right own his online identity. I feel that their attitudes are warranted. I don't feel as though these three are merry pranksters just out for a laugh. It's obvious that something about their work kind of rubs us the wrong way. It devalues our online representations, and that's precisely what they're after. They don't glorify their algorithms. Doesn't it sting a little that their simple web bots can emulate a human fairly accurately? Doesn't it really suck when this online persona steps on our toes? Is there no way to tell the public who the real me is without makings lots of videos, online profiles, status updates and tweets. It's all a little trivial and those three make it obvious.
  - smcl 14y ago
    I dunno, I felt like they dodged questions and twisted Jon's words which makes me think of slimy politician-speak. This coupled with their attempts to spin it as some kind of academic pursuit and the paranoid "you're trying to control us" intro just made me uneasy. I don't really have a strong opinion on the actual bots themselves, hell I wrote one to ape the physicist Brian Cox (http://blog.mclemon.cz/notbriancox-i-do-some-stupid-things-when-drun http://blog.mclemon.cz/notbriancox-i-do-some-stupid-things-w...) after reading about Markov Chains one lunchtime - though I only posted a couple tweets and made it very clear it wasn't impersonating him.
- patrickk 14y ago
  It's like the guy in the center is so wrapped up in programming bots that he's taken on robot-like qualities himself (lack of empathy, can't understand emotions). Positions or arguments that would make sense to me, to him are "weird" or "psychologically interesting". The counter-argument Mr. Ronson could have presented would be: "well if someone goes on twitter, and intends to follow me and they end up following your jon_ronson bot instead, that is fundamentally dishonest to both me (the real Jon Ronson) and the follower".
- _hiss 14y ago
  Unlikeable inasmuch as the nihilists from <i>The Big Lebowski</i> would be unlikeable should you meet them in reality.
nfriedly2 14y ago
This video is at least very thought-provoking.
nfriedly2 14y ago
This video is at least very thought-provoking.

phpnode 14y ago

that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen, they certainly take an interesting position

bobds 14y ago

The Weavr guys have posted the backstory of the jon_ronson bot on their blog. It's an interesting read. http://philterphactory.com/2012/04/02/jon_ronson-a-weavr-of-a-gonzo-documenter/ http://philterphactory.com/2012/04/02/jon_ronson-a-weavr-of-...

smcl 14y ago

Not sure if it's just me, but those guys come across as extremely unlikeable in that video. I don't get how they seem oblivious to why Jon is upset about it, and even at one point one gets (faux?) annoyed that real Jon is telling people following fake Jon to stop doing so.

brackin 14y ago
The central guy comes across as a total psychopath. Twisting everything he says in a strange way. Almost saying the fact that he uses his name on Twitter makes him self-obsesed. I've just looked at my list of @replies and the last ten are all users using their real names. They have some of the most absolutely weakest arguments I've ever heard yet get away with it. It's as if they don't care if the thousands watching the video aren't convinced at all but if they can annoy Jon they have succeeded. He says the reason he annoys people by making these accounts is because "I want to understand the algorithms that are used by wall street". These aren't really 'robots', they're just scraping wikipedia and pushing out terms in tweets it believes are relevant, which this has shown aren't. "I don't know how you relate to the economic collapse". I don't understand this guy, I don't know if they're acting but if they're serious then I'm worried.
- stfu 14y ago
  The video has almost some Troll bait feeling. Found it highly amusing how concerned that guy becomes about the communication of his non existent eating habits on Twitter.
- ecocentrik 14y ago
  They were just making fun of Jon Ronson. I think their arguments hold up just enough to make Jon's request to kill the bot sound a little absurd. That seems to be their only objective in the video. I thought the bit about trading algorithms and how it relates to what they're doing was a little over the top. The analogy to photography made by the guy on the left at the end of the video was genius. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum
novalis 14y ago
I take it they force themselves to come across as extremely unlikeable but do throw in that they want to show how an inverted stock put compensation Algo is not good for anyone, or at least that is how they whitewash it. While picking on a very soft target. Not being able to express themselves coherently doesn't help either. Just make a half assed bot and ride the wave in the most nonsensical level you are able to perform at. Tip, it's not even interesting at all. Someone could of have set up that video like this : "Three twats playing clueless to identity theft, manifest in sync when the interviewer calls them trolls". That was priceless and very revealing of how they want to be regarded. Yet fail so hard at it. Guess neuromarketing was too crowded for these three not so luminous lightbulbs. At times it strikes like they really believe they are on to something that is worth being "discovered", kind of hard when pushing glorified irc bots around but whatever. The twat in the middle was the funniest, guess they went for a soft target to spare him from contempt of court charges in a identity theft case... you know, for arguing of sitting arrangements. This stuff is priceless, niche priceless.
evanlivingston 14y ago
I find these guys extremely likable. Its obvious that they're aware Jon is upset and they're toying with him. They are challenging his desire to use flimsy social media to represent himself. They also challenge his right own his online identity. I feel that their attitudes are warranted. I don't feel as though these three are merry pranksters just out for a laugh. It's obvious that something about their work kind of rubs us the wrong way. It devalues our online representations, and that's precisely what they're after. They don't glorify their algorithms. Doesn't it sting a little that their simple web bots can emulate a human fairly accurately? Doesn't it really suck when this online persona steps on our toes? Is there no way to tell the public who the real me is without makings lots of videos, online profiles, status updates and tweets. It's all a little trivial and those three make it obvious.
- smcl 14y ago
  I dunno, I felt like they dodged questions and twisted Jon's words which makes me think of slimy politician-speak. This coupled with their attempts to spin it as some kind of academic pursuit and the paranoid "you're trying to control us" intro just made me uneasy. I don't really have a strong opinion on the actual bots themselves, hell I wrote one to ape the physicist Brian Cox (http://blog.mclemon.cz/notbriancox-i-do-some-stupid-things-when-drun http://blog.mclemon.cz/notbriancox-i-do-some-stupid-things-w...) after reading about Markov Chains one lunchtime - though I only posted a couple tweets and made it very clear it wasn't impersonating him.
patrickk 14y ago
It's like the guy in the center is so wrapped up in programming bots that he's taken on robot-like qualities himself (lack of empathy, can't understand emotions). Positions or arguments that would make sense to me, to him are "weird" or "psychologically interesting". The counter-argument Mr. Ronson could have presented would be: "well if someone goes on twitter, and intends to follow me and they end up following your jon_ronson bot instead, that is fundamentally dishonest to both me (the real Jon Ronson) and the follower".
_hiss 14y ago
Unlikeable inasmuch as the nihilists from <i>The Big Lebowski</i> would be unlikeable should you meet them in reality.

nfriedly2 14y ago

This video is at least very thought-provoking.

nfriedly2 14y ago

This video is at least very thought-provoking.