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That's because bots are just as likely to be right

June 29, 2017 by Ella Pickett

That's because bots are just as likely to be right on target as they're wrong. The study found that the bots who spread "low-credibility" information more quickly than "fake" information often did so by spreading it by the thousands—roughly 90 percent. By contrast, bots who spread "fake" information were also more likely to spread "high-credibility information," including information that was widely held by more likely people as well as widely held by less likely people.

In other words, bots made their way up to the presidency by showing an unprecedented amount of attention to things that were popular, not because they were real.

That's the conclusion of Luigi Luca Ciampaglia, a computer scientist at the University of Chicago and the study's lead author.

"We found that bots took just one to two seconds to spread high-credibility information, and when people read the message they saw, that meant that the bots who spread low-credibility information were more likely to spread information by the millions," Ciampaglia said. "In other words, that made them more likely to take action."

The study authors found bots were also more likely to be able to use the hashtag #SallySaunders, which translates to "sally, I'm with you."

"With each tweet, bots often used the hashtag #SallySaunders to convey messages of support and support for Hillary Clinton," said Luca Ciampaglia, who is also a visiting fellow in the School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington. "But the message was more accurate and more accurate and more accurate until someone posted it, and then we decided, 'What about this?"

Menczer says Twitter bots' ability to spread low-credibility information was not limited to the presidential campaign. "This study demonstrates that bots can be effective at spreading low-credibility information across social media platforms, especially via social media," he said. "We know that bots can be effective at spreading low-credibility information even in the face of an attack on their ability to spread low-credibility information."

Menczer's next step is to learn whether bots can still be effective at spreading false information. "We've learned that bots can be effective at spreading low-credibility information even in the face of an attack on their ability to spread low-credibility information," he said. "We know that bots can be effective at spreading low-c