Tim Graham 🌻 [email protected]

Find me on: Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/timoth… Mastodon: @timothyjgraham" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">aus.social/@timothyjgraham

@kazza264 Thanks Kazza!

@timothyjgraham Shared.

@RodolfoYoshii @alex_avoigt bsky.app/profile/timoth…

3 reasons why I believe this study is not reliable: 1) Accounts chosen for this study can bias dramatically the results. A better approach is to randomized selection of accounts. Aggregate number of followers: Right: 124.3 M Left: 52.8 2) Dates chosen for analysis are heavily focused around the 1st assassination attempt of Donald Trump on July 13 2024. This event resonated around the globe and everybody was talking about Donald Trump. 3) The author @timothyjgraham is clearly biased, a quick visit to his X account demonstrates it. Apparently he will be closing his X account and he can be reached in Bluesky and Mastodon. I’m looking forward to seeing his future studies on Bluesky and Mastodon algorithmic biases. x.com/timothyjgraham…

A study from Queensland University of Technology found that X’s algorithm now loves two things: Republicans and Elon Musk "This technical report presents findings from a two-phase analysis investigating potential algorithmic bias in engagement metrics on X (formerly Twitter) by examining Elon Musk’s account against a group of prominent users and subsequently comparing Republican-leaning versus Democrat-leaning accounts." It's anecdotal but I've had the same experience that the algorithms on X seem to have changed dramatically in favor of Trump and Maga-supporting accounts months before the election. eprints.qut.edu.au/253211/1/A_com…

"It is regrettable but revealing that a perspective on U.S. foreign policy once confined to the margins of left-wing discourse is now more credible than the shopworn platitudes that senior U.S. officials rely on to defend their actions." - @stephenWalt foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/15/cho…

Bound to happen

Well that’s an interesting result. Thanks to those that threw a vote in. Much to ponder.

@lasnpatterson @ashkashlitwin @miggymaru @ChrisO_wiki Hi there. The study was designed to explore multiple reports in the media that Musk was changing the algorithms to (1) boost his own tweets and (2) boost Republican accounts. The evidence presented in this technical report adds some empirical weight to such claims.

@ashkashlitwin @miggymaru @timothyjgraham @ChrisO_wiki Fair point. I should have said flawed. But "assume" is doing some heavy lifting for an analysis of more than 56,000 accounts - with the anomaly existing in just Elon's activity.

1/ X's algorithm was changed in mid-July 2024 to systematically boost Republican-leaning accounts and Elon Musk's own account following his endorsement of Donald Trump, according to a newly released computational study of engagement from the Queensland University of Technology.⬇️

@tassiekaz @ChrisO_wiki Thanks Kaz, hope you’re going well

@timothyjgraham @ChrisO_wiki Thanks for your invaluable work

@KezBear1234 @ChrisO_wiki Could you please elaborate what you mean by censorship and how this open source, fully reproducible research is it?

@timothyjgraham @ChrisO_wiki Do you receive funding from the US for censorship work at Queensland Uni?

@ChrisO_wiki All good. Thanks Chris!

@timothyjgraham Thanks - I looked for your and Mark's Twitter handles but didn't find them and assumed you'd gone to the blue place! Excellent work in your paper. 👌

@HarryBloke @ChrisO_wiki @MarkAndrejevic @qutdmrc Many thanks Harry - appreciate it

@ChrisO_wiki 🫡👍 Great analysis by 🇦🇺's @MarkAndrejevic @timothyjgraham, @qutdmrc. Hope that you are not demoted in retaliation. I find that searches for my past tweets no longer appear in the "X" search results, instead there are a heap of distractors to users with a similar ID. 🙄

@NonwayneWayne Everyone is navigating the situation in their own way it seems. If one doesn’t pay for premium their posts are severely limited anyway

@timothyjgraham All of this is true, but is also true (perhaps even moreso) of the world outside these "digital walls" so to speak. My own choice is to continue to speak my mind wherever I can. No judgement, mind. I wasn't sure if I'd missed something

Curious to see what people think

@bjmoffitt @NonwayneWayne I didn’t even think of that but also a really good point - thanks Benjamin

The Washington Post obtained details about a $45 million plan run by Elon Musk's advisors to target Black, Jewish, Muslim voters and others with "misdirection" ads - often containing falsehoods about her positions washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/…

@NonwayneWayne And there are myriad other reasons I could add to this, but the harm principle is the first order for me.

@NonwayneWayne It’s a good question Wayne. Speaking for myself it is a crisis of whether to remain in an environment that is causing harm. I wouldn’t stay in a community group where antisemitism and racism is rife and people are sharing memes about marginalised groups, particularly when …

@NonwayneWayne … the owner profits from my activity and it feels like I am complicit in any harm due to my presence. On the contrary, there is an argument to be made that this is the price one pays for discourse.

Bluesky is giving me a feeling I haven’t felt in about 20 years. That the Internet is fun and awe inspiring