More Reasons to Clean Up Tweets
Yesterday saw the most extreme example possible of why rapid crowdsourced corrections of Tweets and other social media (see “Preventing Misinformation From Spreading Through Social Media”) are critically needed– an issue that came to the fore last week as misinformation spread about the Boston bombings.
Yesterday, the Dow plunged about 150 points and then recovered after an Associated Press Twitter account was hacked, with the hackers then posting a false report that the White House had been bombed and President Obama injured.
A little back-of-envelope math: with the total market capitalization of U.S. companies in the ballpark of $18 trillion, yesterday’s event combined with hair-trigger trading algorithms erased $180 billion in value, and the AP’s correction restored it within seven minutes.
All from one piece of Tweeted misinformation. Crowdsourcing, described in the piece I wrote yesterday, would probably never be able to act faster than the AP did in getting the truth out. But the situation is just plain scary.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it
The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.