Bots lead Twitter debate on e-cigarettes
A study shows: The Twitter discussion on the health consequences of e-cigarettes is mainly dominated by bots that spread misinformation and conceal the potential risks of vaping.
According to a study by the non-profit organization The Public Good Projects (PGP), more than half of the tweets on this topic do not originate from humans.
"Showdown of the bots"
"More and more people are now on social media, which also means that they are interacting much more with brands. Some companies are therefore reliant on bots. These can address customers directly and analyze their attitude towards a brand. However, they can also be used to target competitors and spread negative messages about them. This is where a showdown of the bots takes place," explains Markus Hübner, social media expert and CEO of Brandflow, in an interview with the Pressetext news agency.
For the study, PGP examined over one million tweets sent between February 2019 and June 2019 on the topic of e-cigarettes. It turned out that almost 80 percent of these messages came from bots. The messages spread by these bots almost exclusively show e-cigarettes in a positive light.
Attacks on scientists
Some of the bots discovered are also spreading misinformation and attacking scientists who warn about the health risks of e-cigarettes. The bots explicitly claim that these researchers are hiding the truth. According to the analysts, the pro-vaping messages are primarily aimed at children and young people.
The PGP experts warn that over 20 percent of high school students in the USA already use e-cigarettes and that this figure is set to rise due to the influence of bots. "To prevent the manipulation of conversations, the operators of social media platforms would have to take rigorous action against bots. However, they simply lack the willingness to do so at the moment," criticizes Hübner. (pte)
