Machines need to be funny if they want to sell us stuff

Dec 19, 2019
Tech companies are hiring entertainers to make their chatbots nimble and witty.
The Quartz chatbot is displayed on a cellphone above streams of binary code in this photo illustration.
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

One problem with fake news? It really, really works

Aug 27, 2018
MIT research finds false stories often travel further and faster than real ones.
Patrick Lux/Getty Images

Twitter is in a big game of "bot or not"

The proportion of fake users, or bots, on Twitter may be higher than previously thought.
This photo illustration taken on March 23, 2018 shows Twitter logos on a computer screen in Beijing.
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images

How social media bots can amplify fake news

The disinformation war is being waged online, but who's behind it?
Twitter announced a new effort to prioritize accessibility after garnering criticism from the rollout of a voice tweet feature this summer that didn't offer captioning.
Leon Neal/Getty Images

Twitter has a hard time with bots because it was designed to be bot-friendly

Feb 21, 2018
It’s been a hard year for social platform companies like Twitter and Facebook. After reports emerged of Russians interfering with the 2016 presidential election by using bots and fake accounts, both companies have come under pressure to clean up their user bases. And for Twitter, this may be especially tricky; as far as platforms go, […]

Inside social media's black market

Jan 30, 2018
New York Times reporter Nick Confessore tells how many celebrities have bought their followers from a company called Devumi.
LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Who uses chatbots, anyway?

Apr 11, 2016
Booking a flight? There's a bot for that. Trying to find the right foundation? There's a bot for that, too.

What's the value of a fake social media follower?

Dec 11, 2014
Instagram plans to delete fake accounts, who'll miss them?

Your Twitter follower count doesn't mean a thing

Nov 7, 2014
Quality over quantity, young padawan.