It isn't bots that make Scott Morrison's tweets popular. Many people like him, and the party he represents, that's why he doesn't get ratioed. I know that's hard to hear, because we all think he's trash, but he won the last election (I hope he doesn't win another).
Bots are a thing, sure, but they don't roll out to federal elections and vote for the guy and party (and let's be clear a lot of people vote "for the prime minister" even though politics doesn't really work like that here. It's why the choice of party leader is so important).
Bots and sock puppets do spread misinformation, which exists on twitter, and facebook (definitely a larger market), and these do influence the outcomes of election with streams of misinformation, much of which begins with positive framing by Murdoch press.
A lot of people in Australia will think that Morrison HAS done a good job with managing COVID, despite the fact that the majority of the hard work, logistics and financial burden were carried out by state politicians and not federal ones.
He claims the credit, that gets signal boosted into the papers and the nightly news, spreads onto digital platforms, and it becomes a truth people believe, unless they're actively involved in politics (which many, many people are not).

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More from @MJ_Leaver

3 Nov
Remember, when you mess up and rupture a relationship, that provides an opportunity for repair. It is in this repair that relationships are strengthened. No one is perfect (or can be), all we can do is try our best each day.
This tweet brought to you by T indeed having the discussion with Grace and then her having a go at me, Lucas and Eleanor, and me responding in a calm (but not entirely fair, given she'd already been spoken to) way.
I apologised for also talking to her about it, and said I should have left it with T, but that I reacted to my frustration. Big hugs, and then some more big hugs as we spoke about how as you get older you have more responsibility.
Read 14 tweets
1 Nov
Connery was 90 when he died. It was 1965 when he gave that absolute trash quote in playboy. Then 1985, then he doubled down Walters. Mid 90's saying he was misconstrued, and by 2006 either had a change of heart saying abuse wrong/realised it was less bother to not talk about it.
Don't get me wrong, hold people accountable, and give them opportunity for growth (not doing the same shit repeatedly). His views were trash then and remained so for many years, but I like to think I've grown in the last 20 years and I hope for the women in his life he did too.
CW, D/V

I grew up in a DV household, and while I never thought my Mum getting hit was right, I did sometimes wish she would just be quiet, so the fighting wouldn't start, when I was 12? I'd be interrupting fights, so I'd get his attention etc
Read 7 tweets
14 Jun
If you make a mistake & you keep doubling down, the possibility is that it isn't a bad day, but rather refusal to accept responsibility for your own actions. When the status of ally becomes more important than the message you're boosting, you didn't really ever support.
I don't call myself an ally. I benefit from living on stolen land, from systems designed to protect me that are leveraged on the oppression of others. It is my responsibility to learn, listen, and use my privilege where I can to speak back to and dismantle white supremacy.
To protest, to donate, to do whatever I am able to do, every single day. I'm not perfect, very, very far from it, but I have to keep trying. It isn't a single moment, it's a choice every single day, sometimes multiple times a day.
Read 8 tweets
22 Mar
Hi, so the sun has set, the news is constant, and the anxiety is spiralling. A lot of you may not have felt ongoing anxiety like this before, it is really very draining and takes a lot out of you.
You might not even recognise it as anxiety, your mind might be framing it as irritation, snapping at others, or desire to control the tiniest bits of every aspect of your life to feel less powerless.
You might find you've become a bit obsessive with news stories, or you're picking fights with people (in person, or on social media), because it feels safer to be angry than it is to be scared.
Read 15 tweets
19 Mar
One of the big strategies to manage anxiety, is a technique called 'reality testing'. It is a way to challenge rumination and catastrophic thinking. I can say, pocketfam, it is super hard to utilise this strategy in the face of a worldwide pandemic.
It is made especially difficult in Australia, because our Government (not surprisingly given their track record) aren't providing coherent messages that make logical sense.
Ban gatherings of 500 people outdoors, gatherings of 100 indoors, but force people to attend work, and school. Anyone who has ever caught a morning bus to a city knows that social distancing is an impossibility on public transport.
Read 19 tweets
9 Feb
Knocked on Lucas' closed door, then waited a sec and opened it, all ready to tell him to turn his electronics off, and he's already eaten his cup of ice (which he got himself), read part of a book and fallen asleep.
This is the kid who required (and always had us) to sit with him, sometimes talk, sometimes in silence with hugs, to be with him until he slept on a very regular basis until he was about 8.
Some nights he will feel anxious, and he will ask one of us to come in, and we always say yes. T is currently laying in bed with Eleanor. I just spent ten minutes in with Grace chatting, and then tucking her in, setting up her nightlight.
Read 5 tweets

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