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Judd Legum Profile picture
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3 Jun, 7 tweets, 3 min read
1. People are using the untimely death of Trump's blogs as an opportunity to dunk on Trump.

And I get it.

But there is also an important lesson about how algorithmic amplification on social media distorts reality.

Follow along if interested.

popular.info/p/rip-trumps-b…
2. A tweet and Facebook post from Trump was typically shared and amplified by hundreds of thousands -- even millions of people.

So Trump figured he could post his rants on his blog and his adoring fans would flock to him.

That didn't happen.

popular.info/p/rip-trumps-b…
3. Trump's popularity was artificially boosted by Facebook & Twitter's algorithms, which reward hatred, misinformation, and other divisive content

Outside of this artificial reality created by social networks, Trump's diatribes have little organic appeal

popular.info/p/rip-trumps-b…
4. It underscores that the fundamental problems with Facebook and Twitter are baked into their algorithms and cannot be solved by banning Trump or any individual account.

popular.info/p/rip-trumps-b…
5. Trump has been off Facebook for months, but other sources with similar content have filled the void.

In April, the top publisher by a country mile was far-right The Daily Wire. It had more than 4x the distribution of the New York Times.

popular.info/p/rip-trumps-b…
6. What kind of Daily Wire content performs well?

On 6/1, the second biggest post on all of Facebook was a Daily Wire post that purposely misgenders trans athletes.

popular.info/p/rip-trumps-b…
7. I'll continue to report on how social media algorithms distort reality.

But don't rely on a social media algorithm to get this news!

Sign up for my newsletter.

popular.info/subscribe

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
4 Jun
1. I have some thoughts on this decision.

Fundamentally, I think the whole back and forth between Facebook and the Oversight Board on this is a DISTRACTION from the core issues.

Follow along if interested.
2. Trump is not Facebook's problem. He's a symptom of Facebook's problems.

He's been off the site for months but Trump's signature type of content -- bigoted, divisive, and false -- continues to proliferate

The issue is not Trump. It's the algorithm.
3. Personally, I don't think Trump should be banned from Facebook right now. Nor do I think it does any good to ban him.

Facebook's algorithm gives massive distribution to hatred and lies.

The company knows exactly how to make changes to fix this but has refused to do so.
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
2 Jun
1. REALITY CHECK

American elections faces an existential threat from GOP legislation that makes it easier to ignore voters

Most major corporations are funding a lobbying effort to defeat federal legislation to save American democracy

Let's review

popular.info/p/the-myth-of-…
2. Republicans are demanding corporations "stay out of politics"

But are they demanding corporations withdraw from the @USChamber?

Because corporations backing a massive lobbying campaign by the Chamber to defeat the For The People act

popular.info/p/the-myth-of-…
@USChamber 3. Corporate contributions to the @USChamber are largely SECRET but a few companies voluntarily disclose payments.

@ATT, for example, gave the Chamber $226,700 in the last six months just to support its lobbying efforts

popular.info/p/the-myth-of-…
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
31 May
Abbott says he’ll veto funds for the Texas legislature until it restricts voting based on Trump’s lies
Defunding the legislative branch until they ban voting before 1PM on Sundays is quite something
Members of the Texas legislature make $7200 per year, plus a per diem when the legislature is in session
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
31 May
1. The defeat of the Texas' voter suppression bill, which continued to get worse throughout the legislative process, did not happen on its own. It's due to the relentless work of activists. A few:

@ACLUTx
@BlackVotersMtr
@MOVE_texas
@TXCivilRights
@CCauseTexas
@ACLUTx @BlackVotersMtr @MOVE_texas @TXCivilRights @CCauseTexas 2. Corporations, however, grew conspicuously quiet as SB7 barrelled toward passage

@AmericanAir and @Dell had issued strong statements weeks ago

A couple of dozen other corps signed onto a broad letter

But they were all quiet as this bill's fate was being decided
3. This bill will be back, however, sooner or later.

And it gives corporations another chance

Will they continue to issue easily ignored statements?

Or will they commit to taking action?
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
31 May
UPDATE

It's 7:40 PM local time in Austin, Texas

The legislature has LESS THAN 5 HOURS to pass its voter suppression bill

House Dems have some procedural moves that give them a shot to kill the bill by blocking a vote until midnight

I'll keep this thread updated the best I can
House Republicans in Texas are apparently trying to convince Democrats to allow them to pass the bill tonight because the gov could call a special session later and make the bill worse

But the bill is already very bad and Dems say they aren't buying it

3. Republicans appointed an all-white conference committee to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate bills and the committee added a provision, not considered in either chamber, to ban voting on Sundays until 1PM

A surgical strike against "Souls to the Polls"
Read 10 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
30 May
The top donor to UNC's journalism argued against tenure for @nhannahjones because her writing "denigrates the courageous efforts of many white Americans"

The donor, Walter Hussman Jr., got his way

theassemblync.com/long-form/niko…
@nhannahjones "Long before Nikole Hannah Jones won her Pulitzer Prize, courageous white southerners risking their lives standing up for the rights of blacks were winning Pulitzer prizes, too,” Hussman Jr wrote to school officials

theassemblync.com/long-form/niko…
These statements were made by Hussman Jr. in private emails but he refuses to discuss them publicly because he "considers himself a working journalist" and "I don’t believe I ought to speak out as a journalist on a matter of public controversy,"
Read 4 tweets

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