Notices by ChrisO_wiki (chriso_wiki@mastodon.social)

1/ X's algorithm was changed in mid-July 2024 to systematically boost Republican-leaning accounts and Elon Musk's own account following his endorsement of Donald Trump, according to a newly released computational study of engagement from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). ⬇️

4/ The authors conclude that the results "indicate that Musk’s posts received a marked increase in visibility (view counts), amplification (retweet counts), and user interaction (favourite counts) that outpaced the general engagement trends observed across the platform. The unique post-change uplift for Musk's account suggests the possibility of algorithmic prioritisation or bias, positioning Musk's content favourably in terms of platform visibility and user engagement."

3/ The analysis found "a structural break for Musk's metrics around July 13, 2024" following which his view counts increased by 138.27% and retweets increased by 237.94%, with a similarly large increase for favourites. This was far in excess of other accounts monitored.

2/ The study, by Professor Timothy Graham of the QUT and Professor Mark Andrejevic of Monash University, analysed 56,184 posts sent by a number of pro-Republican and pro-Democrat accounts between 1 January 2024 and 25 October 2024 and examined view counts, retweet counts, and favourite counts for each.

7/ Musk made his endorsement of Trump on July 13, 2024. The analysis suggests that Musk did more than merely give verbal support for Trump, but also changed X's algorithm on the same date to systematically promote his own and other prominent pro-Republican acounts. /end

Source:
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/253211/

6/ The authors conclude: "Republican accounts benefited from increased visibility or recommendation bias post-change. This could imply an algorithmic adjustment, potentially in the For You feed, designed to place certain content in front of more users, thus driving up views selectively for these accounts."

5/ The analysis also found a large increase in view counts, retweet counts, and favourite counts, for Republican-leaning accounts, but not for Democrat-leaning ones. Again, the break point for this appears to be July 13, 2024, suggesting a platform-wide algorithmic change.

1/ Russia's Tomsk State University has secretly created a 'mobilisation station' for its students and staff, to be activated within two hours of receiving the codeword 'Lineyka-222' ('Ruler-222') from the military enlistment office. It's the latest sign of a new mobilisation. ⬇️

3/ According to the memo, "the station will start to operate within two hours after receiving from the Tomsk military commissariat the signal "Lineyka-222". In four hours after that messengers should leave the station, including students, at the rate of one messenger for ten mobilisation orders. The messengers should be allocated by the head of the I.V. Chepurin military training centre. Two cars with sufficient fuel reserves should be at the disposal of the station at all times."

2/ The independent Russian Telegram channel 'We can explain' (MO) has published a leaked memo from the university administration. It instructs a number of officials to set up a mobilisation station at this student dormitory on Tomsk's Fedora Lytkina Street.

The officials are ordered to prepare "to conduct organised and timely notification, collect citizens who are in the reserve and are to be called up for military service, and send them to a citizens' assembly point".

5/ This follows earlier reports that Russian universities were compulsorily registering their students and staff for military service (see thread below), and follows many other signs that Russia is preparing administratively for more mobilisation. /end
https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1619637207136112641

Source:
https://t.me/mozhemobyasnit/14541

4/ A source has provided MO with a letter from the Ministry of Education and Science to all educational institutions in Russia. It orders that they "must make continuous preparations for mobilisation measures." The ministry has reportedly "already approved lists of organizations that carry out mobilisation reservations and sent them to interdepartmental commissions for exemptions – but the lists are being kept secret."