It’s now easier to spot phony posts online thanks to a new study by cybersecurity researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio. By sifting through reviews, comment threads, and tweets, the researchers have developed a method to detect “astroturfing” — the practice of a single user, bot, or organization posting with multiple accounts in an attempt to fabricate support. Corporations have been at it for years. Politicians are some of the recent culprits.
“In our first study, we captured user postings from online news and opinion websites with moderated discussion for a period of time,” lead author Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo tells Digital Trends. Choo and his team identified the users’ particular styles of writing and constructed profiles around them. – READ MORE
