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Cracking The Code On Trump Tweets (time.com) 330

jIyajbe writes: From Electoral-Vote.com: "A theory has been circulating that the Donald Trump tweets that come from an Android device are from the candidate himself, while the ones that come from an iPhone are the work of his staff. David Robinson, a data scientist who works for Stack Overflow, decided to test the theory. His conclusion: It's absolutely correct. Robinson used some very sophisticated algorithms to analyze roughly 1,400 tweets from Trump's timeline, and demonstrated conclusively that the iPhone tweets are substantively different than the Android tweets. The former tend to come later at night, and are vastly more likely to incorporate hashtags, images, and links. The latter tend to come in the morning, and are much more likely to be copied and pasted from other people's tweets. In terms of word choice, the iPhone tweets tend to be more neutral, with their three most-used phrases being 'join,' '#trump2016,' and '#makeamericagreatagain.' The Android tweets tend to be more emotionally charged, with their three most-used phrases being 'badly,' 'crazy,' and 'weak.'" reifman adds: In an excellent forensic text analysis of Trump's tweets with the Twitter API, data geek David Robinson demonstrates Trump authors his angriest, picture-less, hashtag-less Android tweets often in the morning, while staff tweet from an iPhone with pictures, hashtags and greater joy mostly in the middle of the day. Robinson's report was inspired by a tweet by artist Todd Vaziri. As for why Robinson decided to look into Trump's tweets, he told TIME, "For me it's more about finding a really interesting story, a case where people suspect something, but don't have the data to back it up. For me it was much more about putting some quantitive details to this story that has been going around than it was about proving something about Trump's campaign."
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Cracking The Code On Trump Tweets

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11, 2016 @08:33PM (#52688099)

    I wish they'd find an algorithm for figuring out if the "reporters" of news stories had done any fact-checking instead. We have more news and far less fact-checkers these days. They're dying out with the newspapers given that people only want to pay for news they like.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11, 2016 @08:51PM (#52688187)

      Its the dishonest press. Trump would be such a great president, and they just spread lies about him!

    • by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Thursday August 11, 2016 @09:11PM (#52688297)

      We have more news and far less fact-checkers these days.

      There is no evidence that this is true. News reporting in the past was often highly inaccurate: ask anyone old enough to remember the Vietnam War, or, heck, even the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. There are way more fact-checking organizations today. News reporting today is far from perfect, but there was never a "golden age" when journalists were infallible angels.

      • I remember the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, and I remember lots of people checking the facts being promulgated in the mainstream news. That didn't stop them from promulgating falsehoods anyway, but anyone who actually cared about the facts could find them checked easily in plentiful other sources.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Friday August 12, 2016 @05:33AM (#52689657) Homepage Journal

        We have moved into a post-factual era now. There was a lot of fact checking going on, and people didn't like reality, so politicians have started trying to move beyond it.

        Crime stats are down, but people "feel" like there is more crime. It's factually untrue, but politicians and the people who vote for them treat it as the truth. If you believe it, then it's true and you should vote based on that feeling, they say. Same with the Brexit thing in the UK, one of the leading Leave politicians said that "people in this country have had enough of experts", and went on to argue that they should vote with their hearts and their gut feelings (mostly bigotry and xenophobia) rather than with reason and overwhelming expert advice.

        We got better at fact checking, so they just moved beyond facts.

        • People called this The Information Age. A better description would be The Bullshit Age. Everything is tainted with perspective intentionally. Attempting to remove bias is not even considered.

          Ever heard the phrase "sell the sizzle, not the steak"? Bias IS the sizzle in journalistic endeavors and newsrooms all over the US. People make choices about which news outlet to frequent based on the particular flavor of bias the news outlet ascribes to. The news makers carefully construct and curate their bias,

      • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        EXACTLY - the supposed lack of fact checking is a left wing lie to try to discredit right leaning less traditional media sources they don't control. This idea that fact checking is dead is easily tested.

        Look back on the massive conspiracy to conceal what was going on in Vietnam so that LBJ could defeat Gold Water and push a bunch of Great Society bullshit through before the shit hit the fan. There was plenty of available evidence to suggest that either there was going to be a total victory for the Communi

      • Here let me cite a comedy show as evidence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2_wSsDwkQ). But there is evidence - the news industry is reeling and money for local news, covering local politics, and investigative journalism is shrinking. So yes, there are less people doing serious reporting.
    • by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Thursday August 11, 2016 @11:34PM (#52688853)

      Facts have an anti-Trump bias.

      • I dunno about that... When Trump quotes are read by Zapp Brannigan [wired.com], they somehow don't seem quite so bad.
    • function hasReporterFactChecked()
      {
              return false;
      }

    • I wish they'd find an algorithm for figuring out if the "reporters" of news stories had done any fact-checking instead. We have more news and far less fact-checkers these days. They're dying out with the newspapers given that people only want to pay for news they like.

      I think it's less likely today than in the past. Why? Because it's so easy to fact-check nowadays. Take just 20 years ago when the Intenret was in its infancy and when you read a news report, there wasn't much in the way of resources - you could go to your library and do the necessary background research and then try to find other sources. In short, it would take a while to check and a lot of effort, so it'll be easier to pull it off.

      These days, a few clicks of the mouse gets you the basic research, a few more clicks often will get you source photos and descriptions A few clicks after that gets you all the conspiracy theories, which again, are easier to search and see through. So anything wrong generally gets called out

      The only thing that's still missing is engaging the brain and thinking critically given the volume of information.

    • I wish they'd find an algorithm for figuring out if the "reporters" of news stories had done any fact-checking instead.

      Ask an you shall receive

      int has_story_been_fact_checked(&story) {
      # Determines if a story has been fact checked before posting
      return 0;
      }

    • by gtall ( 79522 ) on Friday August 12, 2016 @07:57AM (#52690153)

      The NYT, Washington Post, CNN, etc. regularly run stories fact checking speeches and other bloviatations from candidates. Hell, the WP even gives out Pinocchios from 1 to 3 (or is it 4?) for extremely bad lies and untruths.

      That said, the Truth seems to have been demoted in the general electorate who seem to believe whatever they want can be their own private Truth because they refuse to believe, or do enough background reading to recognize, the Truth as not being anything but merely opposing belief.

      It stems from a stupidity to which the American people have fallen prey. Ask anyone on the street anything that smacks of mathematics or science and a good number will proudly proclaim all that sophisticated stuff is too far above them. They usually do not go as far as saying they are too stupid to understand it all but that is precisely what they should say if they were not attempting to lie to themselves about their intellectual prowess. They know what they believe and be damned if they'll read a book or actually learn anything that might require mental concentration. They have the attention span of gnat and are proud of it.

      The result is that people like Trump and Clinton get to be the choices for President. The Greens and the Libertarians orbit even farther out than Clinton and Trump. Hollywood has finally gotten what they have been pushing for a few generations, a public so stupid it cannot reason effectively.

      • A friend used to send me emails incessantly that was just bat ---- crazy "facts" from right wing nutjobs. I thought anyone would at least google to see if it were true before broadcasting it. I'd be mortified if I repeated such easily checked facts as the world is flat. Nope, she believed it and when I'd send her multiple articles invalidating it, I think she did not believe me. But then this is a woman who I told to make sure she gets a 30 year fixed mortgage and she calls me 2 years after the purchase to

      • by HiThere ( 15173 )

        This was an effect of the internet predicted decades ago. People like to listen to people who agree with them, and when they go to sites that agree with them, they feel that they have confirmed their opinions. I believe that this was called the "Echo-Chamber Effect". I think I read about it around 1995, but I'm not sure the article was new then.

        If you think about it, you'll see many examples of it happening long before then internet. E.g. church congregations become firm believers in whatever their cong

  • by burtosis ( 1124179 ) on Thursday August 11, 2016 @08:42PM (#52688145)
    Donald trump is just a shill for the Clintions put in place to ruin the Republican Party and get Hillary elected.

    It's getting harder for me to take that as completely tin foil hat conspiracy theory.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11, 2016 @10:34PM (#52688669)

      It's getting harder for me to take that as completely tin foil hat conspiracy theory.

      The only question is why would Republican voters be stupid enough to go along with it.

      Oh wait.

    • I seriously doubt the Clintons put Trump up to destroy the Republican party.
      That's not to say Trumps goal is to destroy the Republican party. I've considered that for a while.
    • by lucm ( 889690 )

      What if both of them were shills working for the other side? That would explain a lot.

    • by dbIII ( 701233 )
      Trump talks like a walking conspiracy theory.
      If he wasn't born rich he's just be considered a crazy person muttering on a street corner.

      So some apologists make noise about it just being the deal-making random act he does to confuse enemies - fair enough - but do you understand that if it is true he considers the voters an enemy to be tricked?
      • but do you understand that if it is true he considers the voters an enemy to be tricked?

        Isn't that true of all politicians?

        • by dbIII ( 701233 )
          Indeed a very large number are like that so assuming all is very close to the truth.
          For some reason a lot of people don't see Trump as one despite his decades of being mixed up in politics.
    • It's not a conspiracy theory, it has happened before. Bubba Clinton only won against Bush in 1982 because Ross Perot was also running.

    • by dinfinity ( 2300094 ) on Friday August 12, 2016 @05:38AM (#52689675)

      Same here. It seems that shortly after he clinched the Republican nomination, his 'gaffes' have become much much worse from a Republican standpoint.

      The stuff that was deemed 'outrageous' used to be just mostly outrageous to Democrats. Some racism, some bullying, kind of run of the mill Fox News-level stuff, basically. But after the nomination he almost immediately went after military folk, parents of a dead soldier, even. If you're trying to appeal to Republicans (and Americans in general), that is pretty much the worst thing to do.

      The three theories I actually deem plausible (I'm afraid to admit it, but it's true):
      1. Trump doesn't want to win the election for some unknown reason: wouldn't like the (pressure of the) job, thinks the White House is a shitty place to live, etc.
      2. Trump is still a Democrat, Clinton asked him whether he'd want to help blow up the GOP and gain lots of media attention in the process, and so they proceeded.
      3. Trump is just a total narcissistic fuckwit who has no idea what he's doing and thinks that his stream-of-consciousness primary success somehow translates into "All people love me and how I act"

      I deem the latter the most probable.
      The 2nd would be both evil and genius at the same time. It's hard to see how they could have predicted Trump's primary success (nobody else did), though.
      Also, I still can't believe I'm seriously considering it as plausible. Someone pinch me.

      • I had similar thoughts watching the primary... "is this a false flag operation? or does he just not care?"

        I don't think he cares either way if he wins or loses: there'll be a ghost written book either way that'll sell millions of copies. When Sarah Palin stepped down from office to go make a bunch of money with books and TV shows, it certainly made financial sense.
      • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        The thing is Trump or his political team, Paul Manafort isn't stupid, could make some arguments to salvage even attacking the Khan there are some intelligent and arguments to be made. Trump could argue being a gold star parent should not make the guy immune from criticism. We don't hold children responsible for the sins of the father so why would we allow the father to cloak himself in the virtue of the son? The Constitutional argument Khan makes is incorrect based on a number SCOTUS decisions, and US

        • I think HRC would be the worst mistake this country has made in the post war era

          Such an exaggeration. I've thought about this a lot and even though I have always been a Bernie supporter and am quite convinced Hillary isn't going to do much about 'money in politics' and about lobbying in general, the truth is probably that she is just very very status quo and slightly progressive.

          Her presidency would probably just be boring same old same old classic Democratic politics; Simply uneventful; Just slow, slow progress. Especially if the House and Senate do not flip to the Democrats and it's

          • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

            I'll take Trump's trade wars over Hillary's shooting kind any day. Hillary is an interventionist. She is essentially Bush Jr in every respect when it comes to international policy. She is boosum buddies with Ghouls like Henry Kissinger. Both Libya and Syria were as ill informed and badly executed as Iraq and Afghanistan. Only they were more illegal because congress never approved either. As far as I can glean from any public statement HRC has made her position is "Would do again."

            Electing HRC means sp

            • Electing HRC means spreading more human misery and unnecessary death around the globe.

              This is really the only thing I am slightly worried about with Clinton.

              The foreign policy of the US in the last couple of decades is definitely not something to be proud of and if she is indeed as hawkish as they say, more of that would be a bad thing. I'm quite sure she will be much, much more diplomatic than Trump, but even then a lot of damage can be inflicted on the world.

              They are both despicable characters, the difference is Trump is at least more transparent about it.

              The transparency doesn't really help, now does it?
              Given his temperament, the chances for catastrophic escalation of whatever internat

      • by cdrudge ( 68377 )

        It's parts 1 and 3, although the reason you suggest for #1 I don't think correct. Everything he does is about increasing his brand's worth. Becoming President, he'd have to at least put his personal control of the brand into someone else's hands. Generally Presidents haven't continued to run global corporations while also running the country (although maybe that's why he offered the latter to Kasich).

        I think his inner narcissistic fuckwit wants to be president up to the point where it stops increasing his b

      • by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

        3. Trump is just a total narcissistic fuckwit who has no idea what he's doing and thinks that his stream-of-consciousness primary success somehow translates into "All people love me and how I act" ... I deem the latter the most probable

        I've been fairly certain of #3 for a couple of decades now. In fact, roughly 8 years back when I needed a self-centered, power-mad, casino-owning, billionaire tycoon type to be the ultimate villain for the superhero computer game I was working on, I put in several nods (subtle, so as to avoid lawsuits) to The Donald as being just that type. Players of Twilight Heroes have been (unwittingly, for the most part) beating up his caricature over and over for almost a decade now.

    • The faster it burns down, the faster we rebuild it.

  • by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Thursday August 11, 2016 @09:53PM (#52688509)

    who suddenly feels embarrassed to be using an Android?

    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11, 2016 @10:01PM (#52688539)

      I feel embarrassed to be using Slashdot. What the fuck is going on in this thread? Either one schizophrenic psycho has dozens of IPs to burn on AC posts, or the Cheeto Squad is in here crapflooding the discussion. I don't think one person could conceivably have written and submitted all the "Slashdot is FBI" garbage in the time this post has been up, even given an unlimited number of IPs to comment from. So it seems like the Trump trolls are out in full force.

      • Re:Am I the only one (Score:4, Interesting)

        by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Thursday August 11, 2016 @10:13PM (#52688579)

        I feel embarrassed to be using Slashdot. What the fuck is going on in this thread? Either one schizophrenic psycho has dozens of IPs to burn on AC posts, or the Cheeto Squad is in here crapflooding the discussion. I don't think one person could conceivably have written and submitted all the "Slashdot is FBI" garbage in the time this post has been up, even given an unlimited number of IPs to comment from. So it seems like the Trump trolls are out in full force.

        Sadly I'm not that shocked, I think Trump supporters and MRAs have a pretty high overlap, and MRAs have been swarming any /. thread referencing women for a while.

        That being said I wonder if it's possible to see how many of these /. posts have been written with an Android...

      • Re:Am I the only one (Score:5, Interesting)

        by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Thursday August 11, 2016 @11:00PM (#52688777)

        What the fuck is going on in this thread?

        It's been apparent for quite some time now there's a group effort to attempt burying these "Trump made an ass of himself again" stories under a mountain of garbage posts. I assume the goal is to make Slashdotters (the ones who aren't sociopathic, anyway) annoyed enough to quickly move on from the thread.

    • If it makes you feel better, he might just have an aid that he tells to post things.......
    • One thing that struck me - after the San Bernardino massacre, when Apple refused to come up w/ a backdoor to the iPhone4 (which ultimately got cracked anyway), Trump called for a boycott of iPhones. People pointed out how Trump was a hypocrite for resuming its use after a few days.

      But this story seems to suggest that he does practice what he preached. If the tweets that are actually his come from an Android, then that's his companion/choice of phone/tablet (does he really use a phone to tweet? Or does h

  • Has it occured to any of the "researchers" that his apps on Android and the IPhone are different and may be configured differently? ( Mouse's law on configuration if yiou have N devices you are supporting at least N+1 configurations ).
    differnt configurations mean different looking posts. Especially since these are rapidly written posts.

    • This looks like a masterful play to undermine Trump. Or at least I'd like it to be. I'm a Democrat and I'm used to having these sorts of things done _to_ my party, not by it. I know, I know, nobody likes to think about these kind of shenanigans. The subtle ways you can instill doubt in voters to win elections. I'd like to believe they're not necessary, but then I remember Trump was clobbering Hilary for a week or so and then after one bad week of press it was completely reversed.

      Basically, a sizable por
  • by jIyajbe ( 662197 ) on Friday August 12, 2016 @01:20AM (#52689059)

    I'm one of the two submitters. I submitted this story because I am intrigued by his methodology, and not because of the political angle.

    In my submission, I included a reference to the fact that he coded up his analysis in R, and that his code is right there on his website for all of us to inspect. I was hoping that that was what would catch Slashdotters' eyes. The editor deleted that part, unfortunately; oh, well.

    I know a little about statistical analysis, a little bit about coding, but nothing about R. Can anyone knowledgeable about R comment on his code, and/or his analysis? Thanks!

    • Sorry, I can't help. I'm a programmer but I don't know R, and I only know a very little about statistical analysis.

      All I hear about nowadays is Trump / Clinton. I came to the comments hoping to see SOME discussion of the content of the article.
  • Excellent work (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gsslay ( 807818 ) on Friday August 12, 2016 @06:48AM (#52689875)

    Can we now get an analysis of all the bat-shit crazy posts on this article. A number of things that could be investigated.

    - Is this one crazy person, or has an entire neighborhood of crazy town come visiting?
    - Do these crazy people think that crazy shit like this helps persuade voters to vote Trump?
    - Or is it a false flag effort designed to show Trump supporters as bat-shit crazy people?
    - Does anyone care?

  • Umm isn't this wiretapping? and could end in jail?

Keep up the good work! But please don't ask me to help.

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