How Political Operatives Manipulate Twitter

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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September 09, 2011

How Political Operatives Manipulate Twitter

Rick Hasen flags a very interesting research paper which describes "how political operatives set up fake accounts to spread rumors or false statements about candidates."

This "astrotweeting" is done in a way "to make it appear as though the information is coming from numerous sources, to convey the impression that the information is reliable."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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September 09, 2011