Web Excursions 2021-10-26
Tracking China’s Social Media Influence Operations – China Media Project
Signs of inauthentic social media activity suspected to be Chinese influence efforts are increasingly common,
says Hannah Bailey, a doctoral candidate at University of Oxford
who researches Chinese state-sponsored digital disinformation and
edits the Oxford Internet Institute’s China Information Operations Newsletter.
Influence operations can take a wide variety of forms,
including diplomats and state-owned media posting on social media, or
Chinese citizens, whether within China or abroad, appearing as themselves
and trying to convince international audiences to support a particular narrative put forward by the Chinese state.
It can also be these kinds of more nefarious, inauthentic social media accounts,
trying to convince audiences incognito.
[It is alleged that China cultivates] a network of inauthentic accounts
that were amplifying the tweets posted by Chinese diplomats.
The case study of the UK.
Oftentimes, these accounts will pretend to be people in the UK.
In their bio, they say stuff like, “I’m a Londoner,” or that they support UK football teams.
These are suspected to originate from the Chinese state — because we can never really confirm the actor behind the screen.
Western YouTubers and other influencers apparently being paid by Chinese state media
to amplify their content,
or to discuss Chinese state media content on their platforms.
We often say that, compared to Russia, China is very new to the internet game.
And it’s kind of been playing catch-up in that sense.
But we really saw a rapid escalation from virtually nothing to an awful lot of activity in the wake of the Hong Kong protests.
I think this was really the spark that made the Chinese state realize
in the first couple of years that China was conducting these kinds of operations, we really saw them focus on issues that had domestic relevance, that were threatening their domestic sovereignty, essentially
Russia cares an awful lot more about destabilizing Western democracies
rather than projecting a positive image of itself.
So initially, there was this real dichotomy between the Russia approach and the China approach.
But in the last year or so, especially with the emergence of COVID-19,
we’ve really seen China shift tack a little bit towards
not necessarily trying to destabilize
but criticizing Western democracies and particularly the US.
But broadly speaking, we see that the messaging
put out by Chinese state-backed media, Chinese diplomats, and these influence operations
really hasn’t had the engagement pick-up that you would expect of a successful influence campaign.
there’s a limit to how much Facebook lets you dive into their data.
Twitter is far more transparent, allowing researchers more access to more granular data.
How to Create Effective Gated Content | Zapier
Think beyond the PDF
When I think of gated content, a shiny new PDF is what comes to mind.
And while a PDF makes sense for large pieces like guides or eBooks, it certainly isn't your only option.
Another format may fit your topic and audience better.
Some examples:
Secret landing page/mini-site
Exclusive access
Video series
Exclusive community
Access to past webinars
Dripped email series
Template
The Financial Times’ 404 page
[The link is an nonexisting path on FT's website, which resolves to a 404 page. The content reads as follows:]
Sorry
The page you are trying to access does not exist.
This might be because you have entered the web address incorrectly or the page has moved.
For help please visit help.ft.com.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
Why wasn't this page found?
We asked some leading economists.
Stagflation i
The cost of pages rose drastically, while the page production rate slowed down.
General economics
There was no market for it.
Liquidity traps
We injected some extra money into the technology team but there was little or no interest so they simply kept it, thus failing to stimulate the page economy.
Pareto inefficiency
There exists another page that will make everyone better off without making anyone worse off.
Supply and demand i
Demand increased and a shortage occurred.
Classical economics
There is no such page. We are not going to interfere.
Keynesian economics
Aggregate demand for this page did not necessarily equal the productive capacity of the website.
Malthusianism i
Unchecked, exponential page growth outstripped the pixel supply. There was a catastrophe, and now the population is at a lower, more sustainable level.
Neo-Malthusianism i
To avoid unchecked, exponential page growth outstripping the pixel supply and leading to an inevitable catastrophe, we prevented this page from being conceived.
Marxism i
The failure of this page to load is a consequence of the inherent contradictions in the capitalist mode of production.
Laissez Faire Capitalism
We know this page is needed, but we can't force anyone to make it.
Monetarism i
The government has limited the number of pages in circulation.
Efficient Markets Hypothesis i
If you had paid enough for the page, it would have appeared.
Moral Hazard i
Showing you this page would only encourage you to want more pages.
Tragedy of the Commons i
Everyone wanted to view this page, but no-one was willing to maintain it.
Game theory i
By not viewing this page you help everyone else get better pages.
Mercantilism i
The page is hosted by a foreign web server and is therefore banned to ensure the supremacy of our own software.
Trickle-down
High taxes on content publishers prevented them hiring the person who would have written this page.
Speculative bubble
The page never actually existed and was fundamentally impossible, but everyone bought into it in a frenzy and it's all now ending in tears.
Socialism
If you were to get the page you wanted you might get a better page than someone else, which would be unfair. This way at least everyone gets the same.
Behavioural economics i
The influence of psychological factors caused you to act in a manner that would not be expected of a purely rational actor.
Theory of the second best i
The best outcome was unachievable, so you have arrived here instead.