# Why do social networks focus on the wrong problem? – On my Om

<https://om.co/2020/05/11/why-do-social-networks-focus-on-the-wrong-problem/>

- Host: [om.co](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/om.co/)
- Saved: May 14, 2020 (2020-05-15T02:32:26Z)
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## What Jamie wrote

Om Malik is spot on here.

> Twitter (and Facebook) can do their very best to label the information on their platforms, but the real problem is not of fake news and manipulated information. It is about bots and fake accounts.

He goes on to answer his own question. It is the exact same answer I would give too.

> The only explanation I can offer is that this is inentional, because if they start eradicating the bots, their overall user numbers are going to nosedive. The stopping of fake news will lead to a decline in engagement. And that, in turn, will give a real picture of the activity — or lack of it — on social networks. I hate to say this, but they are equally complicit in the “fake news” crisis that is eroding the trust in society at large.

Social media platforms are rewarded for engagement and time-spent. They turn that into money, a lot of it. They have no incentive to stop this. They will do whatever work they need to do to make it look like they are working on it. All the while nothing will change. It doesn't matter the topic – this isn't just about politics. When you are on these platforms, without knowing it you are in the midst of a massive robot war for your attention.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT148: Weekly Thing #148 / What Day Is It?, Written Communication, Lisp](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/148/), Recommended Links

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## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://om.co/2020/05/11/why-do-social-networks-focus-on-the-wrong-problem/