Sproutsocial.com describes social networks like this: they are “websites and / or applications that allow people, in (almost) anywhere in the world, to share content in real time, efficiently and quickly. We thus form communities where discussion and interaction is possible. It is precisely the function of each one that determines its type… there are those that form a community, such as Facebook and Twitter, for example; but there are others destined to share audiovisual content (YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram), to strengthen work contacts or obtain a job (LinkedIn), to promote social blogging (Medium, Tumblr) and to establish debates (Reddit, Quora) ”.
Since the appearance of the first true social network in 1996 (sixdegrees.com) to date, hundreds of social networks have emerged and despite this, experts do not agree on the various positive and negative effects on their users and society. .
The one who several times exalted social networks is President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
For example, in his press conference on February 27, 2019, he said:
“Our people are more politicized than ever, they are a very intelligent people, very clever, who do not allow themselves to be manipulated, who have the ability to discern, who have criteria and this came to be supported by social networks, by blessed social networks (. ..) there was an almost absolute control of the media (…) that prevented people from becoming aware, although the truth makes its way and reaches the last corner. But that’s where we were when social networks appeared, burst in (…) now there is more information, it is not necessary to be clarifying much because the same people clarify on the networks, the current communication system is so advanced that it is no longer necessary to send one I reply to a newspaper, from here I can say if there is something or not that I should answer, here I exercise my right to reply ”.
“Blessed social networks” is a phrase that AMLO repeated many times to defend and praise them.
However, it turns out that they are not as blessed as Twitter let us know last Thursday when it reported that: “Today, we are making public 3,465 additional accounts to our file of information operations linked to States, the only one of its kind in the industry. . The sets of accounts include eight different transactions that we have attributed to six countries: Mexico, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Venezuela, respectively. Every account and content associated with these operations has been permanently removed from the service. “
In other words, they were accounts that in some way or another were related to the governments of the six countries listed and served as their propaganda instruments disguised as users of the social network.
Regarding Mexico, Twitter explained that it eliminated “a network of 276 inauthentic accounts that mainly shared civic content in support of government initiatives related to public health and political parties.”
Two hundred and seventy-six inauthentic or disguised accounts that the government of Q4 used to cheat to support its programs. That is as reprehensible as what Andrés Manuel always criticized the media: that they prevented “people from becoming aware.”
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