Synthetic Messenger
Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne.
A botnet that artificially inflates the value of climate news. Everyday it searches the internet for news articles covering climate change. Then 100 bots visit each article and click on every ad they can find.
In an algorithmic media landscape the value of news is determined by engagement statistics. Media outlets rely on advertising revenue earned through page visits and ad clicks. These engagement signals produce patterns of value that influence what stories and topics get future coverage. … At a time when our action or inaction has distinct atmospheric effects, the news we see and the narratives that shape our beliefs also directly shape the climate. What if media itself were a form of climate engineering, a space where narrative becomes ecology?