Browser Extension will allow assessing the bias of tweets about Cryptocurrency

The new Browser Extension "Conflict of Interest", developed by Luke Childs, will allow users to identify cryptocurrency posts on the social network Twitter, as well as evaluate the bias of the content.

The tool, developed by Luke Childs, is available as an extension for Opera, Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. The purpose of Conflict of Interest is to reveal the accuracy of the information and the motives of those who write about cryptocurrency on the social network Twitter.

For example, if Bitcoin mentioned in a negative way in a tweet, the extension will provide information about the author of the post, so that the reader can understand whether the critic is genuine or is only part of an attempt to discredit the cryptocurrency.  

"There are lots of people voicing their opinions on Crypto Twitter, however it's often hard to work out if Tweets are genuinely informative, or if the person has an ulterior motive," 

wrote Childs on Github.

Twitter often serves as a platform for discussing incidents in the field of cryptocurrency, and the discussion can be in any form - from insults to concerted attacks on a particular coin, name or group of developers.

This year, attention was focused on Ripple, as many Twitter accounts tracked and denied any criticism of the company or the XRP token, which caused a significant negative publicity of this process. Ripple itself did not recognize any direct connection with this phenomenon.

Childs decided to check each tweet against the following criteria: previous negative tweets, obvious preconceived opinions from previous tweets and whether the author criticized something with a preconceived opinion. 

My latest project 🎉

Coinflict of Interest: A browser extension to show user biases on Crypto Twitter.

Built on the brilliant @hivedotone API, with a simple algorithm to derive bias from user influence across cryptocurrency communities.

Screenshots 👇https://t.co/g21xfvZquu

— Luke Childs (@lukechilds) March 25, 2019

"However this can be time consuming and it isn't always easy to tell someone's biases just by glancing at their profile," 

Childs said.

The developer acknowledges that the tool does not guarantee one hundred percent accuracy, and yet finds it "accurate enough to be useful." In this case, the statistics of some data is surprising.

For example, an analysis of the tweets from the head of the Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange Changpeng Zhao showed a "stunning bias" towards Ripple, despite the fact that most of his Twitter activity revolves around the Binance Coin (BNB) token.

Other results are more predictable - for example, Roger Ver's 100% bias against Bitcoin Cash, while Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, shares obvious loyalty between his project and Bitcoin Cash.

SOURCE