Browser Extension Aims to Identify Cryptocurrency Tribalism on Twitter 🚨 This article is 6 years old...
Browser Extension Aims to Identify Cryptocurrency Tribalism on Twitter
2 min read
Updated: Mar. 27, 2019 at 12:12 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
A new browser extension called “Coinflict of Interest” was recently launched on GitHub and it aims to solve the problem of transparency on Crypto Twitter. Created by an open-source developer, Coinflict of Interest exposes bias towards certain coins among well-known figures in the crypto industry, helping people differentiate between truthful and sponsored content.
Solving the Problem of Bias in the Crypto Sphere
As cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology become more and more mainstream, the number of people whose voices become influential in the industry also increases. However, popularity also brings about a growing concern over the truthfulness of those voices as it becomes increasingly easier to sponsor coins and manipulate the market.
Luke Childs, an open source developer, sought to solve that problem. On his GitHub page, Childs said that there were lots of people voicing their opinions on Crypto Twitter, but that it was often hard to work out if the content was “genuinely informative” or had ulterior motives.
Childs described the way he used to approach such biases, saying that the process took a lot of time and was not always applicable. Once he saw a negative tweet about a certain cryptocurrency, he checked the person’s Twitter profile to see if there was any obvious bias.
If Childs found a bias towards any cryptocurrency, but the opinion was negative, he determined the criticism to be valid. If he found the user biased against the cryptocurrency and the tweet had a negative sentiment, then he determined the criticism had to have “ulterior motives.”
Coinflict of Interest Provides Quick and Easy Insight into Crypto Biases on Twitter
However, Childs himself noted that this method can be extremely time-consuming. He also added that it wasn’t always easy to tell someone’s biases just by glancing at them. That’s where the Coinflict of Interest browser extension steps in.
According to the extension’s official GitHub repository, it helps people get “quick insights into user biases by injecting the data straight into Twitter.” Bias information is displayed inside the user’s profile card that pops up when you hover over their avatar and is also displayed under a users bio on their profile.
The first version of Coinflict of Interest covers only four coins, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
And while Childs admitted that the tool isn’t as good as it should be, he said he believes it could be useful. He said:
“The data isn’t perfect, there’s definitely ways I can improve it. But I think it’s accurate enough to be helpful.”
The extension is by no standards infallible, but it’s another tool cryptocurrency enthusiasts can use to better evaluate information.
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Bitcoin
$98,363.66
Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Ethereum
$3,415.53
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
XRP
$1.45498
The XRP Ledger is a decentralized cryptographic ledger powered by a network of peer-to-peer servers.
Bitcoin Cash
$512.456
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency created via a fork of the Bitcoin network.