The Bot Effect: How Bots Shape Politics and Elections

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Jen & Carolyn explore the relatively new phenomenon of bots. They’re everywhere online — but what are they doing to our elections, our beliefs, and our politics? Artificial accounts that look like real people… automated armies flooding social media… AI chatbots that can change minds. Are bots influencing elections? And if so, how much?Brashier, N. M., & Marsh, E. J. (2020). Judging truth. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 499-515.Fazio, L. K., Pillai, R. M., & Patel, D. (2024). The illusory truth effect: A review of how repetition increases belief in misinformation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 56, Article 101736.Henderson, E. L., Simons, D. J., & Barr, D. J. (2021). The trajectory of truth: A longitudinal study of the illusory truth effect. Journal of Cognition, 4(1), 29.Li, N. P., van Vugt, M., & Colarelli, S. M. (2018). The evolutionary mismatch hypothesis: Implications for psychological science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 38-44.Menczer, F., Hui, P., Ahn, Y. Y., Ciampaglia, G. L., Ferrara, E., Flammini, A., ... & Yang, K. C. (2024). How foreign operations are manipulating social media to influence your views. The Conversation.Porges, S. W. (2022). Polyvagal theory: A science of safety. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 16, Article 871227.U.S. Department of Justice (2024). Justice Department disrupts covert Russian government-operated social media bot farm. [Press release].