Twitter's 'LasVagas' hashtag fail shows why algorithms are terrible for the news

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On Tuesday, Twitter provided us with the perfect example of just how bad algorithms are at the news: #LasVagasShooting.

A close look reveals a simple misspelling: "Vagas" instead of "Vegas." It's not on purpose. "Las Vagas" offers no deeper meaning, no Spanish translation that makes sense. It's just a mistake made by a few people that is now being repeated by thousands more thanks to Twitter's automated system.

That system ended up pushing #LasVagasShooting to be a top trending hashtag on Tuesday morning and the top trend about the Sunday night mass shooting in which a gunman killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 500 others during a country music festival.  Read more...

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COntributer : Mashable http://ift.tt/2yW36vP

Twitter's 'LasVagas' hashtag fail shows why algorithms are terrible for the news Twitter's 'LasVagas' hashtag fail shows why algorithms are terrible for the news Reviewed by mimisabreena on Wednesday, October 04, 2017 Rating: 5

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