Reposted by phelimb
Lots of chatter about this paper currently. Its a stark warning, but at present I see this as a stark warning of what might come, not what is happening now. As a research community we need to see it as a call-to-arms to develop new strategies, NOT a call to abandon online sampling. Reasoning below
From my colleague; paper here dropbox.com/scl/fi/55uok...
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Lots of chatter about this paper currently. Its a stark warning, but at present I see this as a stark warning of what might come, not what is happening now. As a research community we need to see it as a call-to-arms to develop new strategies, NOT a call to abandon online sampling. Reasoning below
Without minimising the seriousness of the threat raised in this paper, I'm more optimistic. This is just the latest challenge in online integrity of online research.
We've been proactively adding to our suite of authenticity tools - more every week - including many of Sean's recommendations:
We've been proactively adding to our suite of authenticity tools - more every week - including many of Sean's recommendations:
November 19, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Without minimising the seriousness of the threat raised in this paper, I'm more optimistic. This is just the latest challenge in online integrity of online research.
We've been proactively adding to our suite of authenticity tools - more every week - including many of Sean's recommendations:
We've been proactively adding to our suite of authenticity tools - more every week - including many of Sean's recommendations: