Is the London taxi trade waging a sophisticated propaganda war on Uber?

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In this episode Mike and John discuss the apparent use of bots in a social media campaign by the London taxi trade, following Transport For London's decision to revoke Uber's operating license.

Listen in iTunes here

The conversation on Twitter around this issue was found to be led by a number of key accounts identifying as taxi drivers, but some of which appear to be automated. The creation of hashtags and memes designed to question Uber's safety record points to a sophisticated astroturfing operation.

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A Mentionmapp of key accounts driving the conversation about the banning of Uber in London and a petition in supporting of reinstating the company's operating license.

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@paultmadden's retweet network, portrayed in Mentionmapp.

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@AdrianCroydon's retweet map, portrayed in Mentionmapp.

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Examples of the apparently automated amplification of a key account in the campaign against Uber.

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A frequently shared meme in the counter-offensive against the petition organised in support of Uber, in London.

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Visit Mentionmapp to discover the power of Twitter network visualisation - for brands, individuals and organisations who want to better understand the online conversation around the issues they care about.

Read the Mentionmapp blog on Medium.

And follow Mentionmapp on Twitter.

Mike Hind is @MikeH_PR there.

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You can also listen to this episode on Soundcloud, below.