Billionaire and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban conducted a poll on social media comparing the “persona and character” of former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris. As the 2024 election approaches, Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, is expected to face off against Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. The poll conducted by Cuban showed that Trump received 68.9 percent of the votes, while Harris received only 31.1 percent, with a total of 804,173 votes cast. Cuban then questioned the discrepancy between the number of votes in the poll and the number of engagements it received, reaching out to Elon Musk, who currently owns the social media platform X.
Cuban raised the issue of engagement on the poll, questioning why there were more votes than engagements and how responding to a poll on X counted towards the post’s analytics. Grok, an AI chatbot on X, confirmed that responding to a poll within a post does count as engagement, encompassing likes, retweets, comments, responses to polls, and various interactions. Musk, who has made controversial changes to the platform since acquiring it, introduced Grok as an AI chatbot for subscribers of X’s premium tiers. However, Grok has been involved in spreading misinformation related to elections, as highlighted in a letter sent by five secretaries of state to Musk, urging him to rectify the false information regarding state ballot deadlines.
The issues with Grok arose after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris, leading to false information being shared on social media platforms and reaching millions of people. The secretaries of state expressed concerns about Grok’s dissemination of inaccurate information and the responsibility of X to ensure users have access to accurate guidance on voting rights. The letter emphasized the importance of providing true and reliable information to voters as the election year progresses. Musk has faced scrutiny over the changes he has made to X, including staff layoffs, suspensions of journalists, and reinstating formerly banned users, as he continues to shape the future of the social media platform.
The poll conducted by Cuban sheds light on the perception of Trump and Harris’ persona and character, reflecting the views of those who participated in the poll. The discrepancy in the number of votes and engagements raises questions about the metrics used to measure interactions on social media platforms. With the 2024 election looming, the role of social media in shaping public opinion and disseminating information becomes increasingly crucial. Musk’s ownership of X and his implementation of changes, such as introducing Grok, have sparked debates over the impact of artificial intelligence on user engagement and the spread of misinformation, underscoring the need for responsible and accurate information dissemination.
