The Horse is a Lie: 'horse_ebooks' Twitter spam is performance art

Twitter is quite the medium. An endless source of looping GIFs, "viral" videos, and, sadly, bad advertising. Most of the latter category is quickly dismissed by the block and report spam features of Twitter, but the occasional spambot elevates its "craft" to a level of surreal bliss which begs attention. "horse_ebooks" is perhaps Twitter's best example of that phenomenon, offering indecipherable (and delightful) missives that are heavily retweeted and always nonsensical. "How to get the best bargains in satellite," for instance. Sadly, it looks like we've all been had. What many (ourselves included) thought to be an accidentally hilarious spam account for a low-rent eBook publishing firm is actually a long-running art installation by Jacon Bakkila (a 29-year-old Buzzfeed employee). Bakkila outed the ruse this morning in an exhibit at New York City's FitzRoy Gallery named "Horse_ebooks 2," where Bakkila himself and two friends are answering phones all day (from 10AM to 9PM ET) and giving users a verbal taste of the content you'd normally read on...well, the horse_ebooks Twitter account (the phone number is 213-444-0102 if you'd like to call). It's unclear if the account will continue from here. It sounds like a no, though, as Bakkila tells The New York Times that, "The goal was not to appropriate the account but to become the account," referencing the account's previous Russian owner and its original use (to sell eBooks). Gawker's got a walkthrough of the art gallery... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2013-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #giving users #phone number #sell ebooks

Other news stories related to: "The Horse is a Lie: 'horse_ebooks' Twitter spam is performance art"


The Horse is a Lie: 'horse_ebooks' Twitter spam is performance art

Twitter is quite the medium. An endless source of looping GIFs, "viral" videos, and, sadly, bad advertising. Most of the latter category is quickly dismissed by the block and report spam features of Twitter, but the occasional spambot elevates its "craft" to a level of surreal bliss which begs... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #sell ebooks #phone number #giving users


R.I.P. @Horse_Ebooks, The Human–Run Twitter Bot That Fooled Us All

@Horse_ebooks is the Twitter account that, until today, spewed frequent bouts of eerily poetic nonsense to more than 213,000 followers: @Horse_ebooks was widely believed to be a Twitter bot whose tweets were sent out by a robot that scraped text from obscure parts of the Internet. That is, until... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Where does the bot end and human begin?’: what the legendary @Horse_ebooks can teach us about AI

By reusing and repurposing existing writing into viral fragments on Twitter, the account functioned like today’s chatbots. The Guardian spoke to Jacob Bakkila, the human behind the accountMore than a decade before an AI-powered chatbot could do your homework, help you make dinner or pass the bar... Continue reading at The Guardian

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Datebook: Feminist performance, intersecting art worlds, the photographs of Sally Mann

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A manifesto for ebooks on art

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Franklin 'commissioning ebooks via Twitter'

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First summer of ebooks lies ahead

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Art reflects how we see women; now women are influencing how we see art

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Why do so many people love horses? ‘Because horses.’

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How Twitter Is Cleaning Up Twitter—for Publishers

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[ AdWeek | 2019-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shandong Fine Arts Publishing House Sells Nepalese Rights to Art Book Series

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter has a fix for its news problem—make a new Twitter!

Last week, Facebook waffled yet again about which #content people want to see on Facebook. Cue the launch of a new feature that lets publishers label one breaking news story a day. With Facebook experimenting with breaking news, it seems only fitting that Twitter would do the same. The company... Continue reading at Fast Company

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Datebook: Art that skewers the art world, an installation about dance, abstractions of L.A.

A two-part exhibition complete with driving tour. Examining the psychology of the art world through Twitter. And an exhibition that explores the nature of dance. Plus: abstractions of L.A., art from Cuba and a daylong art party on Grand Avenue. Here are seven shows not to miss — along with one... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Art Books' Future Now: Art & Photography Books 2013

Borders’s closure in 2011 served as a gloomy backdrop for the panel at the New York Public Library on February 12, “The Future of Art Book Publishing,” whose title carried a hint of bad news for catalogues and monographs. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alice Feeney Knows What Lies Beneath

For the bestselling author—both in life and in her fiction—nothing is ever as it seems. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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South Arts Launches Multi-State Hurricane Relief Fund for Writers, Artists

South Arts is launching an emergency relief fund for artists affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton across six southern states, offering grants starting at $500 to artists across disciplines while coordinating with local partners for distribution and additional resources. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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