posted a new blog post in her exceptional series on W Social, this time regarding the potentially inflated numbers of replies to the posts featured on their promotional website.

W Social, Fictional Metrics and the Beauty of Open Data
W Social's tagline is "Trust Your Feed" but the company's landing page displays inflated engagement metrics - a misrepresentation that contradicts its own promise.
https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-fictional-metrics-and-the-beauty-of-open-data/

June 26, 12:10 AM: The post above has been updated with a more precise explanation. I’ve also added an update below.

I first saw this mentioned here:

Robin Berjon's avatar
6d

Has the risk assessment been published? Also, is their sense of hype and audience based on W's doctored engagement numbers? (Sent to me by another party.)

W's marketing material shows screenshots of posts with highly inflated comments numbers — 687 instead of 11 and 1819 instead of 96.

I also spot-checked another post (that’s neither in the image above nor in ’s post) in my previous entry.

All of them are characterized by a ridiculously high number of replies, but the reposts and likes are slightly lower than the “real life” numbers they’re compared with. I assume they’re lower because the numbers are based on what they were at a specific point in time, and do not reflect current numbers in real time.

So, what’s with the inflated numbers? I had a completely uninformed shot-in-the-dark guess of my own (that I only explained out loud because I was specifically asked to), but I think this explanation seems likely to be onto something:

siwek (@siwek@social.tooinconsistent.com)
@_elena@mastodon.social It seems they are calculating "engagement" which I'm assuming is likes + reposts + comments and then show it as number of comments.
https://social.tooinconsistent.com/@siwek/116810097175275065
@_elena It seems they are calculating "engagement" which I'm assuming is likes + reposts + comments and then show it as number of comments.
siwek (@siwek@social.tooinconsistent.com)
@vicwalker@app.wafrn.net @_elena@mastodon.social Oh yeah, not sure how real the source numbers are, but the JSON data blobs that they use to then render the post tiles on page have those fields: `"likes":205, "reposts":26, "engagement":239`. The engagement field is what's rendered next to the comments icon, which in of itself is disingenuous.
https://social.tooinconsistent.com/@siwek/116810709686727813
@vicwalker @_elena Oh yeah, not sure how real the source numbers are, but the JSON data blobs that they use to then render the post tiles on page have those fields: `"likes":205, "reposts":26, "engagement":239`. The engagement field is what's rendered next to the comments icon, which in of itself is disingenuous.

—siwek (@siwek@social.tooinconsistent.com)

Credit goes to for adding Siwek’s post to ’s Semble collection, because I’m not following the discussions on Mastodon.

Again, these numbers do not appear to be updated in real time, so we should be looking at the numbers on the posts as they appear on the website to see whether this holds up, although we have no choice but to use the current numbers for the number of replies as a stand-in.

TL;DR: It appears to work for most of the posts, but doesn’t always match up exactly. I’m guessing that the truth is likely close to Siwek’s theory but maybe with another factor?

UPDATE: has updated her blog post with a fuller explanation from the thread starting with this post, by :

Philo's avatar
4d

This raises the question: where are these numbers coming from, then? Do you notice something odd? As others have pointed out, the "replies" are always greater than reposts or likes, which is strange. Also notice that they seem weirdly close to the sum of likes + reposts

This media is not supported...
See the full post on Bluesky!

See the section quoted in ’s post for an explanation of how exactly this is happening. Looks like Siwek was indeed basically right.

(As an aside, Mayor Khan STILL isn’t actually on W Social. I feel like this is potentially an even bigger issue. Maybe there is indeed an agreement that his account will be moved onto W Social, but it feels like a lie to feature his account—so prominently, even—before the move has been made.)

Here are the posts that currently appear for me on wsocial.news:

Mayor Sadiq Khan, 2w ago

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan london.gov.uk·2w ago Complaining about nightlife when you *checks notes* choose to live in Soho is like living in South Kensington and complaining about the museums. Or moving to Hackney and grumbling about creatives. Living in Richmond and hating green space. It's all getting a bit silly, isn't it? 5.5K 784 4.6K
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan london.gov.uk·2w ago Complaining about nightlife when you *checks notes* choose to live in Soho is like living in South Kensington and complaining about the museums. Or moving to Hackney and grumbling about creatives. Living in Richmond and hating green space. It's all getting a bit silly, isn't it? 5.5K 784 4.6K

As of 11:08 PM on June 25 in Japan, the real post currently has 154 replies, 828 reposts (including 99 quotes), and 4,859 likes. We don’t know how many replies there were when they got the numbers above, but substituting the real number of replies, 154 + 784 + 4,600 = 5,538.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, 7h ago

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan london.gov.uk·7h ago As we have experienced this week, extreme temperatures are no longer a future threat. They are a present danger. Today, I’m launching London’s first ever heat plan: a city-wide plan to adapt our capital, protect communities, and build a climate-resilient city. Silhouette of Big Ben and surrounding London skyline at sunset, with a bright sun glowing behind the clock tower and casting a warm orange glow across the sky. Below, on an orange background, bold black text reads: “Get heat-ready, London.” Smaller text r 1.6K 336 1.3K
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan london.gov.uk·7h ago As we have experienced this week, extreme temperatures are no longer a future threat. They are a present danger. Today, I’m launching London’s first ever heat plan: a city-wide plan to adapt our capital, protect communities, and build a climate-resilient city. Silhouette of Big Ben and surrounding London skyline at sunset, with a bright sun glowing behind the clock tower and casting a warm orange glow across the sky. Below, on an orange background, bold black text reads: “Get heat-ready, London.” Smaller text r 1.6K 336 1.3K

The real post currently has 41 replies, 356 reposts (including 52 quotes), and 1,329 likes. Again, substituting the current number of replies, 41 + 336 + 1,300 = 1,677.

Ursula von der Leyen, 5h ago

Ursula von der Leyen vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu·5h ago The courage of Ukraine's armed forces has shifted the momentum on the battlefield. The tide is turning. And the resolve of the Ukrainian people has shown to the world that their European choice cannot be broken. Ukraine will prevail, grow, prosper ↓ link.europa.eu/tdFJd3 873 175 716
Ursula von der Leyen vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu·5h ago The courage of Ukraine's armed forces has shifted the momentum on the battlefield. The tide is turning. And the resolve of the Ukrainian people has shown to the world that their European choice cannot be broken. Ukraine will prevail, grow, prosper ↓ link.europa.eu/tdFJd3 873 175 716

The real post currently has 22 replies, 179 reposts (including 11 quotes), and 727 likes. 179 + 175 + 716 = 1,070. —Okay, so the theory appears to fail here, since 873 - 175 - 716 = -18 and a negative number of replies doesn’t work.

Anne Applebaum, 1w ago

Anne Applebaum anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu·1w ago A beautiful and surprising essay www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202... What Are Frederic Church’s Stunning Landscapes Trying to Tell Us? 443 75 356
Anne Applebaum anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu·1w ago A beautiful and surprising essay www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202... What Are Frederic Church’s Stunning Landscapes Trying to Tell Us? 443 75 356

The real post currently has 16 replies, 82 reposts, and 376 likes. 16 + 75 + 356 = 447. Siwek’s theory holds up if the post had 12 replies at the time.

Ursula von der Leyen, 6h ago

Ursula von der Leyen vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu·6h ago In Gdańsk, a city that helped change the course of Polish and European history. Here, people showed that freedom could prevail over oppression. And that solidarity is the road to freedom. This lesson guides Europe today as we stand in solidarity with Ukraine. 255 31 223
Ursula von der Leyen vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu·6h ago In Gdańsk, a city that helped change the course of Polish and European history. Here, people showed that freedom could prevail over oppression. And that solidarity is the road to freedom. This lesson guides Europe today as we stand in solidarity with Ukraine. 255 31 223

The real post currently has 10 replies, 33 reposts (including 2 quotes), and 227 likes. 10 + 31 + 223 = 264. 255 - 31 - 223 = 1, so Siwek’s theory holds up if the post had 1 reply when they retrieved these numbers.

Ursula von der Leyen, 2h ago

Ursula von der Leyen vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu·2h ago At the Eastern Flank Summit in Gdańsk. With the latest drone incursions, Russia is bringing war to our doorstep. We are making the Eastern Flank Watch operational with SAFE. And developing it into an important pillar of Europe's security architecture. 143 32 143
Ursula von der Leyen vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu·2h ago At the Eastern Flank Summit in Gdańsk. With the latest drone incursions, Russia is bringing war to our doorstep. We are making the Eastern Flank Watch operational with SAFE. And developing it into an important pillar of Europe's security architecture. 143 32 143

The real post currently has 1 reply, 36 reposts, and 155 likes. 1 + 32 + 143 = 176. But you probably already noticed that 143 - 32 - 143 = -32, so the theory doesn’t work here, either.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, 6h ago

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan london.gov.uk·6h ago New analysis shows one million London homes are at high risk of overheating. No single organisation can tackle this crisis alone. With our new Heat Ready London vision, London’s first ever heat plan, we are working across sectors to protect lives, livelihoods, and our communities. Million London homes at high risk of extreme heat, City Hall says 89 13 73
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan london.gov.uk·6h ago New analysis shows one million London homes are at high risk of overheating. No single organisation can tackle this crisis alone. With our new Heat Ready London vision, London’s first ever heat plan, we are working across sectors to protect lives, livelihoods, and our communities. Million London homes at high risk of extreme heat, City Hall says 89 13 73

The real post currently has 3 replies, 15 reposts, and 78 likes. 3 + 13 + 73 = 89.

Anna Zeiter, 4d ago (not currently on website*)

*for me just now, anyway, if they’re randomized

The post I spot-checked before was shown as having 69 replies, 4 reposts, and 65 likes. When I checked, the real post had 3 replies, 6 reposts (including 1 quote post), and 71 likes. Siwek’s theory holds up if the post had 0 replies when they retrieved the metrics.