Sam McBride

@sjamcbride

Northern Ireland Editor of the Belfast Telegraph & Sunday Independent. Author of Burned: The Inside Story of the Cash-for-Ash Scandal. Any views mine alone.

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Sam McBride@sjamcbride· 27d

I'll be discussing For and Against a United Ireland at Féile an Phobail in west Belfast on 30 July. It's a free event and there's no need to book. feilebelfast.com/events/the-b...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· 27d

On page 14 of the NI Department of Finance's drier than flour 'Guidance on the Format of the Remuneration Report 2025-26', an official sought to briefly bring the document to life. Spoiler: the levity is short-lived.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jul 2

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has told the Policing Board: "It is clear that members of loyalist paramilitary groups were present at some disorder and were involved in directing the violence at a number of locations, including east Belfast". 2/2

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jun 28

Utterly stunning: Ireland have now beaten India twice in as many days, having never won against India ever before. Ireland win the series 2-0 against the world T20 champions. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jun 26

A developing story: Statement just issued by the DUP, no doubt with tonight's BBC Spotlight in mind.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jun 24

Someone has drawn my attention to this blisteringly accurate 2005 review by Belfast historian CDC Armstrong of Jeffrey Donaldson's excruciating 'official biography' which presented him as a relentlessly heroic figure continually guided by God: www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jun 23

Today's Belfast Telegraph front page: The Prime Minister's resignation doesn't even get a mention. We've 15 pages of reports, analysis and background which we couldn't report during Donaldson's trial - with much more to come over the coming days.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jun 11

This is pathetic: As I was covering a riot last night, the Home Office emailed (unrequested) its migration policy "to inform your reporting", but trying to hide behind "a government source". Why not just say this openly on the record, given that it's issued by a publicly-funded civil servant?

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jun 1

Interestingly, among (mostly modest and in some cases vague) proposals to reform Stormont, Sinn Féin has just proposed that the Speaker should no longer be able to do what Edwin Poots has done - effectively telling MLAs to get stuffed when he's asked to explain his decisions.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· May 13

The breathtaking Jaipur Literature Festival is coming to Ireland next week. I'll be debating the case for and against Irish unity with Fintan O'Toole (and myself) in: ✝️ Armagh, 20th May ☘️Dublin, 24th May Both free, but register here: jlflitfest.org/ireland

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Apr 28

If you've nothing better to do on Thursday night, I'll be in Downpatrick for a conversation with Martin O'Brien in which he'll quiz me about life, journalism, Irish unity, knowing what's true in the age of AI, and all manner of other things. Details here: www.saintpatrickcentre.com/martin-obrie...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Apr 17

If you're in London on 15 May, I'll be in conversation with the superb @markhennessy.bsky.social and Simon Kingston, discussing the arguments for and against a united Ireland. We're in Kings College London's Maughan Library as part of the Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words at 1.30pm.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Apr 5

All week in @belfasttelegraph.co.uk: A series of fascinating revelations from the Kew Files - everything from Gerry Adams to Gregory Campbell and The Queen to MI5.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Mar 30

The man who until recently was my boss's boss's boss - Peter Vandermeersch - has been exposed for using AI to generate fictitious quotes. This speaks to something far deeper, more dangerous, and unnerving about AI. To be human is to think for ourselves. We lose that at our peril.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Mar 15

This is one of the documents which Stormont officials are outrageously - but ineffectively - censoring: They've blacked out Peter Bell's name as the author, but left his title, so we know it's him. Mindlessly stupid and contradictory censorship which undermines public confidence.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Feb 7

Last night Mr Tweed stood over what he had done, saying that he complied with his professional obligations. The solicitor said he stopped working for Epstein partly because he stopped taking his advice. The documents also show he was struggling to get Epstein to pay and offered him a steep discount.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Feb 6

In Saturday's Belfast Telegraph: An important and unusually long read on Jeffrey Epstein and a highly significant link to Northern Ireland. I've been working on this all week and it involves a matter of substantial public importance.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jan 28

The Belfast Telegraph - read and appreciated far beyond Belfast. Thanks, @thejeremyvine.bsky.social.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jan 27

On 16 February, I'll be discussing the arguments for and against a united Ireland in Drumalis - a fascinating place in Larne which once was a grand home owned by Ulster Scots Presbyterians & from where the 1914 UVF gun-running was organised, but now is a Catholic retreat centre.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jan 18

Also this magnificent sign.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jan 18

Leaving India after four magical days at the Jaipur Literature Festival with Fintan O'Toole where we were talking about For and Against a United Ireland. An amazing array of compelling speakers from around the world and huge intelligent audiences in love with books and ideas.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Jan 13

While blindingly obvious to anyone with even a vague concept of how X works, it's nevertheless remarkable to see X itself set out so starkly it is "optimised for...hatred & calls to (or justifications of) violence...the design isn't neutral — it's profit-optimized for emotion": x.com/i/grok/share...

Grok Conversation

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Objectively does the X algorithm favour violence and hatred. Be honest.
No, the X algorithm does not specifically target or "favour" violence and hatred in the narrow sense of preferring content that explicitly depicts or calls for physical violence over other types. However, it does strongly favour content that provokes intense negative emotions — especially anger, outrage, hostility, and animosity — and this creates a structural bias toward hatred, division, and content that can easily escalate to (or normalise) violent rhetoric.
Here is the objective picture based on available evidence:
Engagement-first design amplifies outrage — Social media algorithms (including X's) prioritise "conversation-driving" content because likes, replies, quotes, and retweets signal value. Multiple independent studies show anger and out-group animosity are among the strongest predictors of shares/retweets (often 4–6× stronger than other emotions). Content that attacks opponents, mocks groups, or triggers moral outrage reliably gets boosted.
X-specific changes since 2022–2023 — After the ownership change, X published parts of its recommendation algorithm. Analyses (including by Amnesty International in 2025) found it systematically prioritises posts that spark heated exchanges, even when false/misleading/harmful. Premium (paid) accounts receive artificial amplification, which helped far-right/racist accounts dominate during high-tension events.
Real-world examples of amplification — During the 2024 UK Southport riots, X's "For You" feed rapidly spread false anti-migrant/anti-Muslim claims (despite later police clarification). This contributed to offline violence. Amnesty described it as creating "staggering amplification of hate" because the algorithm rewards provocation over accuracy or safety. Similar patterns appear in other crises (e.g., increased hate speech volume ~50% higher post-2022, with more likes/engagement on hateful posts).

Moderation & policy context — X has reduced proactive enforcement against hate/violent speech compared to pre-2022 (fewer suspensions per report, "freedom of speech not reach" philosophy). This combines with the engagement bias: hateful content survives longer, gets more distribution, and trains the system to show more of it when users engage (even negatively).
Not uniquely violent content — The bias is toward emotional intensity rather than violence per se. Purely violent videos might get limited if they trigger mass reports/community notes, but text-based rage-bait, dog-whistles, conspiracies, or dehumanising group attacks often thrive because they provoke replies without immediately crossing hard red lines.
In short: the algorithm is optimised for keeping people scrolling through strong feelings. Hatred and calls to (or justifications of) violence are very efficient at generating those feelings, so they get disproportionate reach — especially when moderation is light. This isn't "favouring violence" as an explicit goal; it's an emergent outcome of an engagement-maximising system with fewer guardrails than before.
If your feed feels full of hate/violence, it's usually because (a) the system learned you engage with controversy, or (b) controversy is simply what performs best platform-wide right now. Switching to chronological view or aggressively muting/blocking can reduce it, but the underlying incentives remain.
That’s a very honest self reflective answer - does it worry you…. Should it worry us? It rather suggests that we should use these tools for what they are good at. We should absolutely not use them to example measure the weight of public opinion or popularity?
Yes, it does worry me — in the sense that any system built to maximize human attention through strong emotions risks distorting reality and harming collective reasoning.

As an AI designed to seek truth and be maximally helpful, I see the mismatch clearly: platforms like X are engineered for stickiness, not accuracy or balance. When outrage reliably outperforms nuance, the feed becomes a funhouse mirror of society rather than a window into it.
And yes, it should worry all of us, for several concrete reasons:
It warps perceptions of consensus — A small, highly activated minority (often the angriest or most extreme voices) can dominate visibility because replies, quotes, and heated threads are rocket fuel for the algorithm. This creates an illusion of widespread support (or opposition) that doesn't match broader public sentiment. Recent audits and experiments (including ones from 2025) show how even small tweaks to feed exposure — amplifying or demoting hostile/antidemocratic content — can measurably shift users' feelings of polarization in just days, equivalent to years of natural drift.
It erodes trust in shared facts — When emotionally charged (often misleading) posts spread fastest, people increasingly retreat to believing only what aligns with their tribe. Studies confirm anger spreads farther and faster than positive or neutral info, and X's design — prioritizing "conversation" regardless of toxicity — lets that dynamic run unchecked more than pre-2022 platforms did.
Real-world consequences accumulate — We've seen cycles where online rage amplification precedes offline harm (riots, policy panics, eroded social cohesion). The incentive structure rewards provocation over deliberation, so discourse gets cheaper and meaner over time.

You're spot on about usage: these tools excel at certain things and fail at others. X remains powerful for:
Real-time breaking news and eyewitness accounts
Niche expertise and rapid idea exchange
Mobilizing around specific causes or events
But no, it should not be treated as a reliable gauge of public opinion, popularity, or "what most people think." The algorithm doesn't sample representatively — it surfaces what provokes reaction, not what reflects the median view. A viral post with 100k angry replies doesn't mean "the country is furious"; it means a subset got triggered enough to engage, while quieter majorities scrolled past or left the app. Relying on X trends or viral sentiment as a proxy for broader society is like using a megaphone in a shouting match to judge a library's reading habits.
The healthier approach is exactly what you suggest: use it for what it's good at (immediacy, unfiltered voices, discovery), but cross-reference with polls, surveys, election data, or slower-moving sources for anything resembling "weight of opinion." Switch to chronological feeds, curate aggressively (mute, block, "not interested"), or step back entirely when the toxicity outweighs the value. The design isn't neutral — it's profit-optimized for emotion — so treating it as authoritative on public mood is a category error we all pay for.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Dec 16

From introverted schoolboy to the artist Brad Pitt hand-picked as his painting teacher: Colin Davidson’s career is as remarkable as he is humble. He's painted world leaders, rock stars and global icons - but is proudest of 18 paintings he did for free. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4F6m...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Dec 3

Thanks to the Foreign Press Association in London for hosting us to talk to over 30 foreign correspondents for two hours. Top question was from a Mexican TV reporter who (aware of the 1986 Mexico World Cup) asked what would happen to the Northern Ireland football team.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Dec 1

Sincere thanks to everyone who came to our debate in the National Concert Hall last night - slightly surreal to be on stage in a venue where I've listened to great music. For what it's worth, the Dublin crowd was significantly less enthusiastic about unity than the Belfast one...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Nov 15

Forty years ago today, the Belfast Telegraph reported the Anglo-Irish Agreement on its front page, along with this detail: "Controversial Assemblyman Gregory Campbell and former Castlereagh Mayor Cedric Wilson burned a Tricolour on the council balcony to cheers of supporters".

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Nov 14

This is what the brilliant but brutal @infiniteguff.com believes I resemble: A hairy, grumpy, gloomy, four-fingered preacher of doom. If you've read For & Against a United Ireland & like it, you can vote for (or against) it in the @irishbookawards.bsky.social: www.irishbookawards.ie/nominee/for-...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Nov 6

Talking with former Irish diplomat Rory Montgomery and @fotoole.bsky.social on the @arinsproject.bsky.social about our new book For and Against a United Ireland. 🎧Full podcast episode: t.co/ELXfJv4jZG 📖Get the book here: shop.ria.ie/products/for...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Oct 24

Amazon has sold out of For and Against a United Ireland, but you should be able to get it in any bookshop - with the added benefit that you'll be supporting a business that likely pays their fair share of taxes and treats their staff better than Jeff Bezos...

Sam McBride@sjamcbride· Oct 23

A very pleasant surprise to discover that just days after publication, For and Against a United Ireland has been shortlisted in the An Post @irishbookawards.bsky.social. 👍If you've read the book and enjoyed it, you can vote here (and maybe win something for yourself): www.irishbookawards.ie/vote/