X's location tags remind users of the internet's oldest rule: Trust nothing

Accuracy errors or inadvertent unmasking of rage-bait trolls? Probably somewhere in between

Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) has inadvertently taught a large number of web users an important lesson. Not everyone online is necessarily who you think they are, and you shouldn't believe everything you read.

In October, head of product Nikita Bier told users that work was underway to show additional information on profiles, including the country where an account is based. The thinking was that this would be a boon for verifying the authenticity of accounts and the posts they make.

On November 22, Bier got ready to deploy the feature and chaos ensued as users realized that several popular accounts might not be all they seemed.

Take @MAGANationX, for example. Despite calling itself the "Patriot Voice for We The People" and being festooned with the flag of the United States, the account is based in Eastern Europe, according to X. The social media platform said: "The country or region that an account is based can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation. This data may not be accurate and can change periodically."

Bier followed up by saying that there were "a few rough edges".

There certainly were. Accounts such as the US Homeland Security account (@DHSgov) felt the need to reassure users that it had "only ever been run and operated from the United States" in an attempt to head off assertions that the account had been created elsewhere.

The feature has generated quite the furor, with some users pointing to accounts that do not appear to be what they claim, while others have noted bugs and inaccuracies in the information being served. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Several rage-bait accounts are probably not located where some users think they are, but there are also a large number of questionable locations caused by factors such as old IP addresses or VPN usage. Bier noted that "the data had inaccuracies for very old accounts" amid some frantic backpedaling over the feature.

However, the real lesson from the incident is that people on the internet might not be who they say they are, and that the information shown might not be entirely accurate.

After a few hours that must have seemed like a lifetime, Bier posted: "I need a drink." ®