Tips for spotting trolls

[SticksnStones]

A quick lesson in how the resistance gets subverted and how to spot it -

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

The whole thread's really worth reading ~


Edited to add this link:https://rachelmurphyazzara.com/2017/03/03/cait-fishing-in-the-resistance-an-expose/

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Timely, considering we have pro russian trolls here on this board.

lots of them

But in a place like this they wont betray their identity by overtly being pro Putin, it is done in more subtle ways.

[SticksnStones]

2. I find my level of cynicism has skyrocketed since 45

Are you a troll trying to get me to think you're not a troll by pointing to others who might be trolls?

I jest, but it makes one's head spin -

[Eliot Rosewater]

5. I know, one real easy way to know is if they are criticizing the dem party

and they arent doing it by ending with

"but as bad as that is ANY democrat is still TEN MILLION times better than ANY republican"

then you might be dealing with a troll.

[tandem5]

6. I humbly submit the Russian Troll Test:

Step one: Ask subject to say something over-the-top bad about Putin or Russia. Emphasize that he doesn't have to believe it only just offer something to demonstrate he doesn't care either way.

Step two: Go first by offering your own insult as an example. The sillier the better: Putin's man nipples are flabby and unsightly!

Step three: If he deflects or refuses ad nauseam then you have your answer.

If we all made it a trend we wouldn't have to even offer a formal challenge. We could all just introduce ourselves with Russian themed insults: Hi, Anna Karenina is heavy handed drivel! Okay maybe this won't work perfectly, but it would be kinda funny if you did manage to get a Russian troll to make Russian insults.

[SticksnStones]

12. This could gain traction...

Well stated!

[Demsrule86]

3. Yes we do.

[RandiFan1290]

7. Are they the ones that rack up thousands of posts in a few months? nt

[L. Coyote]

4. I use the new, patented, trademarked Concern Meter.

Of course, sometimes they are just too obvious and you don't need any metric at all:



They don't even mask the fact these are fake people, their entire purpose is to sway what trends.
These bots have very high tweet counts, partial faces, and names from some other planet.

[bettyellen]

11. They're trying to defeat face recognition software that would show their profiles up as fake...

[L. Coyote]

14. Interesting. Well, anyone can see they are fake anyway.

Maybe they steal profile pictures to set up the accounts.

[Xolodno]

8. Also...

1. They live under a bridge and have an uncanny weakness to get bucked by goats.

2. You can't kill them by traditional means, you need destroy them by fire or acid.

Sorry, it was there...had to take it.

[SticksnStones]

10. ..

[Ellipsis]

9. They'r pretty simple to spot on the horizon

[alwaysinflux]

13. As long as one of the tips isn't

...anything to do with being skeptical of Louise Mensch or Claude Taylor. Neither of them have shown much in the way of receipts for all their pronouncements. Yes I know Louise got the FISA warrant thing in November before anyone else. That doesn't mean I have to blindly believe everything she blurts out.

I will be the first to say they were right if all these indictments start raining down. Still waiting.

[L. Coyote]

15. Interesting to see who trolls Louise Mensch.

She is such a huge threat to trump that entire troll armies are attacking her.

One of the things trolls so is post incomplete sentences followed by a denigration in the body of the reply, just like you did here. It is very characteristic of them, part of their training, I think, so you might want to avoid that. You could easily be mistaken for a troll.

Link to tweet

[sharedvalues]

16. But your post is false.

FISA warrant news posted by Mensch in Oct 16. Confirmed by BBC, McClatchy, NYT Jan-Feb 17.

That's a receipt.