I'd like to do a short thread on the nature of trolling, and why Trump's approach to it is a perfect example of how insidious it is. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1199718185865535490

When I first saw this image earlier today, I wanted to do my usual calling out of how it plays into the authoritarian playbook perfectly.

But, in this age of the internet and lolz, it's not quite that simple.

It's clear is that Trump is fluent in troll-speak.

This means that there is just as much pleasure, if not much moreso, in causing pain and humiliation to your targets as there is in the message itself.

The goal isn't just to spread authoritarianism: it's to disrupt opposition.

In this case, Trump has shared an image which he knows for a fact will upset his opposition. It will lead to outraged concern over the growing rise of authoritarian imagery, as well as the body shaming and other more reactionary responses that result.

This is important.

Why? Because Trump relies just as much on our response as he does on his hardcore authoritarian fans.

Our job, in essence, is to appear unreasonable and "hysterical."

How does he accomplish this?

Well, to his more moderate fans, this comes off more as a joke than anything.

Something specifically designed to "trigger" us and upset us. They don't take him literally, as the now-old saying goes.

They really want to believe he's a master of messing with us. And in so doing, they convince themselves the issue is that we just can't take a joke.

Which is, in a sense, true. We can't take a joke.

But that's because we're aware there is a core support of his that is, in fact, activated by this image and takes it incredibly seriously. These are the people who most passionately defend authoritarianism.

The result is three-fold:

1. The most important audience for our message is convinced that we are being ridiculous, overreacting etc. This is all a joke! Stop being so serious!

2. His core audience is radicalized.

3. His posts send both messages to both groups.

I don't think Trump is a genius. I just think he's kind of a savant when it comes to gaslighting, trolling, and lying. It's all he's done his entire life. From his personal life to his public persona, it's who he is.

And we are very bad at understanding it.

Even worse: his hardcore fans are very aware of this dynamic and play it up. That was the approach of his meme army during the election. It has also been the approach of alt-right and white nationalists.

They use irony and trolling to outrage us and recruit moderates.

Trump did this to CNN and other outlets when he first launched his campaign. He became a spectacle and said more and more outrageous things that his audience continued to dismiss (even though he meant every word).

The media gave him attention. He recruited the moderates. He won.

So too with white nationalists and the rest. They outrage us. We share their content. They get more of an audience. 1% of those people in the audience are genuinely excited by the message while all the rest think it's a joke.

That 1% gets recruited.

They win.

I'm not necessarily saying not to share these things. But it's important that we're at least aware of the dynamic, and our role in it. We have a job that they expect us to do, and most of us do it quite well.

The question I have (without an answer): how do we disrupt that?

/end