That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/ via @RollingStone "Russians know that disgust is a more powerful tool than anger. Anger drives people to the polls~ disgust drives countries apart."
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Please read?
#ResistersForum

"Here's what Russia's 2020 disinformation operations look like, according to 2 experts on social media and propaganda."

"I am much more worried about tomorrow than I am about 2020~ it's ongoing. It's now." Darren Linvill

"Internet trolls don't troll. Not the professionals."
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"Professional trolls don't go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don't lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren't 'somebody sittin on their bed that weighs 400 pounds..'"
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"Your stereotypical trolls do exist, but the amateurs aren't a threat to Western democracy.
"Professional trolls are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground."

To combat that threat, we need to understand them~ and take them seriously.
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I'm going to continue to add to this thread~ and it will be a long one~ but I wanted to get this article on Twitter now. It really is amazing and we really need to know this, because what we call "troll" is nothing like we imagined.
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All input is welcome

#ResistersForum

Now comes the unbelievable part about Russian disinformation (i'ma use "disinfo").
"Professional disinfo isn't spread by the acct you disagree with." It's just the opposite. "Effective disinfo is embedded in an acct you agree with."
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The authors found that the purpose of the accts are two~fold. Grow an audience through some heartwarming msgs, then use that following to spread some division, distrust and doubt.
The goal is to undermine trust in our institutions. We already see it..like "deep state"
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"Professional trolls are good at their job. They have studied us. They understand how to harness our biases (and hashtags) for their own purposes. They know what pressure points to push and how best to drive us to distrust our neighbors."
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"Professional Russian trolls know you catch more flies with honey. They don't go to social media looking for a fight; they go looking for new best friends. And they have found them."

"Disinformation operatives aren't typically fake news or outright lies." Disinfo is mostly spin, which is hard to spot and easy to believe~ especially if you are uncertain.
People process information differently, so "spin" can confuse the real truth.
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An interesting tidbit~
The Internet Research Agency, where all this is being generated, learned to conduct their disinfo campaign from the world of public relations and advertising agencies.
So instead of Boris and Natasha~ think Don Draper* of "Mad Men".

*Don Draper is a fictional character who was based on the life of advertising creative director Draper Daniels, who was the highest paid ad man in history. He created the Marlboro man, and won big accts like Maytag, United Airlines and Allstate Ins.
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"As good marketers, professional trolls manipulate our emotions subtly."
An example~
Last fall, a Russian acct we identified tweeted "My cousin is studying sociology in university. Last week she and her classmates polled over 1,000 conservative Christians...
cont'd below
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Her question~
"'What would you do if you discovered your child was a homo sapiens?' 55% said they would disown them and force them to leave their home."
It was subtle, not overly hateful, but got 90,000 rts and 300,000 likes!
See one problem? Yes?
But there's more...
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It suggested conservative Christians were homophobic, and a little ignorant, but it was "aimed directly at multiple cultural stress points~ a wedge where religiosity and ideology meet."
"This tweet didn't seek to anger conservative Christians or to provoke trump supporters."
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She wasn't even talking to them. Her following was painstakingly built, not maga~ Russia has other accts targeting them~ but more educated, liberal urbanites with a bit of self righteousness.
She wasn't selling her audience a candidate or position...
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She was selling an emotion.
She was selling disgust. "The Russians know that in political warfare, disgust is a more powerful tool than anger. Anger drives people to the polls~ disgust drives countries apart."
And there it is...
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