Thread by @artandlovers, As we work out the psychological impact of social media and define [...]

As we work out the psychological impact of social media and define certain behaviors, we will find subtweeting, however subtle, to be the greatest tool for gaslighting and that many people who speak against gaslighting and toxicity participate complicity and regularly.

Now, for the person using subtweets to seriously trigger or for triangulation or revenge to turn others against you, there is a process of grooming involved to make sure the target catches the subtle attacks thrown out and work them towards the intended provoked reaction.

Anon alt accounts can be used in this grooming to bring the target into the orbit of a main account that will be doing the biggest triggering or to drop subtle triggers or subtweet breadcrumbs.

This is why so many people start off suspicious or wary of new accounts that seem to already know an established circle. Sure, some can simply be creative ventures, out to do no harm and this is the rub. Those who create antagonistic alt accounts know this.

The antoganistic alt accounts will engage is subtweet grooming and breadcrumbing by bulk liking and RTs of one or more of your accounts but interspersing tweets written (or other RTs) using keywords the target will catch that other observers will not.

Let me give you some examples but first, Danish pancakes and more coffee.

Let's say an account comes out of nowhere & follows all of your accounts. Your accts are known to many as being by you but not explicitly linked in the bio (which can give you an edge in vetting btw.) On one account you post a very intense tweet storm/blog or insta post on grief.

Many people know the tragedy you write of (even abstractly or implicitly) is about your husband's suicide and have very been supportive.

The subtweeting alt will bulk like the acct that didn't post about loss, RT several of your tweets stacked around a tweet of a woman w a black widow crawling across her mouth.

Or let's say you just came back from travelling in Europe with a person who knows the symbolism of the rose throughout history. Watching your friend's acct & some interactions you have with them could reveal this.

A subtweeting alt account might be brand new and follow and bulk like your tweets. The name of the account is your late husband's first initial. The avi is a pink rose. You write a poem about your friend giving you direction.

The acct only tweets twice.

The first tweet says "redirection"

The second is tweeted on the date of your husband's suicide or the date of his birthday. It says:

"It's time to say goodbye"

You block. The account is deleted.

I have a whole extended drive of screenshots of these kind of "interactions"

Who is doing it? Or is anyone doing it?

I can give just as many creepy examples of an algorithm going wrong too.

But where I'd like to go is with the more explicit grooming intended for a provoked reaction with the goal of triangulation and isolating the target.

Gaslighting AI & Cyber Poltergeists
Nell Watson
TedX

These tactics of manipulation are not new due to the internet or advanced technology. Machiavellianism has been around for ages. I will share as many resources I can as I find them.
(I'm heading out to dinner.)

However, if you enjoy watching documentaries you can almost see the progression of what that TEDTalk is addressing:

The Century of the Self

The Corporation

The Social Dilemma
Netflix

I didn’t get mass unfollows so I will assume ya’ll did your homework last night & we can continue.

Seriously, if you only watch the last one & the TedX you’re going to get a better idea of what these tools have been designed to do & how that can tie into targeted harassment.

Let's get back to that rose account as it is such a clear-cut example of how something hiding in plain sight and seemingly inoccuous can get under someone's skin so thoroughly and possibly become turbo-powered by an algorithm to serve as a powerful method of gaslighting.

I took another look. Turns out there were 3 tweets, not 2, & it was created in 2018, not brand new. Only 3 tweets for an acct only 1 yr old.

Let dissect this as it will give you some insight on how to be aware more than blindsided & the best methods for thorough documentation.

Important sidenote: do NOT let any person pressure you into believing taking screenshots is a dick move. I will go into my massive blunders & lessons learned but if you know anything about gaslighting & harassment, documentation is a must.

My husband committed suicide on 8/11. I wrote this poem on 8/10; it was referencing a meltdown coming up to the anniversary & my struggle with PTSD, memory loss, overthinking why he did it, & impulsively reacting in a triggered state to whatever conclusions made from overthinking

I don’t believe in coincidences. This is one fucked up and direct coincidence, don’t you think? There’s some serious personal detail *someone* knew to intersect this (keyword purposefully used.)

I mean what. the. fuck.

As soon as I saw it due to the account blowing up my notifications with likes I blocked.

Don’t. DO NOT BLOCK…. Yet.

Don’t immediately block if you decide to document. Let me explain why.

Once I blocked the acct holder knew I caught the message. The account was gone before I could think to get the date stamp of the tweets. Or the notifications. Or that it even followed me in the first place.

Take screenshots of:
• their TL in the order of the tweets as you see them & that they follow
• each subtweet selected alone for the date stamp
• your notifications to illustrate when they explicitly lure you to look
• your tweet/s associated with date stamp, if applicable

Consider taking screenshots of:
• their follow list
• their followers

(Will explain)

THEN BLOCK. Now, you’ve tagged their account even if they change their @ and these seasoned accounts (with mature account creation dates) love to deactivate & change @ s.

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