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I find it hard to believe anyone susceptible to having opinions on BLM or Muslims would be measurably influenced by an ad on facebook. Maybe that's why they on

I find it hard to believe anyone susceptible to having opinions on BLM or Muslims would be measurably influenced by an ad on facebook. Maybe that's why they only spent 100K. A similar op by Western intelligence services would cost what... maybe 10 million? 100K in ads, 9.9 million for contractors and mid level management bureaucrats.

Gargoyle 9y ago
You're downvoted, but this has been exactly my thought all along. The people who saw these ads weren't going the other way anyway.
- mythrwy 9y ago
  No, no they weren't. Which make the whole drama even more objectively silly. For the record I have no doubt the Russians do engage in covert activities not in the best interests of the U.S. But these straw grasping dramas have gotten tiresome.
  - brohoolio 9y ago
    You clearly don't know my in-laws or parents. By the time the election was over they had bought into pizzagate. They are the perfect demographic to target. No ad blockers, leaning towards Bernie but kind of didn't relate to Hillary. You only needed to convince a fraction of the people to either not vote or vote for Trump. The best part is you could target them by trying all sorts of ads until you found one that clicked then have it go viral. I'm waiting for the Mueller probe but I fear the worst.
  - unholythree 9y ago
    I'm not sure. I honestly don't know if the assessment in the article is correct, but it seems to me the objective of a project like this isn't to change any minds but harden existing postions and prevent compromise. The impression I got was that the writer argues the Russian's goal in this operation was encourage more extreme political views in order to divide the American people and weaken national unity.
- uoaei 9y ago
  I think it's less about swaying their minds and more about making them more active and vocal about the topic, which spreads their opinion to people who otherwise would stand no ground either way. The people they would directly affect are their family members and established friends, who have an inherent trust for people they know and have opened up their lives to. In essence, it created pseudobots that serve as outlets for the kinds of messages (read: divisions) they wanted to sow.
int_19h 9y ago
It's not about changing anyone's opinion. It's about feeding the outrage, pushing all the right buttons, to make the person as heavily engaged as possible - to show up at rallies, for example, and ultimately, to turn up at the voting booth.

Gargoyle 9y ago

You're downvoted, but this has been exactly my thought all along. The people who saw these ads weren't going the other way anyway.

mythrwy 9y ago
No, no they weren't. Which make the whole drama even more objectively silly. For the record I have no doubt the Russians do engage in covert activities not in the best interests of the U.S. But these straw grasping dramas have gotten tiresome.
- brohoolio 9y ago
  You clearly don't know my in-laws or parents. By the time the election was over they had bought into pizzagate. They are the perfect demographic to target. No ad blockers, leaning towards Bernie but kind of didn't relate to Hillary. You only needed to convince a fraction of the people to either not vote or vote for Trump. The best part is you could target them by trying all sorts of ads until you found one that clicked then have it go viral. I'm waiting for the Mueller probe but I fear the worst.
- unholythree 9y ago
  I'm not sure. I honestly don't know if the assessment in the article is correct, but it seems to me the objective of a project like this isn't to change any minds but harden existing postions and prevent compromise. The impression I got was that the writer argues the Russian's goal in this operation was encourage more extreme political views in order to divide the American people and weaken national unity.
uoaei 9y ago
I think it's less about swaying their minds and more about making them more active and vocal about the topic, which spreads their opinion to people who otherwise would stand no ground either way. The people they would directly affect are their family members and established friends, who have an inherent trust for people they know and have opened up their lives to. In essence, it created pseudobots that serve as outlets for the kinds of messages (read: divisions) they wanted to sow.

int_19h 9y ago

It's not about changing anyone's opinion. It's about feeding the outrage, pushing all the right buttons, to make the person as heavily engaged as possible - to show up at rallies, for example, and ultimately, to turn up at the voting booth.