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 otherwis

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.