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$274,100 is a hilariously low number. Zero effect on the election. It’s quite a remarkable thing to be in the eye of the storm of a mass hysteria.

by dilap 9y ago

convery 9y ago
This is what baffles me about the narrative. A candidate spent upwards of 1,3 billion on their campaign, had the backing of most mainstream media, celebrity endorsements, back-room deals, and literal paid-shills on social media (CTR) when they went against one of the most unpopular people in America. Yet <300,000 in foreign advertising is what got the public to vote for the hated candidate.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  It doesn't add up in any way, and the whole thing is ridiculous on its face. The only money that matters here is the money media platforms milk off the outrage of people caused by making this a top story.
gourou 9y ago
Trolls are also shaping opinions https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-...
hackinthebochs 9y ago
Folks like you are being willfully ignorant. It's very easy to understand how the Russian fake news operation got such a good ROI. The election came down to around 20k votes in three states. Combine an unprecedented data mining operation (Cambridge Analytica) with microtargetting enabled by social media companies, as well as the viral nature of fake news, its easy to see how a small amount of money can sway a marginal amount of voters in key states.
hbosch 9y ago
Incorrect. Viral media is incredibly cheap compared to traditional ad buys — their reach is reliably fast, global, and free beyond the means of production. Don’t forget that much of the clickbait conspiracies that altered this election were written on WordPress blogs by individuals peddling “fake news” narratives, eg Obama wiretapping Trump, Pizzagate, Clinton Foundation trafficking Haitian earthquake victims, etc. RT wasn’t just spending money on “sponsored Tweets” and that sort of thing. The Kremlin operates twitter bot armies that game propaganda visibility.

$274,100 is a hilariously low number. Zero effect on the election. It’s quite a remarkable thing to be in the eye of the storm of a mass hysteria.

by dilap 9y ago

$274,100 is a hilariously low number. Zero effect on the election. It’s quite a remarkable thing to be in the eye of the storm of a mass hysteria.

convery 9y ago

This is what baffles me about the narrative. A candidate spent upwards of 1,3 billion on their campaign, had the backing of most mainstream media, celebrity endorsements, back-room deals, and literal paid-shills on social media (CTR) when they went against one of the most unpopular people in America. Yet <300,000 in foreign advertising is what got the public to vote for the hated candidate.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
It doesn't add up in any way, and the whole thing is ridiculous on its face. The only money that matters here is the money media platforms milk off the outrage of people caused by making this a top story.

gourou 9y ago

Trolls are also shaping opinions https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-...

hackinthebochs 9y ago

Folks like you are being willfully ignorant. It's very easy to understand how the Russian fake news operation got such a good ROI. The election came down to around 20k votes in three states. Combine an unprecedented data mining operation (Cambridge Analytica) with microtargetting enabled by social media companies, as well as the viral nature of fake news, its easy to see how a small amount of money can sway a marginal amount of voters in key states.

hbosch 9y ago

Incorrect. Viral media is incredibly cheap compared to traditional ad buys — their reach is reliably fast, global, and free beyond the means of production. Don’t forget that much of the clickbait conspiracies that altered this election were written on WordPress blogs by individuals peddling “fake news” narratives, eg Obama wiretapping Trump, Pizzagate, Clinton Foundation trafficking Haitian earthquake victims, etc. RT wasn’t just spending money on “sponsored Tweets” and that sort of thing. The Kremlin operates twitter bot armies that game propaganda visibility.