4 ms·

Wow, those ads are terrible. The fact that some of these[0] exist says a lot about the people in this country.. I get the impression that all of this 'political

Wow, those ads are terrible. The fact that some of these[0] exist says a lot about the people in this country.. I get the impression that all of this 'political action/interest' against the tech companies is really just treating the symptom, and not the underlying problem. 0. https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2017/11/01/Others/Images/2017-11-01/russianads001.JPG?uuid=kVlzVL87EeeSlHBfgBZPbg https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/Wash...

RickS 9y ago
Yes. We only have a russian propaganda problem because we have a severe underlying critical thinking/education problem that makes large chunks of the populace susceptible to memes about Jesus arm wrestling.
- ivraatiems 9y ago
  I think that assessment correct, but not deep enough. We have a generational problem of unlimited access to unfiltered information in the hands of a population mostly unequipped to handle it. The education problem arises from that larger problem.
  - theyregreat 9y ago
    News and social media are legitmized gossip that create information overload / Tragedy of the Commons / false equivalency. This leads to InfoWars, Cambridge Analytica, foreign state actors and anyone with deceptive goals and funding able to manipulate millions to billions of people economically. Heck, there’s an Instagram likes vending machine in Moscow. Parents and teachers need to teach children and students often using trickery and not thinking for them in order to teach them lessons to not be so gullible. Wrapping them in bubble-wrap, helicopter parenting, dumbed-down education, extended adolescence and sending them to private schools/homeschool is counter-productive. A healthy citizenry needs initiative, leadership, nuance, moral courage, critical thinking and reliable knowledge; otherwise idiocracy. Like Andy Grove’s book title: ”Only the paranoid survive”
    - dtien 9y ago
      I thought you were just bs'ing at first but then.... wow: http://www.npr.org/2017/06/12/532557101/want-more-instagram-likes-theres-a-vending-machine-for-that http://www.npr.org/2017/06/12/532557101/want-more-instagram-...
madez 9y ago
Well, if you are thought that you are the best country of the world and everybody looks up to you, then what kind of insight and self-scepticism do you expect?
- craftyguy 9y ago
  I definitely don't think that, but then again I'm not quite sure what you are saying.
  - madez 9y ago
    I meant the plural you. I should have made that clearer in the first place.
    - thisacctforreal 9y ago
      I think the better improvement would be s/thought/taught/
johndoe90 9y ago
Do you think this could really have any impact on the elections? I don't see how any of those images or texts could change my opinion on who I want to be the president. Why would anyone take them into consideration? P.S. I'm Russian. I'm no fan of propaganda and I just want to figure out whether our government really wanted Trump to be the president and if so, then why? I might have missed something, but I don't see that the decisions Trump making are any good for Russia. I see the opposite. For example, Trump wanted to remove the oil production limit, which would have affected Russian economics.
- matthewvincent 9y ago
  I totally agree there is no way these had any real impact on voter turnout. To me these read more like sowing the seeds of division in general than anything else.
- johndoe90 9y ago
  So I thought about it. There is a way that I could rethink of my candidate. If someone (a paid troll for instance) was targeted against me. If they would have been talking to me and sending proofs I could believe in, then, probably, I could even change my opinion. And you know what? Russia has trolls. It's even worse, it's centralized troll factory — a house of paid trolls. But even if those trolls were told to “make America great again” with Trump, they wouldn't have impact big enough to change anything.
- peoplewindow 9y ago
  Clinton was campaigning on policy of starting a war with Russia in Syria (establishing a "no fly zone" i.e. by shooting down planes that were flying). Trump was saying he'd make peace with Russia. So there is a motive. However, I think this sort of article raises more questions than answers. Firstly what makes them think this was the work of the Russian government vs private sector Russians with an interest in US politics? The only evidence seems to be the use of a particular payment service and the rest is assumption. Secondly, how are these ads meant to benefit Russia specifically? What are these ads supposed to achieve? The evil plan being to "sow division in society"? US society is already very divided and has been for ages. It's very hard to imagine any government signing off on the purchase of a bunch of stupid Jesus arm wrestling memes, especially as there's no coherent theme to any of this. The whole Russia-American-election story continues to look to me like a huge set of suppositions and dubious mental leaps. It's all very clearly an attempt to get Trump impeached. Motivated reasoning is bound to follow. PS. I am not Russian.

RickS 9y ago

Yes. We only have a russian propaganda problem because we have a severe underlying critical thinking/education problem that makes large chunks of the populace susceptible to memes about Jesus arm wrestling.

ivraatiems 9y ago
I think that assessment correct, but not deep enough. We have a generational problem of unlimited access to unfiltered information in the hands of a population mostly unequipped to handle it. The education problem arises from that larger problem.
- theyregreat 9y ago
  News and social media are legitmized gossip that create information overload / Tragedy of the Commons / false equivalency. This leads to InfoWars, Cambridge Analytica, foreign state actors and anyone with deceptive goals and funding able to manipulate millions to billions of people economically. Heck, there’s an Instagram likes vending machine in Moscow. Parents and teachers need to teach children and students often using trickery and not thinking for them in order to teach them lessons to not be so gullible. Wrapping them in bubble-wrap, helicopter parenting, dumbed-down education, extended adolescence and sending them to private schools/homeschool is counter-productive. A healthy citizenry needs initiative, leadership, nuance, moral courage, critical thinking and reliable knowledge; otherwise idiocracy. Like Andy Grove’s book title: ”Only the paranoid survive”
  - dtien 9y ago
    I thought you were just bs'ing at first but then.... wow: http://www.npr.org/2017/06/12/532557101/want-more-instagram-likes-theres-a-vending-machine-for-that http://www.npr.org/2017/06/12/532557101/want-more-instagram-...

madez 9y ago

Well, if you are thought that you are the best country of the world and everybody looks up to you, then what kind of insight and self-scepticism do you expect?

craftyguy 9y ago
I definitely don't think that, but then again I'm not quite sure what you are saying.
- madez 9y ago
  I meant the plural you. I should have made that clearer in the first place.
  - thisacctforreal 9y ago
    I think the better improvement would be s/thought/taught/

johndoe90 9y ago

Do you think this could really have any impact on the elections? I don't see how any of those images or texts could change my opinion on who I want to be the president. Why would anyone take them into consideration? P.S. I'm Russian. I'm no fan of propaganda and I just want to figure out whether our government really wanted Trump to be the president and if so, then why? I might have missed something, but I don't see that the decisions Trump making are any good for Russia. I see the opposite. For example, Trump wanted to remove the oil production limit, which would have affected Russian economics.

matthewvincent 9y ago
I totally agree there is no way these had any real impact on voter turnout. To me these read more like sowing the seeds of division in general than anything else.
johndoe90 9y ago
So I thought about it. There is a way that I could rethink of my candidate. If someone (a paid troll for instance) was targeted against me. If they would have been talking to me and sending proofs I could believe in, then, probably, I could even change my opinion. And you know what? Russia has trolls. It's even worse, it's centralized troll factory — a house of paid trolls. But even if those trolls were told to “make America great again” with Trump, they wouldn't have impact big enough to change anything.
peoplewindow 9y ago
Clinton was campaigning on policy of starting a war with Russia in Syria (establishing a "no fly zone" i.e. by shooting down planes that were flying). Trump was saying he'd make peace with Russia. So there is a motive. However, I think this sort of article raises more questions than answers. Firstly what makes them think this was the work of the Russian government vs private sector Russians with an interest in US politics? The only evidence seems to be the use of a particular payment service and the rest is assumption. Secondly, how are these ads meant to benefit Russia specifically? What are these ads supposed to achieve? The evil plan being to "sow division in society"? US society is already very divided and has been for ages. It's very hard to imagine any government signing off on the purchase of a bunch of stupid Jesus arm wrestling memes, especially as there's no coherent theme to any of this. The whole Russia-American-election story continues to look to me like a huge set of suppositions and dubious mental leaps. It's all very clearly an attempt to get Trump impeached. Motivated reasoning is bound to follow. PS. I am not Russian.