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Your challenge seems misplaced. It isn't that one or a few tweets or likes is clearly responsible for a significant shift of opinion (usually). Your question
by tasty_freeze 6y ago
Your challenge seems misplaced. It isn't that one or a few tweets or likes is clearly responsible for a significant shift of opinion (usually). Your question is like asking, "Has anybody seen the bucket of water which caused the flood?"
In 2016 there were Russian accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers. They maintained accounts on both sides of contentious issues and pushed inflammatory stories simply to increase divisiveness.
Stories they wanted to promote, whether they created it or not, they could use bots to push to higher visibility. It isn't as if any one vote made the difference.
- timonoko 6y agoWhy would anybody follow Russians and their discussions? I do not get this. If you desperately wanted to know what American "Alt-right" was thinking 2016, you subscribed to Milo Yliannospullo, Gavin MacInnes or Steven Crowder, but they are all banned everywhere now, and they are not Russians.
- tasty_freeze 6y ago> Why would anybody follow Russians and their discussions You misunderstand the situation. They weren't posing as Russians. They were posing as Americans as individuals, as news outlets, as political organizations: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/russian-trolls-who-interfered-2016-u-s-election-also-made-n1013811 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/russian-t... Quoting a bit from this: They posed as local news outlets, such as "New Orleans Online," "El Paso Top News," and "San Jose Daily." The majority of these accounts were created between May and August of 2014, but lay dormant until January 2015, when most of them started tweeting. This suggests a significant element of advance planning, Symantec said.
- timonoko 6y agoOk.