I think those “false positives” (to put them most charitably) come from the cultural bubbles we all live with and have always lived with. Whether it’s because

I think those “false positives” (to put them most charitably) come from the cultural bubbles we all live with and have always lived with. Whether it’s because of your class, your friends, your region, or now your online circles, you have some natural sense of the world and the range of familiar sincere beliefs — even the ones you disagree with. But sometimes when you encounter someone new, they’re perspective is do alien that you can’t integrate it at all. A first reaction is to just assume they’re being insincere and provocative, and because trolls (and “bots” and “shills”) are a foundational archetype of online life, you can’t help but wonder if you’ve encountered one. It’s going to happen. The responsible next step is to be attentive to that possibility without becoming strictly convinced and accusatory. But that can be hard.