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Bloomberg is covering a report from the Institute for the Future (IFTF) on an attempt to describe the phenomenon of state-sponsored trolling from a qualitative and quantitative standpoint. While partially conflating trolling with astroturfing in the body of the report, the IFTF defines online trolling as deliberately targeting an individual for "hate" and harassment. Since it is only occasionally possible to attribute the attacks, the IFTF's aim with the report is to empower individuals, researchers, and policy makers to spot the phenomenon in the wild and at least attempt to combat it.
The report itself is entitled, State-Sponsored Trolling: How Governments Are Deploying Disinformation as Part of Broader Digital Harassment Campaigns (warning for PDF)
Ed: How accurate does the report appear to be and are the suggested countermeasures harmful or helpful or both?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @12:08PM (15 children)
It conflates not just trolling and astroturfing, but tries to paint actual, voluntarily and autonomously acting trolls into the same corner as the for-profit gang stalkers hired by politicians and regimes.
Doing this seems to stem from a popular misconception that can be especially well observed in those who in modern times hijacked the "liberal" label to mean suppression of opposing opinions. Because for one, it makes it easy to dismiss one's own failings, which is why genuine trolling works:
Well-executed trolling is about pushing someone's buttons and making themselves look ridiculous by eliciting a stereotypical reaction "for the lulz". The US left-wing (especially, but not limited to them) has become a target for trolls because they are in a permanent state of self-betrayal. There is no "liberty" in these so called libererals, they are slaves to authority. Most are even too dumb to realize they're following authoritarian dogmas, unable to think for themselves or stand up for their convictions. They religiously follow what is being put in their heads by the priests of their echo chambers and react butthurt when their ideas are challenged because they're shit. That's the button. Pushing it is funny, because it exposes their hypocrisy.
The alt-right keeps pushing it, but instead of self-reflection, looking at the reason this keeps working, these so-called liberals are only screaming louder for authority to make the "hateful" people go away.
This "study" seems to be a new (and rather cheap) angle for trying to get authority to do their bidding: conflate alt-right trolls with state sponsored harassment and disinfo campaigns and you get the vibe that probably Vladimir Puting is paying out of his own pocket for trolls like Milo Yani-whatever. Something something election meddling and collusion. Traitors! Censor!!! Incarcerate!!!!11 *frothing at mouth*
I'd point and laugh and remark that you Muricans have a funny political culture, but you keep exporting that shit (especially your version of "liberals") and I don't want it. Please keep them. They're polluting my old-school left convictions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @12:40PM (2 children)
"Old school left" or "fascism" as the modern left calls it. Didn't get the memo?
(Score: 0, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:14PM (1 child)
Dammit, man. I read what you wrote, and immediately thought something like, "Big dummy - it's the left calling the right fascists!" Took a second to soak in. Yesterday's left are fascists to today's left. That's just crazy, isn't it? Sorry for thinking you were the dummy. The dummies are the ones marching to nowhere, while they shout fascist slogans against fascists.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:52PM
Get trolled genius!
(Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday July 26 2018, @12:41PM (3 children)
Oh, what has come with this world! I tell yea, the noble pure art of trolling is no more, the politicians and corporation raped it and discarded it dishevelled on the side of the road.
Nobody recognizes anymore the value of genuine, sincere trolling and, thus, conflates paid-for mercenary trolls with the useful idiots!
(grin - an unpoliticised trollish one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:15PM (1 child)
Did you say "Embrace, extend, extinguish"?
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday July 26 2018, @04:49PM
Oh, please don't bring Microsoft into this mess!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday July 26 2018, @09:07PM
I only provide the finest never-frozen organic artisan small-batches fair-trade non-GMO trolling, but I can't compete against the industrial-grade high-output stuff we often see around here.
I have long deserted markets that were overtaken, and where the consumer seems to lack a proper discriminatory palate.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @03:03PM (1 child)
Wait, you think conservatives don't do this? Because this literally sounds like church going conservatives.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @06:04PM
Well yeah, that's why the word I used is "religiously". Progs used to be about leaving bullshit beliefs behind and improving the status quo - "progressing". The observed behaviour is a regression.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @03:06PM
Troll or troll not. There is no reason.
(Score: 4, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 26 2018, @05:06PM (4 children)
I thought it was the lefties that were supposed to be the perpetually whining victims. Guess not...
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @06:47PM (1 child)
Remember, the ones ranting the most loudly about something are ranting about their secret selves
- Constantly ranting about homos being unnatural = bottoms at least once a week for worst of the group W bench father rapers
- Constantly ranting about family values = has at least 2 mistress and probably 1 kid out of wedlock
- Constantly ranting about SJW being snowflakes = cracks at the slightest adversity
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @07:03PM
So whining about racial/sexist prejudice means they secretly, uh, what now?
Just saying that rule doesn't always work, but it is amusing.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday July 26 2018, @09:11PM (1 child)
Which TV network is constantly riling up their rabid viewers with yet another new War On $thing_of_the_day ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @11:15PM
Oh, I know (hand up)---It's Faux News!