I happened on a good interview this morning with researchers who have tracked Russian internet trolls for a couple of years while trying to understand their strategies.
They’ve been in the media for several days, and NPR seems to be just the latest to the party.
How To Spot Russian Trolls Online Ahead Of 2020 Election
Two researchers at Clemson — Darren Linvill, associate professor of communication, and Patrick Warren, associate professor of economics — have studied the strategy and tactics of professional trolls.
The duo has looked at the methods of Russia’s former Internet Research Agency, which has been absorbed by the country’s Federal News Agency.
“It’s not a drunk teenager in the basement. It’s really more like a Russian Don Draper,” Linvill says. “It’s an ongoing guerrilla marketing campaign. These are professionals. They know what they’re doing and they’re really good at their job.”
It’s worth a listen.
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According to TechCrunch:
“the IRA spent $46,000 on pre-election day Facebook ads compared to $81 million spent by Clinton and Trump together, discluding political action committees who could have spent even more than that on the campaigns’ behalf.”
So, the Lilliputian Russians, spending a pittance compared to the Goliaths of the Clinton and Trump campaigns, was the deciding factor in 2016?
If you get around to actually listening to the NPR interview or read other accounts of this research, you’ll find out that what they studied was not based in FB advertising. It involved full-time professionals implementing a different kind of strategy. You might want to check it out.
The fox guarding the hen house.
Thanks Ian. That’s good stuff.