Threaten him with his life, and if he screams in Russian you'll know it's a spy. That's how the CIA does it!
Here are some of my ideas on IDing a Russian troll.
- Starts a thread with all sorts of name calling to provoke a response (e.g. Libtard), especially if it's one of their first posts in the forum.
- Occasionally has poor English skills
- Opinions often convey extreme racism, xenophobia, and homophobia
- Avatars and Usernames are often overtly patriotic
- Dismissal of sources without providing counter sources. Often resorts to ad hominem attacks.
What are your thoughts?
I see you took the dick out...lol
Detailed descriptions of what identifies a paid Russian troll would probably exceed the 5K word limit, so I'm also mostly going with the Justice Potter theme of "You know it when you see it."
The one thing that seems to stand out, however, is the distinct lack of local color in their posts.
By that I mean, since this is primarily a site aimed at North American politics, with an emphasis on U.S. politics more than anything else, it's interesting what happens when you press one of these people for some local color.
Example: Here in Whittier, these neighborhoods went from being borderline street gang "no go zones" in the 80's and early 90's back to being the quiet and somewhat boring baby factories that they were in the postwar years, because so many of the gangs moved to the Inland Empire and to Palmdale.
They were, quite simply, priced out of the market and the rest were reduced by attrition due to law enforcement stepping up and doing their job.
Remarks about local cultural and ethnic trends, local housing prices, local employment prospects, food, music, local crime, local "anything-at-all", are notably absent in posts that come from paid Russian trolls, because the only thing local that they could comment on would be 55 Savushkina Street, Saint Petersburg.
You'll also never hear from them about family, kids, job, pets or even what they ate that day.
I don't think any of them have an opinion on issues like pot legalization either, or if they did, would they be pro or con, and why.
It would be interesting to push them on an issue like that, because if they're in Russia, it would be difficult for them to be very aware of local trends, like say for instance, the new pot dispensaries opening up OR being forced to close in "their Amerikansky city".
NOTE: Some of the more sophisticated Russian trolls MIGHT have been to or have friends living IN one of the Russian diaspora cities here like West Hollywood, (Fairfax District) for instance.
One way to trip them up would be to ask about a local business, say perhaps a local eatery which has been closed in the last year. If they say they just came back from lunch there....BUSTED.
It's maybe a little bit difficult to fake being an American resident if you've never lived here.
You can maybe get away with it for a little while but sooner or later someone can trip you up.
May I politely add one more indicator?
EXCESSIVE....I mean EXCESSIVE use of the laughing my ass off emoji.
:lamo :lamo
I mean like a minimum of once every post. Usually much more.
Or does that mean they are just being a (Richard) ?
Like I said, what do you want anyone to do about it? Tell them that they aren't allowed to hold a convention? You're just sidestepping the discussion more and more.
Probably the exact same amount.
We ought to treat Israeli influence in our election the same way we view Russian influence.
.
What? As soon as Israel hacks our political parties and engages in cyber misinformation campaigns you'd have a point. Right now your being silly.
So, we know that Russian has maintained a sustained campaign of sewing divisions between groups in the U.S. by posting on social media. I think it's quite evident we have at least a few here on DP.
Here are some of my ideas on IDing a Russian troll.
- Starts a thread with all sorts of name calling to provoke a response (e.g. Libtard), especially if it's one of their first posts in the forum.
- Occasionally has poor English skills
- Opinions often convey extreme racism, xenophobia, and homophobia
- Avatars and Usernames are often overtly patriotic
- Dismissal of sources without providing counter sources. Often resorts to ad hominem attacks.
What are your thoughts?
Your link has nothing to do with the discussion. None of that information was used to alter a political campaign. Lots of countries spy on each other. That isn't what we are discussing.
Do we tend to give money to countries that spy on us?
If its in our national interest, yes.
But once again, you are dishonestly comparing apples toorangesrefrigerators.
And what benefit do we get from supporting Israel?
What have I said that's dishonest? We have a country that interferes in our elections, that spies on us, that attacks us (USS Liberty), and is the biggest non-occupied recipient of our foreign aid. Why are we talking about Russia? It seems like Israel is the enemy that is threatening our democracy.
I'm all ears when it comes to adjusting our relationship with Israel and taking slightly less of a "what ever you want" attitude with them. But if you are seriously arguing that Israel is a bigger threat to our democracy then Russia then you simply don't warrant a response.
Is that really your argument? That Israel is higher on the threat list than Russia?
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