Third, Facebook’s ranking system pushes more engaging content higher up in users’ newsfeeds. For the most part, the people who run troll farms have financial rather than political motives; they post whatever receives the most engagement, with little regard to the actual content. But because misinformation, clickbait, and politically divisive content is more likely to receive high engagement (as Facebook’s own internal analyses acknowledge), troll farms gravitate to posting more of it over time, the report says.
As a result, in October 2019, all 15 of the top pages targeting Christian Americans, 10 of the top 15 Facebook pages targeting Black Americans, and four of the top 12 Facebook pages targeting Native Americans were being run by troll farms.
Abandoning my FB account was the single best choice I’ve made to improve my quality of life.
Ivan
I’m sure most have- but have you seen the social dilemma. Its on netflix now
This article is ridiculous clickbait – pure conjecture, heavy on implication, light on evidence, seemingly written only to stir up its own special brand of F.U.D.
It doesn’t get much more ironic than this, folks.
This is the image I saw when posting the title. 
Trolling a troll post?
F.U.D? Of what? That there is make believe, false information, and downright dirty lies on the internet?
What about the math was wrong from the report the article was based off? https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21063547/oct-2019-facebook-troll-farms-report.pdf
The really sad thing is the inability of many to filter fact from fiction, good information from propaganda.
Information illiteracy.
Troll farms are real, though, and their content does influence naïve people.
Ha, I wish the article was making such a simplistic claim. No, they just had to dip into “coordinated, global conspiracy” territory.
The article can be boiled down to the following abstract in a nutshell:
Unknown groups of people in unknown places with unknown motivations and unknown intentions and unknown backers are having unknown levels of influence on unknown numbers of people to an unknown degree or unknown effect. It’s real bad and you should be worried! Trust me.
That, my friend, is the epitomy of F.U.D. – pure conjecture, heavy on implication, light on evidence, designed to lead you to “scary” conclusions (but you’ll have to connect the dots and fill in the blanks yourself for some reason).
The article is about F.U.D. and it is F.U.D. hence the irony.
Everything is predicated on their hilarious definition of “Troll Farms”: professionalized groups that work in a coordinated fashion to post provocative content, often propaganda, to social networks.
So, uh… an advertising agency? According to some AXE body spray commercials, a single whiff of their fragrance makes women lose all sexual inhibition. I bought gallons of the stuff and it didn’t work as advertised! Unless, of course, the “Axe Effect” isn’t real… did they trick me?! Is Unilevar a troll farm?! I’m scared – hold me.
What math?
There are list of all the sites. There isn’t a group listed as ‘unknown’? There are sites all over the globe working to produce all sorts of false information in a variety of formats. So you are saying the existence and naming (this term ‘troll farm’ has been around for years and proven and not created by this article) of these groups is the issue? They are real, they have been proven real, and they have been shown to have much greater reach than ever or even considered. That is the point of this article. Not whether or not troll farms exist and are real, but their reach and influence. The reach and influence is much larger than anyone imagined. Again, that’s the point, not to scare you.
There are a few documentaries on this type of dis-information although I guess you would rather pretend troll farms aren’t’ real? Are you worried about them picking sides? They, troll farms, don’t. They work both sides to create the most conflict. They work off of the known facts of human psychology/behavior which show how easy some are to control and manipulate.
Red Bull got sued for saying it gave you wings and lost. Now it’s wiiings. Absolutely no reason to fear. Never let the world and it’s crap make you afraid. Another point of psychology is people are easier to control when in a state of fear. Well documented and proven. The same as the power of advertising. It’s not to scare you, it’s to control you, and it works. You don’t need to be held, you need to buy some Old Spice Beargloves - The ladder to success is slippery unless you are wearing Beargloves
THEY’RE REAL MAN… THEY’RE EVERYWHERE AND THEY WANT TO CONTROL US! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE ME!!!
Okay, okay, calm down… you’re slobbering on my jacket.
Cite a concrete example of what one of these supposed “Troll Farms” (a hyperbolic sensationalist disingenuous term if ever I heard one - aka clickbait) was able to accomplish. Tell me as much about them as you can, please.
- Who are they?
- What did they do?
- How did they do it?
- Who was affected?
- What was the outcome?
Be specific. No seriously, BE SPECIFIC. Did I mention to be specific? I’ll wait…
Of course, there aren’t any actual examples cited in the article.
So, I’ll ask again… where is the proof? Because, man, it ain’t in the article.
The article does the same thing you’re still doing (based on your previous post) which is spreading F.U.D. Just making tons of unsubstantiated claims and glossing over the fact that you haven’t proven a single one of them as you continue to build an argument higher and higher on bed of quicksand. Just saying “it’s all true” isn’t enough. But, it is quite compelling so long as I don’t ask any followup questions. 9/11 “truthers” have some pretty compelling theories too. All they’re lacking is the evidence that any of their theories are true unfortunately.
Conspiracy theory claims always follow the same formula. A shadowy group of people from “over there” are quietly brainwashing all the “stupid people” with irresistible propaganda cleverly disguised as (false) information (that you don’t agree with) to either control them for “reasons” or to distract them from “what’s really going on”.
And yet, somehow despite how ingeniously deceptive and manipulative these groups are, tricking so many gullible souls with honeyed words and emotion stirring images, you cannot possibly fall for it. Nope, not you, you see right through it instantly – it’s only the stupid morons that do (people who you might also coincidentally happen to strongly dislike typically for their opinions, political affiliations, preferred lifestyle, or whatever it is that you don’t think they should be allowed to think). And these ignoramuses are obviously going to be unwittingly influenced to do something “dangerous” that is always against your best interest, beliefs, or preferences.
Listen, if you want to continue to believe in conspiracy theories without evidence, be my guest. But don’t try to brainwash others unless you bring some real evidence of your supposed secret global mind control network running on Facebook.
Anyway, here’s a picture of a man holding a kitten…
To me, it’s like saying a known toxin exists in a food you eat. To what extent it could effect things is subject to debate. Maybe not the best analogy, but anyway.
Specifics are posted all through the report and elsewhere. Are you that dense? There are dozens of actual examples, each site is an example, each site is/was proof. Look for yourself.
I’m not trying to spread anything. You have all the empty claims and rhetoric going. All you have is blah blah blah, Greta.
Troll farms are not conspiracy theories. Get over it. These are people producing fake media of all sorts. For all sorts of reasons. They are not all out to get you and scare poor little ole you. Explain to me why this is spreading fear? What about the truth of the world is so scary to you? Why do you think people are FUD’ing too much?
Listen, project and conjecture all you want it’s just blah blah blah of you pretending to understand. So don’t try and convince yourself otherwise unless you bring some real evidence. Fake news! Fake news! Where have I heard that before?
You say you have “dozens” to choose from?
CAN YOU POST AN EXAMPLE?
Your outright refusal would absolutely destroy any shred of credibility you have left in this matter.
Please… pick something, anything, your choice. Then answer the 5 questions I posted in my previous post.
Post an example or stop talking.
It’s literally listed in tables in the report I linked. The dozens I spoke of are all neatly laid out.
So is one of these sites listed something important to you? Do you know ‘troll farms’ are listed in the Mueller report and are mad about that? Can’t figure it out? For you to avoid the fact and all of the readily available data not only proving troll farms are real, but also how they operate and have even been convicted of operating, isn’t my burden of proof.
If they idea of troll farms is so scary to you, sorry, get over it and you might find they are quite interesting? Funny name and funny topic really, hence the title, but they do have some rather real and traceable outcomes in the real world.
I’m being sincere here – you’re either intentionally being a troll or you’re not well. Either way, you sound like a lunatic.
Turn off your computer, take off your tin-foil hat, stop reading conspiracy theories, and go interact with real human beings in the real world. I’m worried about you man.
We’ve clearly reached the end of this conversation. I’d like to say it’s been fun, but I think we’re all a little dumber for having listened to you.
Dude, @beherenow keeps telling you that the examples you’re asking for are in the article because they ARE in the article. Have you read the article? Surely you can’t expect him/her to copy-and-paste the whole thing here rather than have you just click the link and read it for yourself?
I found the linked article to be reasonably well-written, and it also provided sources for it’s information so there’s plenty of follow-up threads to pull on if you want to.
You can’t reasonably expect to be taken seriously here when all you’ve done in this thread is insult, condescend, mock and even tell @beherenow to “stop talking” while providing no actual information or references to support your opinion. You’re reacting emotionally and not logically and it’s coming off as pretty rude.
More important than your poor presentation, though, is the fact that you haven’t provided anything to refute @beherenow 's initial link except for your own opinion which, at this point, remains unsubstantiated.
If you’ve got something meaningful to contribute, I for one would really appreciate seeing it because there’s potential for interesting and fruitful discussion on this topic.
Ivan
I’m being sincere here, you are not a special kind of imbecile. Just a normal one. I am being this, I am worried that, all about you much? Get over yourself and get over what ever triggered you in the report. You whining and crying that it isn’t real because you don’t like what it says is juvenile.
If you don’t like what the data pulled from the sites statistics, users, etc. take it up with them. You can’t, so you blame me because you have absolutely nothing but your feelings. You claim it’s all ‘fake’ and ‘conspiracy’ but have zero proof that any part of the report is falsified. No one is under any obligation to make the world of troll farms make sense to you.
Same.
I found it interesting how quickly the user engagement went up. Literally went from fringe to mainstream more rapidly than anyone believed much less predicted.
Also how years worth of data on troll farming also supports the data of a lie spreading faster than truth. 6x iirc. Then factor in the latest data showing how much faster hateful/angry/negative information spreads than loving/positive information. It’s all there and interesting to some.*
If you saw how FB and IG etc. took over traditional marketing/advertising and turned it on its head, then you already understand how micro-targeting and feedback loops work on large groups of people connecting to other large groups on social media and the impact for purchasing power. What many of these troll farms are doing as they have openly stated is seeing how far they can control other aspects of human behavior. Some for fun and games, some not.
It’s not rocket science or taboo or conspiracy to me. Just what we’re doing as humans. Triggered rants by others are just that.
I say some as it’s a dirty job like Kahlil mentions…
Yestereve I saw philosophers in the market-place carrying their heads in baskets, and crying aloud, “Wisdom! Wisdom for sale!”
Poor philosophers! They must needs sell their heads to feed their hearts. Said a philosopher to a street sweeper, “I pity you. Yours is a hard and dirty task.”
And the street sweeper said, “Thank you, sir. But tell me what is your task?”
And the philosopher answered saying, “I study man’s mind, his deeds and his desires.”
Then the street sweeper went on with his sweeping and said with a smile, "I pity you too.”― Kahlil Gibran
You guys are crazy! There’s no such thing as trolls/shills/bots on the internet whose sole purpose is to influence opinion, that’s a crazy conspiracy theory.
Yo watch out for the ligma variant
I actually got the ligma variant. It was awful. I’m hoping I can avoid the sugma variant 