Merged Trolls from Russia/Salutin' Putin: inside a Russian troll house

It's important to note that the Russian propaganda machine doesn't necessarily try to make Putins government and his policies seem like they have made his country into heaven on earth. Rather it's mainly about whataboutismWP:
  • Russia isn't any worse than any other country
  • Putin has done what he can and has done good progress.
  • All countries suffer from corruption and so Russian corruption isn't anything special.
  • There may be crime and such in Russia but look at how bad America is!
  • Russian election fraud, deceitful foreign policy and such is bad but look at America! They lied about Iraqs WMD's!
  • Russia may be suffering from Alcoholism, widespread drug abuse, crime and so on but look at America!
 
Ryokan said:
One claim of a country doing something might be credible even if the same claim against a different country is bogus.

For example, someone might claim that North Korea puts dissenters in work camps where conditions are beyond atrocious. That would be a believable claim. However, if someone claimed that Belgium does the same, it would be a ridiculous conspiracy theory.
Click to expand...
The idea that the U.S. government could outsource Internet propaganda to a sweatshop is not up there in the incredibility stratosphere along with Belgian work camps for dissenters.
 
Craig B said:
The idea that the U.S. government could outsource Internet propaganda to a sweatshop is not up there in the incredibility stratosphere along with Belgian work camps for dissenters.
Click to expand...

That's true. I was using hyperbole to make my point clear.
 
Mark6 said:
How and where (55 Savushkina Street, St. Petersburg) Russia's troll army operates:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house



I found it ironic but not at all surprising that an article about paid trolls spamming the Internet with pro-Putin, anti-Western posts gathered in less than a day more comments than I had ever seen in any Guardian article -- most of them denying that such trolls exist. They would have been better off ignoring it.

<snip>


Edited by Loss Leader: 
Edited for Rule 12
Click to expand...

Geeze, I wonder if we have any here... :rolleyes:
 
Keep it civil. Keep it on topic. the topic is not the other posters, no matter how much you want it to be.
Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: kmortis
 
Arcade22 said:
It's important to note that the Russian propaganda machine doesn't necessarily try to make Putins government and his policies seem like they have made his country into heaven on earth. Rather it's mainly about whataboutismWP:
  • Russia isn't any worse than any other country
  • Putin has done what he can and has done good progress.
  • All countries suffer from corruption and so Russian corruption isn't anything special.
  • There may be crime and such in Russia but look at how bad America is!
  • Russian election fraud, deceitful foreign policy and such is bad but look at America! They lied about Iraqs WMD's!
  • Russia may be suffering from Alcoholism, widespread drug abuse, crime and so on but look at America!
Click to expand...

Yes. The only reason anybody could critizise a regime that has the highest prison population in the world, almost started WWIII not once, but twice (1962 and 1983), executes prisoners, launched several unprovoked and illegal invasions, armed terrorist groups from A to Z, routinely bombs weddings, openly condones torture (but only some folks) is to parrot russian propaganda.
It could never have anything to do with the actual actions.
 
magellan said:
Yes. The only reason anybody could critizise a regime that has the highest prison population in the world, almost started WWIII not once, but twice (1962 and 1983), executes prisoners, launched several unprovoked and illegal invasions, armed terrorist groups from A to Z, routinely bombs weddings, openly condones torture (but only some folks) is to parrot russian propaganda.
Click to expand...

No, but when government controlled media (that is, just about all media common people have access to) constantly downplays just about all domestic problems by instead focusing upon the problems of other countries and trying to convince it's viewers that other countries are no better and that there are no alternatives to the current situation it is nothing but Tu quoque fallacy.

In a sense the most important part is to portray all players as corrupt and sleazy by pushing even the most fringe conspiracy theories, and trying to have people conclude that there's no reason to change a political system based upon patronage, corruption and theft because it would become that anyways no matter what.

That's also why Russian media and security police spread rumors and conspiracies, charge opposition activists with bogus crimes and plant agent provocateurs: to portray any serious political opposition as ineffective and hypocritical "clowns" who have no chance of doing anything and thus there is no reason to support them. Compare to the fact that nothing critical is ever said about Putin and any criticism is instead aimed towards his "fall guys" like medvedev and such who take all the blame.
 
Last edited:
Fun read tracking back the history of this story (as I said, Walker is mighty late) to ...

Mark Ames said:
... a 2013 article in Russia’s Novaya Gazeta, exposing “Where the Trolls Live, and Who Feeds Them”.

It’s the trolling story that keeps on giving, with all the regularity of a herpes outbreak, but with no memory to go with it, because each time this Internet Research Agency story is reported, it’s more shocking than the last time.
Click to expand...


And Sputnik points out:

Sputnik said:
Trolls Trolls Trolls, Why Are They Called Trolls?

Trolling, originally a fishing term, has been used on the Internet to describe a person who makes provocative posts to trigger emotional responses. The practice, or hobby as it is for some people, predates the Internet, going back to 1980s Usenet newsgroups.

Simply making people angry is not a very effective way to influence public opinion. However, what caused the Guardian to accuse the Russian government of conducting an "orchestrated campaign" of trolling was an emotional response not of its readers, but of its writers.
Click to expand...


Poor babies. Should have called us them "shills" or something, wouldn't have been that revealing. ;)
 
Send in the Billy-Goat-Gruff Corps - kick the buggers out in a week or less!!!!!
 
The Chinese engage is this practice too and it wouldn't surprise me if other countries with suspect leadership also do the same thing.
 
I query the cost benefit of doing this. That is it would cost heaps to employ trolls and the number of people who are persuaded to your cause would not be large and even these people would not be influential people.
 
Keep it civil. Keep it on topic. the topic is not the other posters, no matter how much you want it to be.
Click to expand...
With respect, I disagree with you given the nature of the topic.
@marplots: nomming your "troll houses all the way down" for pith.
Thanks, it gave me a chortle.
EDIT:
I was moved to make a song parody

House of the Russian Trolls (apologies to The Animals)

"There is a house in Petrograd
It's filled with Russian trolls
They flood the net with Putin lauds
For pay and for the LOLs!
 
Last edited:
You guys are getting too excited.

For me most often encountered kind of Putinbot on net isn't paid kind.

Instead of it, those are people that are russians, Putin supporters, whom know very well what is happening and supports it, but also see that it makes Russia looking bad. What happens next is pretty obvious: lies, denial, cherrypicking etc. All these techniques should be way too familiar to JREF denizes.

It is just russian version of lying for Jesus, or rather Motherland in this case.
 
angrysoba said:
Why would it be a big deal if posters were being paid by Putin? That wouldn't change the fact that on this forum posters are meant to address the arguments rather than make febrile speculation about motive and insinuations of payment. To be honest this thread looks very similar to the usual Truther claims that anyone debunking their nonsense must be being paid or posting from Tel Aviv.
Click to expand...

Yet many here support strong laws requiring the revealing of who donates to which politician.

If only the argument matters, not the speaker...
 
caveman1917 said:
I believe the correct answer to your question is "one of them owns it". If you want an explanation, I've got your something better, an article to read: British army creates team of Facebook warriors
Click to expand...

caveman1917 said:
I believe the correct answer to your question is "one of them owns it". If you want an explanation, I've got your something better, an article to read: British army creates team of Facebook warriors
Click to expand...

It seems my point sailed right over your head. Last time I checked the BBC was free to write and report on whatever they like. The Guardian is too, your post is confirmation. Now please post a link to a major Russian media outlet detailing the work of Putin's trolls.

I'll wait.
 
ProBonoShill said:
Ahhh so no link then.

You had no trouble posting one from The Guardian, but now you seem to be having great difficulty finding one from Russian media.

Hilarious.
Click to expand...

What's hilarious is that you seem to think that if you want to make a point about Russian media you can just randomly assign someone (who doesn't even speak Russian) to do the research for you. Again, do your own research. Alternatively, there are other posters in this thread, maybe you should try one of them.
 
caveman1917 said:
What's hilarious is that you seem to think that if you want to make a point about Russian media you can just randomly assign someone (who doesn't even speak Russian) to do the research for you. Again, do your own research. Alternatively, there are other posters in this thread, maybe you should try one of them.
Click to expand...

I don't need to do any research I know the answer already, as would anyone who even has a tertiary clue about Russian media and the lack of freedom that envelops it. I think you know the answer as well, but are too embarrassed to admit it, hence your excuses. Putin would be proud, you should send him your résumé.
 
Inside Russian troll farm

Not just floods of troll comments on Internet forums, but hoaxes (of disasters, police shootings, etc.) which simultaneously appear on hundreds of Twitter accounts and cloned websites. Pretty impressive, actually.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html?_r=2

Dozens of journalists, media outlets and politicians, from Louisiana to New York City, found their Twitter accounts inundated with messages about the disaster. “Heather, I’m sure that the explosion at the #ColumbianChemicals is really dangerous. Louisiana is really screwed now,” a user named @EricTraPPP tweeted at the New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter Heather Nolan. Another posted a screenshot of CNN’s home page, showing that the story had already made national news. ISIS had claimed credit for the attack, according to one YouTube video; in it, a man showed his TV screen, tuned to an Arabic news channel, on which masked ISIS fighters delivered a speech next to looping footage of an explosion. A woman named Anna McClaren (@zpokodon9) tweeted at Karl Rove: “Karl, Is this really ISIS who is responsible for #ColumbianChemicals? Tell @Obama that we should bomb Iraq!” But anyone who took the trouble to check CNN.com would have found no news of a spectacular Sept. 11 attack by ISIS. It was all fake: the screenshot, the videos, the photographs.
Click to expand...
 
New trend at the forum, belittle people for not making an argument or point in the OP. Got old and annoying fast.

I think most people who read the whole newspaper every day have known that the Russian government is involved in massive amounts of propaganda on social media for a long time. This is a more sinister level, not just trying to change political opinions, but actually causes severe mental distress in people, trying to literally horrify and traumatize Americans, imagine your family member worked at Columbia Chemical and you got that text? That kind of worry and fear is damaging at a biological level, how long before they are SWATting people or hacking into highway signs to cause mass panic?

Really sick people, who don't deserve to live.
 
Trebuchet said:
I'm too lazy to look, but I'm pretty sure there are previous threads on this.
Click to expand...

The article was only posted yesterday, so even if there's a general thread on it, this is new. It's an excellent piece of journalism, well worth a read.
 
Joey McGee said:
New trend at the forum, belittle people for not making an argument or point in the OP. Got old and annoying fast.

I think most people who read the whole newspaper every day have known that the Russian government is involved in massive amounts of propaganda on social media for a long time. This is a more sinister level, not just trying to change political opinions, but actually causes severe mental distress in people, trying to literally horrify and traumatize Americans, imagine your family member worked at Columbia Chemical and you got that text? That kind of worry and fear is damaging at a biological level, how long before they are SWATting people or hacking into highway signs to cause mass panic?

Really sick people, who don't deserve to live.
Click to expand...


Someone really needs to give Putin a taste of his own medicine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom