Russian bots on home renovation posts? Why?

[Katy]

One of the Instagram influencers I follow (not a  huge account, a nurse anesthetist who is renovating her home) posted some things yesterday about how after the stuff in Russia got shut down the negative comments on her posts dropped dramatically. She made a joke about arguing with bots for two years. And while I believe her, I’m wondering why Russia would bother to attack tiny Instagram accounts focused on part-time renovation & redecorating. I understand when someone actively supporting a political party that has been against Russian government interests getting spammed with bot comments, but why tiny house accounts? What’s the motivation? 

[GailV]

I assume to keep everyone stirred up and off keel. Keep everyone in "fight" mode, and leave everyone wondering what is real and what is not, regardless of how innocuous the subject. Whoever can rise to the top when absolutely everything is topsy turvy wins.

Also maybe provides a background in case anyone looks to see if these accounts are interacting other places besides the usual political sites. 

By the way, I'm hoping I'm wrong on those guesses, particularly the first.

 

[Faith-manor]

9 minutes ago, GailV said:

I assume to keep everyone stirred up and off keel. Keep everyone in "fight" mode, and leave everyone wondering what is real and what is not, regardless of how innocuous the subject. Whoever can rise to the top when absolutely everything is topsy turvy wins.

Also maybe provides a background in case anyone looks to see if these accounts are interacting other places besides the usual political sites. 

By the way, I'm hoping I'm wrong on those guesses, particularly the first.

 

Yep! Mind games. It is a good way to destabilize a nation.

[Farrar]

I think that's one of the things that people don't fully appreciate about the ways that Russian (and sometimes other countries) use bots and real people to destabilize. I've seen so many people say that they're such casual users of the internet or that they don't have much money or super serious political views, so haha, it doesn't matter if they try to target me or I give them my information. But they really can warp what you think is happening in these little ways and keep you thinking everyone is mean and out to get everyone else. It's such a good way to mess with people's heads.

[Brittany1116]

AI and deep learning machines?

[Katy]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

I think that's one of the things that people don't fully appreciate about the ways that Russian (and sometimes other countries) use bots and real people to destabilize. I've seen so many people say that they're such casual users of the internet or that they don't have much money or super serious political views, so haha, it doesn't matter if they try to target me or I give them my information. But they really can warp what you think is happening in these little ways and keep you thinking everyone is mean and out to get everyone else. It's such a good way to mess with people's heads.

I really didn’t understand. I see there’s been a few defectors who worked in troll farms who have done the media circuit. I guess I’ll be watching some YouTube this weekend to learn about it. 

[Farrar]

One way you can potentially identify a Russian troll post is that it is super extreme, black and white, and nihilistic. So posts that say "Everyone" does this or that thing that the post opposes. Posts that say "but they'll never fix it" and similar things, implying that there's no way to improve an ongoing issue. Posts that say "they" don't care about this thing that clearly some people do care a lot about. All of those are clues that it might be a Russian troll. Russian trolls and bots post these sorts of things for both sides. So they'll do one that's like, this immigrant is a hero who saves puppies, but "no one" cares and "they" are persecuting him and so forth. And they'll do another one that's like this immigrant is a hardcore evil person who strangles puppies, but "no one" cares and "they" just want to protect his rights in a sanctuary city. Because it's not so much about a particular ideology or point of view, but about increasing anger, despair, and division in a general sense. And weirdly, they'll do it on a home or garden or sports or whatever site as well. Including about tiny issues.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Farrar

[Danae]

Reported ironic spam post.

Attn bot programmers:  you should make “bot” a keyword to avoid.  

[Pam in CT]

re bot-stirring => identifying folks who rise to various likes & shares => bot-driven networked targeting

On 4/1/2022 at 9:34 AM, GailV said:

I assume to keep everyone stirred up and off keel. Keep everyone in "fight" mode, and leave everyone wondering what is real and what is not, regardless of how innocuous the subject. Whoever can rise to the top when absolutely everything is topsy turvy wins.

Also maybe provides a background in case anyone looks to see if these accounts are interacting other places besides the usual political sites. 

By the way, I'm hoping I'm wrong on those guesses, particularly the first.

Exactly. Researchers who track bot-driven algorithmically driven network growth have also determined that traffic on non-political sites, particularly those that disproportionately attract women (ie Pinterest, children, gardening/ knitting/ home improvement, homeschooling etc) have been a fruitful way to identify potential sympathizers to other (more political) content, who then can easily be tracked back to Insta or FB or Twitter and targeted over there.

 

re nihilism as a tell

On 4/1/2022 at 1:24 PM, Farrar said:

One way you can potentially identify a Russian troll post is that it is super extreme, black and white, and nihilistic. So posts that say "Everyone" does this or that thing that the post opposes. Posts that say "but they'll never fix it" and similar things, implying that there's no way to improve an ongoing issue. Posts that say "they" don't care about this thing that clearly some people do care a lot about. All of those are clues that it might be a Russian troll. Russian trolls and bots post these sorts of things for both sides. So they'll do one that's like, this immigrant is a hero who saves puppies, but "no one" cares and "they" are persecuting him and so forth. And they'll do another one that's like this immigrant is a hardcore evil person who strangles puppies, but "no one" cares and "they" just want to protect his rights in a sanctuary city. Because it's not so much about a particular ideology or point of view, but about increasing anger, despair, and division in a general sense. And weirdly, they'll do it on a home or garden or sports or whatever site as well. Including about tiny issues.

x100

[Xahm]

1 minute ago, johnettesarate said:

I honestly don’t understand how you can argue with bots. I mean, you should understand that it’s a bot, and there is no point in arguing with him. Besides that, I truly don’t understand why a bot would take onto a house renovation thread. People are looking to find answers to certain questions, and these bots just annoy us. I was also discussing with some people on the forum about the equipment from (deleted link) and these bots took on that thread and started writing all kinds of shit.

Irony

[Katy]

Apparently they are all back online.

[Pam in CT]

Siri, what does "ironic" mean?, A Short Play in Three Acts

Act 1

2 hours ago, Danae said:

Reported ironic spam post.

Attn bot programmers:  you should make “bot” a keyword to avoid.  

Act 2

30 minutes ago, johnettesarate said:

I honestly don’t understand how you can argue with bots. I mean, you should understand that it’s a bot, and there is no point in arguing with him. Besides that, I truly don’t understand why a bot would take onto a house renovation thread. People are looking to find answers to certain questions, and these bots just annoy us. I was also discussing with some people on the forum about the equipment from scrooz.com.au, and these bots took on that thread and started writing all kinds of shit.

Act 3

28 minutes ago, Xahm said:

Irony

 

 

eta It goes without saying, but I'll say it nonetheless: by following that offered link, we are inviting further targeting.  That's how the algorithmic network buildup works.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Pam in CT