How to spot Russian trolls on DU...

[blitzen]

There's a least one on here tonight. Saying something that we would like to happen, if we were living in an ideal world--but which most of us probably agree should not happen, since it would change the election narrative in an adverse way. Look for egregious grammatical errors in the midst of otherwise decent, if simple, English.

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/11/27/russian-trolls-2020-election

“These Russian trolls, they don't work to antagonize people like one might think. They're entrenching people in ideology, not working to change ideology.”

"And [they] often talk . . . about important issues that Americans genuinely need to be talking about....But [they] always frame these issues in particularly divisive ways."

[rzemanfl]

1. Gee, do ya think?

I thought that. What happened was unpleasant, although I was 100% correct.

[Nevilledog]

5. Busy washing socks tonight?

[captain queeg]

2. I didn't really get useful info at the link. I know they are here but hard to spot

I hope when Biden gets elected he will set up an action agency to go after these folks. Trump actively endorses them.

[blitzen]

4. Yeah, that's not the best article. Here's a somewhat better one:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/

[captain queeg]

6. That was better. One thing is I don't do social media so I probably am not helping some sort of

Trojan horse to spread. But like it said in that article my picture of a troll is some fat incel in his moms basement. And I’m pretty sure there are some like that. I used to do reddit a lot and that’s when I figured out something about trolls. But the idea of a large sophisticated group is pretty scary. All I can do is minimize my exposure.

[Chainfire]

3. That certainly was not a "how to"

It was more a matter of what is.

[edbermac]

7. Note to Russian trolls:

Пошёл на́ хуй!

[SCantiGOP]

17. I give up

go back to Moscow now, ya?

[edbermac]

19. I use this when I suspect Russian trolls.

Пошёл на́ хуй! = Fuck you! Shuts them up every time.

https://therussianblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/russian-swear-words/

[Salviati]

20. I prefer to ask:

Вам платят по часам или по слову?

[edbermac]

24. Как погода в россии?

Another standard.

[LAS14]

8. Instead of trying to spot Russian trolls, let's just keep ourselves from turning into...

... pig headed idealogues. That's what they want to happen.... doesn't matter whether we're left or right.

[smirkymonkey]

9. Are there any good, in-depth, investigative articles on Russian trolls?

I'm asking everybody, not just you. It's kind of hard to Google and find anything that's really worth reading. Just wondering if anyone was aware of an article, like in the Atlantic or some other publication like that on the subject.

I'd really like to read more about the topic if anyone could be so kind as to refer me to a piece that is in-depth and well-written.

[phylny]

10. I looked but couldn't spot what post you're referring to.

[greenjar_01]

11. The line between the troll hunter and the stalker creep is paper thin

[roamer65]

12. FUCK PUTIN AND FUCK RUSSIA.

[SunSeeker]

14. Putin has already fucked Russia. nt

[roamer65]

15. THIS.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. I'm intrigued. I don't suppose it's possible to post a link.

[Wawannabe]

18. The person the wrote the OP

Doesn’t seem to be a troll to me...

I read through their Journal and the writing style, etc are all similar. Seems possible that their English isn’t great...

I did not find anything that set me off...but I am no troll hunter.

[blitzen]

22. You may be right...

I think I'll delete that link.

[Tipperary]

27. Plenty of posters here have poor English skills.

Not sure how that could prove if someone is a troll or not.

[Wawannabe]

28. What is your point?

The OP was talking about Russian trolls so, yes English skills could be a factor. But as I pointed out...seems to be poor skills but not trollish. I was intrigued and after reading some of the journal I felt like the troll shoes didn’t fit. And said so. (Also, there is a journal. Most people here for ill gain prob wouldn’t have a journal public.)

You backing that up or what?

[Tipperary]

29. I have no idea what you are arguing with me about.

People often cite poor grammar or writing skills as proof of a troll. I simply said there are many here that lack those skills, and I doubt they are all trolls.

So I have no clue what you want me to “back up.”

[Wawannabe]

31. Not arguing with you

Asked what your point in replying to me was. I replied to the OP author that I didn’t think they were trollish even tho English not so great. So, you backing that up or...

[Tipperary]

32. Of for crying out loud, I randomly replied to you with my point.

I do not even know what poster you two were discussing. Go find someone else to pick a fight with. Have a lovely day.

[canetoad]

21. They often work in 'teams'

Of two or three.

[Duppers]

25. There are a couple here now.

Not working together, yet, but almost straight out of the gate identifiable imho.

[yaesu]

23. my fav thing to do on twitter is to reply "I see your IP address is St Petersburg Russia

followed by, interesting, Shuts them right up.

[essme]

26. Be careful with this though-

I have been alerted on to the point where I was almost banned.

I am a middle school librarian in NC. I have had several PM's here with long time members that know who I am, and am personal friends on FB that are DU members. Over a dozen know where I live, my real name, etc. At least two DUers live within 5 miles of us--- so, I think I can safely write, "I am not a Russian troll."

Because I joined recently, and have a low post count- people are suspect.

Don't be stupid. If you see something you really can't stand, block those people. I do.

[MineralMan]

30. Some people seem to think that anyone who doesn't agree with them

is a Russian troll. That's a mistake.

Are their Russian trolls on DU? Maybe, but they aren't here very long, for the most part.

[blitzen]

33. The point of the OP is that they DO (pretend) to agree with us...

which of course makes things difficult. Or at least that's what these recent scholars are saying about the strategies used by the professional troll farms.

[MineralMan]

35. Ah, well, if they do that well enough and continuously enough,

then they might just be on our side. You professed to tell us how to detect Russian Trolls, but neither your OP nor the article you linked to actually provided any information that would help in that quest. I read both.

So, how DO you detect Russian trolls, do you think? The poorly trained ones give themselves away with particular language issues that are common when native Russian speakers write in English. The well-trained ones don't make those mistakes, generally, so the only time you can detect them is when they toe the Russian line politically.

In reality, detecting trolls is very, very difficult, and comes down to what I said. If someone disagrees with you, you tend to get suspicious that the person is a troll. That's how it goes here on DU, anyhow. Accusations of trollery are generally of that type here.

Perhaps a genuine Russian troll would try to tell us how to detect Russian trolls in the process of establishing credibility. But, that's too clever a ruse, and isn't used very often.

People who are familiar with me know that I was trained as a Russian language interpreter and analyst by the USAF when I was an enlisted member of that branch of the service in the late 1960s. Even so, some have accused me of being a Russian troll. Unsuccessfully, of course.

[jalan48]

34. +1