413
Does anyone else notice an uptick of extreme troll accounts? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
274 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I swear, every time most of the time I see someone being particularly rude, ignorant, and inappropriate on a post (usually political in origin, or they swing it to being political) I click on their profile and see it has been created that same day.

They are only there to sow discord. Only to piss people off. Idk if we can just report them (for what?) but I'd like to try exposing them before responding and interacting..

I am guilty of gobbling up the bait. I've started looking at profiles of people that piss me off exceptionally and noticed they're burner bot loser accounts.

I guess i just want to say I've noticed it!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] 18 points 2 years ago (2 children)

i think that it's a lot more likely that a few people are just making burner accounts to be dicks on the internet than some weird QAnon-esque conspiracy theory that both the Russian and Chinese governments are not only aware of a tiny reddit clone but also are actively employing people (who all happen to be fluent in english) to create fake accounts and convincingly imitate westerners all in order to slightly increase political divisions in america for a few thousand people by having arguments about already incredibly contentious issues.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [โ€“] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Thank you! Like, this isn't how foriegn influence campaigns work. Believing the jerk you're arguing with is a Russian agent might make you feel like you're in a Tom Clancy novel, but the odds are it's just a dweeb with multiple accounts. Foriegn influence campaigns make sock-puppets to repeat the same 5 talking points on as many communities as possible, and maybe have a few canned replies. They don't fight with the same person in a 20 reply thread over the course of 2 days.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [โ€“] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    It's not a "QAnon-esque conspiracy theory". Russia's online influence in American politics has been fairly well documented. That being said, I think it's somewhat unhealthy to assume everyone who says something controversial is dishonest or a troll. Not good for discourse.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [โ€“] 11 points 2 years ago

    im not saying governments dont astroturf or anything, i meant it was a QAnon-esque conspiracy to assume that there were paid shills and bots around every corner and the vast majority of anti-american sentiment comes from a Russian cabal or something, especially on a comparitively tiny online space like lemmy. Like i've fairly frequently seen the accusation that lemmy is filled with paid actors / bots working for various countries from people just because they've suddenly been exposed to views that they've never really encountered before.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [โ€“] 7 points 2 years ago*

    The general consensus is that yes, Russians do troll. The conspiracy comes from the fact that EVERYONE you have a bad interaction with is a troll. No, a vast majority of Americans are just really shitty people and there's a really good chance your argument is an organic one.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent