# We have a russian troll, name of Barack **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 19, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734 "2019-06-19T04:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/21 "2019-06-20T00:42:12Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > The style of posting on the SDMB is so different from the style on social media, it would be useless to use it as a trading ground. It would be like taking swimming lessons to train for mountain climbing. One way to learn to increase your lungs capacity and endurance ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/22 "2019-06-20T00:45:49Z")
How about troll easily influenced by Russian propaganda and trolls? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/23 "2019-06-20T01:03:08Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > For God’s sake, the Russians do not give one single solitary shit about the SDMB. Tell it to mister “the USA citizens”. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/24 "2019-06-20T01:13:24Z")
A troll, perhaps, but not a plant. I can’t buy into that CT. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/25 "2019-06-20T01:28:52Z")
I think we need a new term for “Person so unthinking, so partisan, that their posts are indistinguishable from a troll’s”. I suppose we could just call them “Troll”… – By the bye… a while ago I asked: “Why is it okay on this board to just use a famous person’s name as your screen handle?” It’s even more stupid if your views don’t align with the person you’re… what? Speaking on behalf of? Paying homage to? Hey, what if someone trusted the “Fighting Ignorance” and thought this was really Obama? And if someone says “Well, no one would really think it was Obama-- he’s too big to really be on this board!” Well, then, where does it stop? Can someone post as “Malia Obama”? “The Real Tammy Baldwin”? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/26 "2019-06-20T01:32:58Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > How about troll easily influenced by Russian propaganda and trolls? Well, yes, maybe, but how to explain his anti-propaganda with respect to Sanders? I mean a real Bernie-bro would attack Biden, sure, but he wouldnt make all Sanders supporters look like morons and make people hate Sanders. That was what decided me from regular troll to kremlin troll. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/27 "2019-06-20T01:34:52Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > An audience is important to the art of learning how to troll. And even Russians have to learn—they’re not born knowing how! > > It’s certainly true that ‘influencing SDMB users’ is not a goal of IRA operations, but ‘influencing American and world opinion’ definitely _is_. And you don’t learn how to influence opinion via sites on which you have few or no interactions of any length (such as Twitter or Facebook). You come to a place where you can get into some in-depth back-and-forth, over a period of days or longer. A medium-sized message board is ideal for that purpose. > > (Personally there are one or two accounts I’d think more likely than that of “Barack” to be written by people whose paychecks come ultimately from the Kremlin. But, who knows?) Good points. Well, yeah but BO is so damn obvious. The others are more _subtil._ ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/28 "2019-06-20T13:08:16Z")
The \*real \*Russian trolls have a native-level command of English, and form coherent (though non-fact-related) statements. This guy, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/29 "2019-06-20T14:04:12Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > So he didn’t say “Glass Seagull” ironically? Hmm. Probably got mixed up with the band Flock of Tigers. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > It’s certainly true that ‘influencing SDMB users’ is not a goal of IRA operations… Oh we’re so bloody ‘hive-minded’! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/30 "2019-06-20T15:12:31Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The \*real \*Russian trolls have a native-level command of English, and form coherent (though non-fact-related) statements. This guy, not so much. Meh. How many Russian trolls are there - 1,000? 10,000? More? They can’t all be great. Every team has its underachievers. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/31 "2019-06-20T16:01:46Z")
So that’s who gets assigned to the unimportant message boards? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/32 "2019-06-20T16:23:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The \*real \*Russian trolls have a native-level command of English, and form coherent (though non-fact-related) statements. This guy, not so much. That’s what they WANT you to think! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/33 "2019-06-20T16:44:24Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Meh. How many Russian trolls are there - 1,000? 10,000? More? They can’t all be great. Every team has its underachievers. I’ve done the math and calculated that a rather small shop could easily post to the Dope and all sites the same size or larger. Far fewer than 100. I calculated that 10 could be dedicated to the big sites and then 10 for the rest, but that was just drive by postings. If you had 100 people you could probably post fairly coherently on the sites. It’s just that the more involved the poster is the less likely they are to be a paid troll IMO, unless like others say it is a training exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/34 "2019-06-21T01:04:07Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > The style of posting on the SDMB is so different from the style on social media, it would be useless to use it as a trading ground. It would be like taking swimming lessons to train for mountain climbing. When it comes to posing as an American, the knowledge gained on a board can certainly be transferred to other social media. Posting styles, board versus Twitter, are definitely different. But the most important things learned on the more-expansive venues can be adapted for short-form posting. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/35 "2019-06-21T01:20:07Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > When it comes to posing as an American, the knowledge gained on a board can certainly be transferred to other social media. > > Posting styles, board versus Twitter, are definitely different. But the most important things learned on the more-expansive venues can be adapted for short-form posting. You can’t possibly be serious. If you are Occam and Bayes both want a word with you. Eta: He’s not a Russian troll, he’s just a weirdo, like most of the dope, including the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/36 "2019-06-21T01:23:42Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > You can’t possibly be serious. If you are Occam and Bayes both want a word with you. > > Eta: He’s not a Russian troll, he’s just a weirdo, like most of the door, including the OP. He might well be a weirdo. Of course he could be a paid-poster (not necessarily for the IRA) who also happens to be a weirdo. Why is it so important to you to quash the idea that paid posters might learn their trade, partly at least, on message boards? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/37 "2019-06-21T01:29:22Z")
Because it’s such a stupid idea it hurts my brain reading it. I’ve read your posts and your not a stupid person, Sherred. I think you’re just being influenced by media hysteria here. I assure you the IRA probably isn’t even aware the SDMB exists, and if they are, they have no interest in this tiny message board. They can train on FB and Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/38 "2019-06-21T02:52:11Z")
**Red Scare 2** This Time It’s Evil AND Stupid! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/39 "2019-06-21T03:18:57Z")
I would be more inclined to think he was some sort of anti-liberal troll than a Russian one. Nothing seems off in his actual interactions, nothing making me think he’s faking being from the US. But I have suspected he doesn’t actually hold the positions he states. It always seems like weird bits conservatism get mixed in–positions that wouldn’t make sense if he’s a progressive. That said, in that thread, he only came off to me as someone trying to convince people to vote for Bernie. Everything I saw was consistent with that. Yes, even claiming he was not trying to convince people. That would simply be a lie. If he makes Bernie supporters look like assholes, it would just be because he’s an asshole and a Bernie supporter. That is why I responded in earnest. His issues with “identity politics” makes me doubt his progressive credentials. I don’t want a guy who alienates non-whites. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/40 "2019-06-21T21:55:21Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Because it’s such a stupid idea it hurts my brain reading it. I’ve read your posts and your not a stupid person, Sherred. I think you’re just being influenced by media hysteria here. I assure you the IRA probably isn’t even aware the SDMB exists, and if they are, they have no interest in this tiny message board. They can train on FB and Twitter. > [@Ale](#): > > **Red Scare 2** > This Time It’s Evil AND Stupid! By an incredible and fortuitous coincidence—a complete and utter fluke—we see here demonstrated a major tactic taught to IRA operatives for the defense of the Glorious Leader (and by extension, those who follow his orders). The basic one-two is executed by two accounts: [ul] [li]Compliment the person who’s posted criticism of He Who Must Not Be Criticized, and state (or even just imply) that they will lose their good reputation if they keep posting stuff like that; and[/li][li]Rock some straight-up ridicule. [/ul][/li] And if that doesn’t work, try some open abuse. For example: Poster A: Many Americans don’t realize how much evidence there is for Putin’s having interfered in Spanish elections, promoting a split between the Catalonia region and the rest of Spain.\* Poster B: You’ve been here a while and have a reputation for being reasonable; do you really want to throw that all away? —just a word to the wise. I mean, seriously. Putin cares about Spain? Come on. Poster C: OOOOOHHH BIG BAD VLAD IS EVERYWHERE, OOOOOOOH HE’S IN SPAIN NOW, OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! Poster D: Poster A, you’re a raving loony with a Russia complex. Conspiracy theory much? Poster A: Thanks for the confirmation of Kremlin activity in Spain–I wasn’t sure before, but you just made clear that Putin is willing to pay people to post ridicule of the idea. …If the abusive responses are unpleasant enough, targets will shy away from the topic—job done! And, yes: people are paid to post on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram—and on medium-sized message boards—the latter more for the learning of the craft than for influencing the users of the message boards. But, still: they’re here–not on a regular basis, perhaps. More of an in-and-out, now-and-then thing. And the paychecks come from a variety of places, certainly not just the Kremlin. We get right-wingers pretending to be left, and non-Americans pretending to be American. We get the same variety of misinformation-purveyors that the big sites get, though fewer and less-frequently, probably. But they are here on occasion. No matter how ardently and intensively they try to ridicule any mention of the fact, they _are_ here. \*It’s a real-life example, of course: > [@](#): > > Germany’s intelligence chief accused Russia of seeking to destabilise Spain by backing separatists in Catalonia, as the region elected a new hardline president to lead its bid for independence. > > Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the German domestic intelligence service, the BfV, said it was “very plausible” that Moscow had carried out a campaign of disinformation before the secession referendum in October to encourage voters to back splitting from Spain. Speaking at an intelligence conference in Berlin, Mr Maassen did not offer details but said that he had reliable information from other security services. > **[Russia meddled in Catalonia independence referendum, says German intelligence...](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-meddled-in-catalonia-vote-p6g5nttpm)** > > Germany’s intelligence chief accused Russia of seeking to destabilise Spain by backing separatists in Catalonia, as the region elected a new hardline president to lead its bid for independence.Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the German domestic... > [@](#): > > US Senate report condemns Russian interference in Catalan referendum > Democrats document says Spain ‘growing target of the Kremlin’s malign influence operations’ … > > …affirmed that there was “evidence that Kremlin-run news outlets like RT and Sputnik, reinforced by bots and fake social media accounts, carried out a disinformation campaign” during the referendum. The report provides an overview of Russia’s destabilization campaigns in different countries in Europe and the West, and follows on from a committee meeting that took place in November. > **[US Senate report condemns Russian interference in Catalan referendum](https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/01/11/inenglish/1515667883_820857.html)** > > Democrats document says Spain ‘growing target of the Kremlin’s malign influence operations’ > [@](#): > > BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Madrid believes Russian-based groups used online social media to heavily promote Catalonia’s independence referendum last month in an attempt to destabilize Spain, Spanish ministers said on Monday. > > …Spain’s defense and foreign ministers said they had evidence that state and private-sector Russian groups, as well as groups in Venezuela, used Twitter, Facebook and other Internet sites to massively publicize the separatist cause and swing public opinion behind it in the run-up to the Oct. 1 referendum. … [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia-russia/spain-sees-russian-interference-in-catalonia-separatist-vote-idUSKBN1DD20Y](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia-russia/spain-sees-russian-interference-in-catalonia-separatist-vote-idUSKBN1DD20Y) Etc. 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