# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/41 "2019-06-21T23:46:26Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > 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. **Larry Borgia** has been here since 2000, **Ale** since 2003. If they are moles, you have to give the Russians a lot of credit for playing the long game ;). Any compliments, ridicule or abuse coming from those directions is probably reasonably genuine. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/42 "2019-06-21T23:48:26Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Professional trolls are just trained to stick around in places they find an audience, rather than just dropping their loads of inspiration and moving on immediately. Where does one attend such troll training? Troll School? Asking for a friend… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/43 "2019-06-21T23:56:21Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > **Larry Borgia** has been here since 2000, **Ale** since 2003. If they are moles, you have to give the Russians a lot of credit for playing the long game ;). > > Any compliments, ridicule or abuse coming from those directions is probably reasonably genuine. But not the subject of the Op, who joined during the 2016 elections. ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/44 "2019-06-22T00:13:20Z")
Such delusions of grandeur here! The need to be a part of something bigger! Hon! Guess what! One of the guys I chat with online is a lackey of the Russian President, sent to sway our opinion on democracy! Almost as good as the ones where someone has circumstantial evidence that Stephen Hawking used to post as physics\_steve42! Or the parent company of a website that runs a regional message board could be sued into bankruptcy due to a dubious post by an anonymous member! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/45 "2019-06-22T03:50:45Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > Such delusions of grandeur here! The need to be a part of something bigger! > > Hon! Guess what! One of the guys I chat with online is a lackey of the Russian President, sent to sway our opinion on democracy! > > Almost as good as the ones where someone has circumstantial evidence that Stephen Hawking used to post as physics\_steve42! > > Or the parent company of a website that runs a regional message board could be sued into bankruptcy due to a dubious post by an anonymous member! The good news is, Gary Clark Jr still plays and sings the blues like a motherfucker. ---
**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 22, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/46 "2019-06-22T04:16:44Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > Such delusions of grandeur here! The need to be a part of something bigger! > > Hon! Guess what! One of the guys I chat with online is a lackey of the Russian President, sent to sway our opinion on democracy! > > Almost as good as the ones where someone has circumstantial evidence that Stephen Hawking used to post as physics\_steve42! > > Or the parent company of a website that runs a regional message board could be sued into bankruptcy due to a dubious post by an anonymous member! So Mr. [Back to Africa](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=877397) wants to mock people for thinking trolls exist? And is appears to be his Pit debut, outside of a thread where he defended racist posters–who he definitely doesn’t know and hasn’t posted here before. Are you not honored, **Sherrerd**? Huh, someone who is suspected of being a troll gets an obvious troll in to defend them. Someone whose account was made half a year before they ever posted, even! I wonder why? —Oh, there’s a black man behind you, **Doork**! (Now that he’s gone for a bit, why the fuck are we suddenly mocking people for suspecting Russian trolls? It’s been brought up before, and it’s perfectly reasonable, and in no way would make us special. And do you really want to be in the company of this shithead?) Oh, you must’ve just missed him, **Doorky**. Better stay up all night and watch, though, just to be sure. ---
**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 22, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/47 "2019-06-22T04:24:23Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > **Larry Borgia** has been here since 2000, **Ale** since 2003. If they are moles, you have to give the Russians a lot of credit for playing the long game ;). > > Any compliments, ridicule or abuse coming from those directions is probably reasonably genuine. Thanks for the support! On a completely unrelated note, you haven’t seen a certain moose and squirrel around, have you? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/48 "2019-06-22T04:52:57Z")
I thought Russian trolling was low effort, mass spammed stuff. Do they take the time to type out single posts to single questions that, maybe, a few hundred people will see? (really asking…dunno how they all work…you can save the _whoosh_ for another time) ---
**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 22, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/49 "2019-06-22T04:54:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I thought Russian trolling was low effort, mass spammed stuff. > > Do they take the time to type out single posts to single questions that, maybe, a few hundred people will see? (really asking…dunno how they all work) Russian troll detected. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/50 "2019-06-22T04:56:10Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Russian troll detected. My deep cover is blown. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/51 "2019-06-22T04:56:47Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Russian troll detected. Same. Advise President Trump to launch. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/52 "2019-06-22T05:21:33Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > 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: > > [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-meddled-in-catalonia-vote-p6g5nttpm](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-meddled-in-catalonia-vote-p6g5nttpm) > > [Catalonia independence: US Senate report condemns Russian interference in Catalan referendum | Catalonia | Spain | EL PAÍS English](https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/01/11/inenglish/1515667883_820857.html) > > [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. Just curious, how many minutes of your life did you waste on painting yourself like an idiot with that? ---
**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 22, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/53 "2019-06-22T17:05:41Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Just curious, how many minutes of your life did you waste on painting yourself like an idiot with that? Aaaaaaawwww did-_duuuuumzzzzz_…the nowhere-_near_-as-speculative-as-you’d-moronically-hoped dialogue trigger you? ---
**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 22, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/54 "2019-06-22T23:15:07Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > **Larry Borgia** has been here since 2000, **Ale** since 2003. If they are moles, you have to give the Russians a lot of credit for playing the long game ;). > Any compliments, ridicule or abuse coming from those directions is probably reasonably genuine. Right----which is why I said their demonstration of actual techniques used by trolls is fortuitous and a fluke. ---
**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 22, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/55 "2019-06-22T23:31:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So Mr. [Back to Africa](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=877397) wants to mock people for thinking trolls exist? > > And is appears to be his Pit debut, outside of a thread where he defended racist posters–who he definitely doesn’t know and hasn’t posted here before. Are you not honored, **Sherrerd**? > > Huh, someone who is suspected of being a troll gets an obvious troll in to defend them. Someone whose account was made half a year before they ever posted, even! I wonder why? > … > (Now that he’s gone for a bit, why the fuck are we suddenly mocking people for suspecting Russian trolls? It’s been brought up before, and it’s perfectly reasonable, and in no way would make us special. And do you really want to be in the company of this shithead?)… Interesting–that does rather look like a swoop-in on a pre-made account. I gather that viral marketers do more of that (making accounts for future use) than trolls, but it’s a useful tool for both. It lends—or is intended to lend—“authenticity.” > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I thought Russian trolling was low effort, mass spammed stuff. My impression is that it IS mostly low-effort, mass-spammed stuff. But, as an experiment, post something uncomplimentary about Putin on one of the major social media sites, or a board of size similar to this one. The odds are excellent that you will get a mocking response, and that it will be from an account that is either recent, or not much used until recently. They DO know how to use Google search (or the relevant equivalent). > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Do they take the time to type out single posts to single questions that, maybe, a few hundred people will see? (really asking…dunno how they all work…you can save the _whoosh_ for another time) As I’ve said, my impression is that boards like this are not the object of much in the way of ‘_we must influence their opinions!!!11!!!_!’ attention. Instead, it’s more a case of using this (and similar boards) as a place to learn how to interact and communicate convincingly. It’s not that any particular foreign adversary is even remotely likely to believe that the opinions of Dopers are crucial in the grand scheme of things. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/56 "2019-06-22T23:32:26Z")
So poster Barack Obama is most likely a dense misguided soul. If his posts were trolling they’d be incredibly ineffective trolling. But the our little message board is unlikely to get the Russians A game I guess! Now if we were thought leaders then I could see trolling us with a poster or two. After all they invested a whole bunch in Mariia Butina just to have her be an influencer. Maybe the Russians believe we really are as hip as advertised? It may not be too crazy to believe MB trolls after all. It’s a low investment item. One troll can cover a bunch of sites spreading stories and stirring pots of divisiveness. Again this poster? Tends to unite everyone else in agreement on the worthlessness of the crap he posts. So not an effective troll anyway. ---
**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 22, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/57 "2019-06-22T23:37:13Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > So poster Barack Obama is most likely a dense misguided soul. If his posts were trolling they’d be incredibly ineffective trolling. But the our little message board is unlikely to get the Russians A game I guess! > > Now if we were thought leaders then I could see trolling us with a poster or two. After all they invested a whole bunch in Mariia Butina just to have her be an influencer. Maybe the Russians believe we really are as hip as advertised? > > It may not be too crazy to believe MB trolls after all. It’s a low investment item. One troll can cover a bunch of sites spreading stories and stirring pots of divisiveness. Again this poster? Tends to unite everyone else in agreement on the worthlessness of the crap he posts. So not an effective troll anyway. That all makes sense to me. I’ve seen a couple of accounts here written by posters who were pretty effective at stirring people up, and even getting them to argue quite bitterly and personally. The account writers I’m thinking of succeeded at dividing people who would otherwise have been in agreement over various political positions. That’s a skill, if a dark one. I would think that a medium board would be ideal for honing that skill. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/58 "2019-06-24T19:47:24Z")
What does the Council say about our new friend **[Helmut Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=877625)**? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/59 "2019-06-24T19:51:26Z")
One too many o’s. ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734/60 "2019-06-24T20:36:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > One too many o’s. Not ashamed to admit I found that funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-russian-troll-name-of-barack/835734.md?page=4)