Revelations about Russian infiltration of social media are starting to creep me out. The Huffington Post looked for now-known troll accounts in online media and found scores of references to cut-out accounts like the now-notorious Jenna Abrams.
And it’s still going on, especially in the heated Virginia governors race, where Russian bots are frantically retweeting racially charged campaign ads. Could it be that not all the racists in America are actually in America?
It sure seems that way in light of the stunt the trolls pulled off in Houston last May. One Facebook page called Heart of Texas announced a “Stop Islamification of Texas” rally outside an Islamic center, while another called United Muslims of America advertised a “Save Islamic Knowledge” rally for the same place and time. Poof! Instant conflict!
A big culprit, as the HuffPo story makes clear, is media’s reliance on tweets to replace the old man-on-the-street interview. Fewer journalists leads to short-cut journalism.