what is it...what should we be looking out for?

wolverines!!!!!!!!!!!!!

get a roomba instead.

a few telltale signs, though they have evolved a bit in their tactics

random screen name with bunch of numbers
fake profile photo
very few followers
always posting only about politics
american flag or bald eagle somewhere in their profile
tends to post the most mean hateful take on any issue
posts baldfaced anti women, anti gay, anti black content

they pretend to be activists alot, too

they won't have all those chacteristics at once, but usually 3 or more

the confusion is the point tho. the bots are meant to undermine us all by making it so that we all feel we can't trust anything we see or read

this helps authoritarianism take hold...you only believe the leader.

its also worth noting, bot farms are not merely Russian...China and the Saudi's have gotten into the hacking mix as well

MBS actually hacked Jeff Bezos cell phone..which is wild

i keep saying we are actually in WWIII and people won't believe it. (dis)information is how modern warfare is waged.

d

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

https://twitter.com/RVAwonk

This thread will give you a high-level view w/ examples:
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1230991262586671104

Orr has done a lot of great work on looking at digital disinformation campaigns and was even targeted by Roger Stone for her troubles

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

Bot-spotting tips from MIT Technology Review:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611655/how-to-tell-if-youre-talking-to-a-bot/

Bot-spotting tips from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/08/06/bot-or-not-seven-ways-to-detect-an-online-bot/#25f91a247fba

Monmoth University's library has an entire learning section on bots and disinformation:
https://guides.monmouth.edu/media_literacy/how_fake_news_spreads

There are apps and websites that you can use to check how many (or if) bots are following a particular account. The MU link lists a handful of sites people can try.

Botsentinel, linked via MU provides a bunch of data about bots. For instance, you can find out what bot topics and hashtags are trending and what the most popular bot accounts are on any given day.

There are also browser plug-ins that try to help people spot fake news.

Using "bot finders" and browser plug-ins aren't a magic wand solution, however. Being an informed and responsible news consumer is the best defense.

If people are ever overwhelmed by this new frontier, there are a number of sites that provide quizzes and helpful tutorials so that people can practice how to engage and identify all manner of fake and manipulated information and news.

The News Literacy Information Project is a good entry level starting place:

https://newslit.org/get-smart/

Generally, college and university libraries have websites about information and media literacy that the public can easily access. This is important because the source material has been vetted by librarians, who are information specialists.

really appreciate the resources

just common sense shit instead of tinfoil hat which helps when trying to identify a bot.

• read the mf article
a clickbait headline isn't a slimeball tactic in and of itself. Snappy titles are a normal part of news and have been. The whole point of the snappy title is to get you in to READ THE ARTICLE. If you cant atm, just bookmark it for later IN PRIVATE. Don't just repost the shit 'for later'.

• people trust your opinion more than you think they do
just by the fact that you share an article does effect how its perceived. People already know what your biases are and that can sway or deter others. Conversely saying 'i don't know' will sometimes stop the spread of bad information as it might remind others that the also don't really have the time or expertise to determine the validity of a claim.

• if you've never heard of the source, keep it moving
even if it falls totally in line with whatever cause or agenda you have, be wary of sites or sources you've never seen before and seem eerily of a brand. Follow the link to the site and more often than not, it'll look like its held up with scotch tape.

(i still can't believe folks fell for occupydemocrats)

add on

Source evaluation:
https://guides.monmouth.edu/media_literacy/evaluating_sources

The MU library site features a link to AllSides. It's a site that, among other things, provides a search tool that categorizes news search results according to political and ideological persuasion. This can help news consumers get a sense of coverage about a particular issue, and support an informed way to arrive at what's fact and opinion.

https://www.allsides.com/allsides-search-results

Allsides also has an online media bias ratings system, too. For instance, the news sources identified as "center" are, in my mind, a safe starting point for building exposure to trusted, reputable, news. The rating system also provides a good list of national news outlets that can be used to verify information that's shared on social media.

https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-ratings

I work with college aged young people and adults. Over the years, I've observed that information literacy and critical thinking are the single most important skillsets that students need to develop.

Over the years students:
--have demonstrated an inability to distinguish fact from opinion.
--have demonstrated an inability to distinguish news from advertisements.
--have repeated and presented hoaxes and conspiracy thinking as evidence and rationale for positions they hold.
--have expressed deep distrust and resistance about factual information.
--have expressed deep distrust and cynicism about the news.
--have expressed high levels of unquestioned trust for information they receive on social media.

Recently, I've heard from the mouths of students, in earnest and with sincerity that:
--there won't be a 2020 election because 2016 was so "bad."
--China causes global warming with special seeds they release into the atmosphere.

These are challenging times.

https://twitter.com/mediawise

They are doing good work in getting people to look at content posted online with a critical eye.

They're a great resource.

If I had more time and resources of my own, I'd create an information literacy organization. I wish news outlets would be more proactive about helping the public acquire and use information literacy skills.

i want to find a curriculum that specifically addresses this to build into my program here

d

honest question...
because you say you’re passionate about, Im just wondering what that means in terms of how you're helping the people you work with.

by way of example,
with so much going on this election cycle I feel lost. It’s not that simple to tell someone -with little understanding, to “go read this”. when I hear all this talk about Russians I have no idea what to be on the look out for...

direction is helpful

...are quite often agents of the very agenda they believe they are against. Useful idiots. The need for "bots" is greatly reduced when there are human bots that do an even better job.


1984 interview with ex-KGB agent:
https://youtu.be/bX3EZCVj2XA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Bezmenov


That video above is so eerily accurate that I didn't believe it was real (until I did some checking).

and does it have anything to do with him being in the lead now...