Study suggests Russian social media trolls had impact on 2016 election
Source: Axios
Joe Uchill 2 hours ago| updated 4 mins ago
A new study found that for every 25,000 retweets that a known Russian troll account received during the 2016 election, Donald Trump's poll numbers jumped 1%.
Why it matters: The study, conducted by a team headed at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville and published in the peer-reviewed University of Illinois-Chicago journal "First Monday," suggests that despite protests to the contrary by Republicans and Trump allies the Russian disinformation campaign was successful in influencing the 2016 election.
Details: The Tennessee-Knoxville study analyzed 770,005 tweets in English from known Russian troll accounts, as well as corresponding poll data from FiveThirtyEight's archive of multiple polling outlets.
Every 25,000 retweets of Russian accounts correlated to a 1% increase in Trump's poll numbers one week later.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/russia-interference-trolls-impact-2016-election-eff627d5-f1b3-48fd-8745-449262880e16.html
True Dough
(17,092 posts)Only Donny and Vladdy's denials.
stopdiggin
(11,092 posts)this only adds some solid numbers and stats. and note -- only include "confirmed" Russian actors/accounts. need to keep in mind that there were other agents involved -- and that Americans themselves were involved in a lot of misinformation, deliberate and otherwise.
(Note: American politics, including dirty tricks, misinformation, ratf**ing .. as ugly as they might be, are ALL in a different category from foreign intervention. this would seem to be a fairly simple concept. tongue in cheek.)
mac56
(17,561 posts)jrthin
(4,825 posts)karynnj
(59,475 posts)However, as many things happen at the same time, I think that assuming that ALL the change in Trump's numbers was due to the trolls is a very poor assumption. Not to mention, correlation does NOT - in and of itself - prove causality.
awesomerwb1
(4,256 posts)For example if you don't a Twitter, get an account and retweet the good guys.
kimbutgar
(20,882 posts)If they have an IP or DNS address cant they just block those incoming tweets and thwart them?
stopdiggin
(11,092 posts)IP and DNS are child's play to mask. If you're talking about content .. How do you tell the difference between a Russian troll and an ordinary (term advisedly) MAGA maggot? Or indeed a DU member that is going hyperbolic on a particular subject? We joke about poor English and hackneyed phrases, but there again .. Seen what a lot of US citizens post?
PSPS
(13,512 posts)Twitter knows the troll accounts. The Tennessee-Knoxville study was able to identify them too. Twitter is reluctant to put a stop to it only because of $$$$.
SunSeeker
(51,369 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,214 posts)SO STOP SAYING THAT!
Perseus
(4,341 posts)Most people have become so lazy they only get their information from news outlets, they don't bother to check what they read on Facebook, what the hear on Fox, they have become addicted to their phones, and the TV is almost religion.
I was in New York a few weeks ago, I remember when long time ago you would see people with books, reading, now almost every one in the subway is texting, hypnotized by their phones. Russians have understood this addiction to phones and TV so they have exploited it.
Americans should be mad that they have allowed the Russians to fool them, Americans should learn not to trust anything on Facebook, Fox news and other outlets that help deceive them, how many times are you going to allow someone to make a fool out of you?
BigmanPigman
(51,432 posts)ANNULL HIS PRESIDENCY, after you indict him!!!!! Ron Perlman and I agree on this one.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)mahina
(17,506 posts)🧐