>>150259281
That sure feels more relevant these days. I'll have to remember that as another demotivational tactic supercharged by bots. Though I'd also add that multiple groups can be operating with different goals each contributing to the shitpile of the internet in their own way. There was this Good Old USA Project last year by Russia which specifically noted gamer communities on social media and image boards as targets. There are some interesting guidelines there that give you an idea of how and why an influence campaign would use outrage bait topics in pop media as a Trojan horse to spread their talking points while people have their guard down. Here's what the report says about making ambiguous "sleeper" communities:

>Because the groups don't initially position themselves as political communities, they may act as lending outlets for targets ad channels for the project narratives distribution without attracting immediate attention of the social media outlets' administration, and would be able to accumulate a critical number of viewers.

>While in a "sleeping" state, communities attract an audience through targeted advertising, planting, and organic reaches. At the right moment, "upon gaining momentum", these communities become an important instrument of influencing the public opinion in critically important states and portals used by the Russian side to distribute bogus stories disguised as newsworthy events.