Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2019

Publication Title

Rolling Stone

Publisher

Penske Media

Abstract

Internet trolls don’t troll. Not the professionals at least. Professional trolls don’t go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don’t lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren’t “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,” as the president once put it. Your stereotypical trolls do exist on social media, but the amateurs aren’t a threat to Western democracy

Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously.

Comments

This manuscript was originally published in Rolling Stone. The published version can be found here: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/

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