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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAdrien Chen: In case you missed the 2015 story on Internet Research Agency just indicted
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Adrien Chen:
In case you missed it, my 2015 story on the Internet Research Agency, just indicted by Mueller https://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html?referer=
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Adrien Chen: In case you missed the 2015 story on Internet Research Agency just indicted (Original Post)
deminks
Feb 2018
OP
Stuart G
(38,439 posts)1. k and r..nt
seaglass
(8,173 posts)2. I did not miss this story, well I did in 2015 but read it in 2016 - a very good read n/t
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)3. "As the Internet has grown, the problem posed by trolls has grown more
salient even as their tactics have remained remarkably constant. Today an ISIS supporter might adopt a pseudonym to harass a critical journalist on Twitter, or a right-wing agitator in the United States might smear demonstrations against police brutality by posing as a thieving, violent protester. Any major conflict is accompanied by a raging online battle between trolls on both sides.
As Savchuk and other former employees describe it, the Internet Research Agency had industrialized the art of trolling. Management was obsessed with statistics page views, number of posts, a blogs place on LiveJournals traffic charts and team leaders compelled hard work through a system of bonuses and fines. It was a very strong corporate feeling, Savchuk says. Her schedule gave her two 12-hour days in a row, followed by two days off. Over those two shifts she had to meet a quota of five political posts, 10 nonpolitical posts and 150 to 200 comments on other workers posts. The grueling schedule wore her down. She began to feel queasy, she said, posting vitriol about opposition leaders of whom she had no actual opinion, or writing nasty words about Ukrainians when some of her closest acquaintances, including her own ex-husband, were Ukrainian."
As Savchuk and other former employees describe it, the Internet Research Agency had industrialized the art of trolling. Management was obsessed with statistics page views, number of posts, a blogs place on LiveJournals traffic charts and team leaders compelled hard work through a system of bonuses and fines. It was a very strong corporate feeling, Savchuk says. Her schedule gave her two 12-hour days in a row, followed by two days off. Over those two shifts she had to meet a quota of five political posts, 10 nonpolitical posts and 150 to 200 comments on other workers posts. The grueling schedule wore her down. She began to feel queasy, she said, posting vitriol about opposition leaders of whom she had no actual opinion, or writing nasty words about Ukrainians when some of her closest acquaintances, including her own ex-husband, were Ukrainian."
Really good article, Adrien! I actually vaguely remember it. Of course back then it was a rather alarming concern, but for all that it was before the unthinkable happened.