May 6, 2015

Trolling methodology: buying Twitter ads.

Using "promoted tweets," a white supremacist not only avoids getting blocked by various Twitter users, but he is also able to target the very people who don't want to have to hear him:
Though [Andrew "weev"] Auernheimer didn't say exactly which users/groups he chose to target in his trolling campaign, he listed examples that appeared to jive with the sample of angry responses that followed: people who are active in Democratic political campaigns or animal rights groups; women who shop for fine jewelry; followers of known feminist sites like Jezebel and Feministing.
There is a limit to how much can be done:
When asked about Auernheimer's promoted tweets, a Twitter spokesperson pointed out that the tweets in question had been deleted because they violated the service's hate/sensitive ads policy. The representative declined to comment on whether the promoted tweets service would be tweaked or altered in light of Auernheimer's targeted trolling stunt.
But: should this be dismissed as a "trolling stunt"? It could be compared to the way — in the walking-around world — protesters go to a place they want to protest or, say, right-to-lifers seek to engage with women who are walking into abortion clinics. On line, there's the danger that people will set things up so they only hear the speech of those they want to allow into the comfortable space of their closed minds. Maybe it's good to have a way to override these barriers, to pierce the on-line cocoon.

Presumably, Twitter will do what serves its interests, but what is that? I see that "Twitter [is] at the Crossroads/The company knows it’s in trouble. And its options are bleak."

People are only there to be targeted if they like to hang out on Twitter, and if the atmosphere doesn't please them, they'll leave. I mean, you don't even leave Twitter, do you? You just don't show up so often... and at some point, you notice you don't go there anymore.

9 comments:

Brando said...

The best way to troll readers of Jezebel or Feministing is to present a logical thought. It would be too much for their pea brains to handle.

Fernandinande said...

"Whites need to quietly accept violence and discrimination against themselves, and then disappear."

Much better.

Tom B said...

"he listed examples that appeared to jive with the sample of angry responses that followed"

JIBE not JIVE you f*%#ing @&*%! aaaaaaaaaaah

The Godfather said...

Thanks, Tom B: You screamed so I don't have to.

holdfast said...

That's ok, I speak Jive.

Etienne said...

I went to work for a company that required me to have a pager, and those bastards would page me 24/7.

This incessant paging was the main reason I left. I loved the job, but since I was only paid for 40 hours a week, I don't care to listen to the company at other times. Stop paging me!

Anyway, when I saw twitter, and the short messages, I recognized the pager technology that caused me to begin my blood pressure medication.

Just say no.

mikee said...

I widened my internet news and reading bookmarks after the last election for president, as I really, truly could not imagine a second Obama term, and after he won my surprise led me to think I had cocooned myself a bit too much.

As to the list of those the twit targeted, all I can say is, "Well chosen!"

Danno said...

"Twitter’s strength is being the pulse of the Internet, the place where news gets broken in 140-character messages, where important topics start trending the second they enter the collective hivemind, and where politicians and celebrities and thinkers of all stripes can make announcements without the bother of a press release or the filter of the media."

Shorter version- Where people go to say things before thinking then through.

Danno said...

s/b them