I’ve been humbled by my grandmother
I’m a total smartass, especially in regards to politics. I just got off the phone with my grandmother who lives in Moscow. I can’t believe how many Russians continue to believe the propaganda that Putin puts out. My grandmother is one of them. She truly believes the war in Ukraine is fake and staged. I love my grandmother and it breaks my heart watching her fall prey to this disinformation. I usually ridicule conspiracy theorists. I won’t do that to my grandmother and I need to check myself going forward.
We all have family members or friends who believe the narrative that has been spread by the Russian state. Sadly, these narratives are no longer contained only to Russia but have spread their tentacles globally. There are some common themes to these narratives like NATO, Biolabs, Nazis, that the Russian state is actually waging war on the New World Order so they’re doing the right thing by attacking Ukraine…
To most of us, it’s obvious when we’re faced with this propaganda because it’s ridiculous. To others, like my grandmother, it’s not so clear cut which leads to endless arguments that seem to be in vain. But why? How is it so damn effective? Turning family members and friends on one another.
I believe that unlike American propaganda, which actually does exist and we can’t deny that, Russian narratives are far more ambiguous and conspiratorial in nature. American propaganda has a shape if you will, Russian propaganda is fluid and shapeless. It adapts. That is why they can completely change the narrative every other day and no one holds them to account.
Secondly, they only seek to plant the seed of doubt in someone’s mind, then sit back and watch that person who’s been exposed to this propaganda create their own narrative to fill in the blanks. Once you notice it, you can’t unsee it. And think about that. Once you’ve made up your own narrative in your mind you’re like a hammer. Everything looks like a nail to a hammer. There is no one argument to dispel or break up this narrative that you made up for yourself.
How do you prove something isn’t rather than something is? It’s much harder to do if not impossible. And when you do argue about it you’re giving it more credence and legitimacy because you spent time discussing it in the first place.
Russian state thrives on discord and doubt which is why their main weapon is troll farms - to advance their agenda on Twitter, comment sections, etc... I’d argue that to defame or demoralize is secondary. Their true primary purpose is to make you question, to make you think, “huh, if this isn’t true then what else isn’t?” And then exploit those doubts that you have.
Troll farms or bot farms, like the name implies, isn't just a robot writing comments, they’re not artificial intelligence, that’s a misnomer. They’re actual people on the government payroll. These people work in legit offices making a salary. They make fake profiles then typically take certain hot topics and take them to an abhorrent extreme in order to make them seem ridiculous or make you feel anger which immediately leads to a broken polarized society that they can then exploit. You’re made to feel you’re the only person with common sense in a mad and quickly changing world. Left versus Right. Sound familiar?
We all have family members or friends who believe the narrative that has been spread by the Russian state. Sadly, these narratives are no longer contained only to Russia but have spread their tentacles globally. There are some common themes to these narratives like NATO, Biolabs, Nazis, that the Russian state is actually waging war on the New World Order so they’re doing the right thing by attacking Ukraine…
To most of us, it’s obvious when we’re faced with this propaganda because it’s ridiculous. To others, like my grandmother, it’s not so clear cut which leads to endless arguments that seem to be in vain. But why? How is it so damn effective? Turning family members and friends on one another.
I believe that unlike American propaganda, which actually does exist and we can’t deny that, Russian narratives are far more ambiguous and conspiratorial in nature. American propaganda has a shape if you will, Russian propaganda is fluid and shapeless. It adapts. That is why they can completely change the narrative every other day and no one holds them to account.
Secondly, they only seek to plant the seed of doubt in someone’s mind, then sit back and watch that person who’s been exposed to this propaganda create their own narrative to fill in the blanks. Once you notice it, you can’t unsee it. And think about that. Once you’ve made up your own narrative in your mind you’re like a hammer. Everything looks like a nail to a hammer. There is no one argument to dispel or break up this narrative that you made up for yourself.
How do you prove something isn’t rather than something is? It’s much harder to do if not impossible. And when you do argue about it you’re giving it more credence and legitimacy because you spent time discussing it in the first place.
Russian state thrives on discord and doubt which is why their main weapon is troll farms - to advance their agenda on Twitter, comment sections, etc... I’d argue that to defame or demoralize is secondary. Their true primary purpose is to make you question, to make you think, “huh, if this isn’t true then what else isn’t?” And then exploit those doubts that you have.
Troll farms or bot farms, like the name implies, isn't just a robot writing comments, they’re not artificial intelligence, that’s a misnomer. They’re actual people on the government payroll. These people work in legit offices making a salary. They make fake profiles then typically take certain hot topics and take them to an abhorrent extreme in order to make them seem ridiculous or make you feel anger which immediately leads to a broken polarized society that they can then exploit. You’re made to feel you’re the only person with common sense in a mad and quickly changing world. Left versus Right. Sound familiar?
