Troll Patrol: Strange Exchange

I’ve been fascinated lately with how trolling or online comment psyops work. It’s somewhat of a guilty pleasure, but it also shows how the Left works to undermine realities and opinions they don’t want exposed. Often it’s not the blatant, “You’re wrong, you moron,” but more subtly something like, “Well, you know, both sides are really pretty bad and how can we be sure any of them are telling the truth?”

It’s hard to know what exactly we’re dealing with when a troll is exposed. Is it…

• Someone so propagandized they become trolls without even knowing it?
• Someone who just likes causing chaos and watching people rage?
• Entities paid by governments or elites to push their agendas?

The techniques used by each are similar and once you see them, you begin seeing it more and more. Read my introduction to trolls: Troll Cheatsheet.

I’ve referred to part of this exchange in the Cheatsheet post, but the full exchange is instructive and dissection of it is worthwhile.

Below the quotes I’ll comment on the techniques being used.

The Inmate
Once you see the strategy…you can’t unsee it…because it is everywhere and has been used for decades.

But that’s what the Dems wanted. They wanted their mindless followers to obstruct federal law enforcement, knowing some would get shot on camera, which would give them the headlines needed to smear ICE and Trump, hoping that the could hold off ICE from deporting their illegals and prevent the Trump DOJ/FBI from finding the fraud. It’s all part of the Dems’ desperation to avoid accountability for their crimes and maintain their power.

Clandestine

My original note and my comment on the quote from Clandestine.

THE TROLL
Great…the other side has their own similar story that justifies their position and implies the other side are idiots. I cannot in good faith align with either side. They are both brazen LIARS and manipulators. Neither has the children of America’s interests in mind.

This is a typical trolling technique. The troll takes the position that both sides are terrible. There is no difference between them. Note that this comment will work in many contexts and could easily be copied and pasted for multiple responses about many different topics. Also note the last sentence. There was nothing about children in my comment or in the quote by Clandestine. It’s an appeal to the common human wish to protect children, by invoking it the troll hopes you’ll be emotionally moved to agree. Who doesn’t want to protect children? But the ultimate strategy is that if you agree with it, you’ll be more likely to agree with what came before it. The troll wants you to believe HE’s interested in children, thus he must be a genuinely nice guy!

The Inmate
I do think this administration is going down a different and better path. Not perfectly, of course, but better than anything we’ve seen in a long time. I don’t consider them “Republicans”, they’re something different than traditional Republicans infected with RINOs and others (there is still a lot of that). Just saying they’re all exactly the same…isn’t an answer, it seems to be more of a strategy for….I’m not exactly sure. Appearing to be “above it all”? A way to stay away from the difficulty of choosing or admitting one side might, just might be better than the other?

I am violating the rules of dealing with trolls here by engaging, but for research purposes it is acceptable—I think.

THE TROLL
As a former military man i wouldn’t follow the leaders of either side across a mud puddle let alone a mine field… NEVER.

This is another typical trolling technique: appealing to authority. Hey, I’m a military man and since I would not follow these people anywhere you should think likewise. The troll doesn’t respond to most of what I wrote. I called him/it out on it below.

The Inmate
That’s not really an answer one can sink their teeth into. It’s just a statement. Fairly meaningless because, obviously, I have no way to know if you’re telling the truth and even if you are….not all military men would agree. You have avoided the content of my previous comment.

So let me ask you this, was closing down the border a good thing?

This is a fairly simple, at least in my mind, yes or no question, but the THE TROLL isn’t ready for any definitive answers.

THE TROLL
Im not sure it IS actually. i live by the border in Arizona and the crossing is wide open. They say its less porous between legal entry points but who knows what truths we are accepting just because it was said over and over again. As for the importation of drugs its been common knowledge that they come right through the crossing packed inside the THOUSANDS of trucks that come through every day. They do find some of them but according to a homeless guy who works for me sometimes, the supply is not short and it doesnt cost any more than it did. So I dont know what to tell you.. IS the border “closed down”? If you believe that I have some beach side property to sell you here in Az. bring me your money.

The first thing to notice is that the troll did not respond to my criticism of his previous comment. That makes me think it might be an AI. Might.

On to his response. Ha! What does a person do with this? Shutting down the border is actually one of the best things that has happened with this election. Many border patrol agents confirm this. Notice how this plays out. He’s just not sure it is a good thing and he appeals to my sensibilities regarding propaganda through repetition. It’s brilliant and sinister. As luck would have it (or lies), he lives by the border in Arizona and nothing looks that different to him. AND he knows a homeless guy (LOL…a homeless guy) that works for him who knows all about the drug trade. Then comes the insult: if you believe the border is closed down bring me your money to buy land that doesn’t exist. This is a classic paragraph: doubt, authority, propaganda, authority, insult….did I get it all?

He likes the authority technique: I live here, I know a guy. I.e. I’m the authority and I know an authority.

The Inmate
Okay, TROLL, thanks for your comment. Your technique is fairly transparent: I’m military, trust me. I live at the border, trust me. Hey I have homeless guy who works for me who knows, trust me. Have a good life….

I don’t know what I was expecting after this, but I was definitely not expecting a response like this:

THE TROLL
we arent hqving[sic] an intel briefing here, friend. this is a substack bullshit session. have a nice day,

I’m still not sure what to think of this. It could just be deflection.

By calling it a “substack bullshit session” it appears the troll is attempting to marginalize Substack. “Hey, look,” he says, “this is all bullshit anyway.” A sure sign that it’s not. If a troll is trying to engage…you’ve most likely written something important.

Or is he literally admitting he’s a troll and ridiculing me for engaging? Inquiring minds want to know.

The Troll Scorecard (techniques used)

• Both sides are terrible
• Invokes authority
• Doubt
• Moral Credentialing
• Insult
• Sidetrack

Anyway, the point of all this is not to attempt to change someone’s mind, because with a troll that’s not going to happen. Nor do we even know if this is a someone. It could just be one person manning 35 phones in some building in China. It could be an AI. It could be a sophisticated computer program. Hard to know.

What I find interesting are the techniques used and these techniques also get used in the Mainstream Media and in our personal lives. One of my more popular posts, Lefty Tactics, is based upon an actual text exchange I had with someone and you can see some of these techniques in that exchange.

Familiarizing yourself with the way trolls work may keep you from getting sucked in.

The general rule of thumb with Trolls is: Do not engage. Expose.

Read my introduction to trolls: Troll Cheatsheet.

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Notes

1. McCarthy, Ken. What the Nurses Saw: An Investigation Into Systemic Medical Murders That Took Place in Hospitals During the COVID Panic and the Nurses Who Fought Back ... Their Patients (Medical System Corruption). Brasscheck Press, 2023. Kindle edition. p. 303. Read my review of McCarthy's book.