Since The Ratfucking Has Quintupled Since The Debate Last Week, Here's A Reminder That Comments Like

Since the ratfucking has quintupled since the debate last week, here's a reminder that comments like this only exist to depress voter turnout.

these are all comments on the post I just reblogged. from within the last month.

Not every comment like this is part of an astroturfing psyop (and I'm not saying that the people in the screenshots are part of an astroturfing psyop), but we need to remember that the whole point of the astroturfing psyop is to flood your feed with certain ideas or claims in order to make it seem like a lot of people are talking about this so it must be serious and also true!

The thing is, it doesn't matter whether it's an outright lie, a half-truth, or even actually true. Because the goal isn't just to make you believe the lies. The goal is to make you proliferate them. To distort the truth just enough. To use empathy, outrage, fear, and (most importantly) urgency to convince a few regular people like me and you to believe This Thing is important enough to repeat.

And it only takes a few. Because once the idea is coming from someone you know and trust --your friends, your family, yourself-- it becomes the truth.

If the people I trust believe it, that must mean it's true.

If it's true, why is no one talking about it?

If no one's talking about it, they must not know about it.

If they don't know about it, I have to tell them.

If they don't believe me, I have to convince them.

If I can't convince them, I have to shame them.

You are not immune to becoming propaganda.