#FBR lists are a perennially popular technique for gaining resistance followers, which also makes infiltrating them a perennially popular technique for folks who want to gain resistance followers under false pretenses. (The same is true of #MAGA trains, btw.)
cc: @ZellaQuixote
We downloaded the most recent 200 tweets from each of 15402 accounts listed on #FBR/#FBRParty/#Resist followback lists since Aug 1st 2020, and looked for accounts that retweeted #MAGA accounts, foreign autocrats, or random spammers. Here are some of the more interesting ones. . .
First up: @ABirkshire, which transformed from #BlueWave2020 Democrat to enthusiastic Trump supporter in under two months, and is now being promoted on #MAGA trains. In that same time, it also went from knowing nothing about #QAnon to being a devotee/self-styled expert.
Next, we have @syrematz. Although it does retweet some resistance content, it also amplifies Trump and his enablers quite regularly, and additionally spams things like "hello pretty lady how are you doing today? If you don't mind can I be your friend" at random Twitter users.
Similarly, @MaryBro79317770 appears at first glance to be a resistance account based on its retweets, but if you scroll back far enough, you'll find it retweeting @realDonaldTrump and @MrAndyNgo, and even proclaiming Trump to be the best president the US has had to date.
We also found some accounts on #FBR lists that don't appear to even be pretending to oppose Trump. Some examples are @d7cam, @Rufusthedog66, and @1_just_a_nobody. @Juan6million, the account that made the list containing @d7cam, is one we've seen before.
Not all of the non-resistance accounts that appear on #FBR lists are #MAGA. Some, such as @JGallardo2020, are follower gain spammers that have no apparent political affiliation.
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