Thread by @benimmo

Thread: Reddit announced that it found and isolated 944 accounts of "suspected Russian Internet Research Agency origin."

They're still up, for moderators, researchers and the public to study, so here are some initial #TrollTracker findings.

medium.com/dfrlab/trolltr…

First point: the Reddit operation didn't seem as effective as the equivalents on Twitter, FB etc.

Of the 944 accounts, two-thirds were either inactive or ineffective.

Helpfully, @reddit lists them all here: reddit.com/wiki/suspiciou…

There are some old friends in the mix. Remember @SouthLoneStar? There was a Reddit equivalent, but it only posted once, trying to engage Milo Yiannopoulos via r/the_donald.

There was a @TEN_GOP account, too, but it was only set up and used in July 2017, when the Twitter TEN_GOP account was temporarily suspended, then revived.

There was also a @Jenn_Abrams account, but it was only set up in December 2017, after the Twitter equivalent was shut down, and it only posted once.

#Trollfarm handle LGBT United was on Reddit, too. It was only used once, but it's an important comment, marking the moment when this account pretended to flip from Sanders to Trump, after the Orlando shooting.

Apparent goal: draw Sanders supporters away from Clinton.

Troll Twitter account @DorothieBell, one of the less-known handles, was also active on Reddit. Mostly cat videos and jokes, but also some negative content and comments about @HillaryClinton.

Another less well-known troll, @hyddrox, was a lot more active on Reddit, sharing a mixture of Russia, race relations and politics.

The same account was anti-Islam and anti-migrant, as its comments show. This looks like an attempt to build its alt-right / far-right credentials, as the #trollfarm did on other platforms.

The most effective accounts had no direct parallel on Twitter. The most effective of all, u/rubinjer, was pro-Trump and anti-Clinton, and specialised in memes, especially posted to r/the_donald and r/HillaryForPrison.

Again, an attempt to infiltrate the alt-right.

u/rubinjer survived well past the election, making its last post in May 2017.

Its last GIF is online here: i.imgur.com/T502gJi.mp4

The second most effective account, u/shomyo, focused more on conspiracy theories and attacks on US domestic and foreign politics.

u/shomyo shared lots of defences of Russia, including accusations of "Russiamania" and hysteria.

It also shared Kremlin propaganda outlets RT and Sputnik, especially on key narratives such as the siege of Aleppo.

And the "Soros" label, of course.

Another of the most effective troll Reddit accounts was u/WhatImDoindHere, which was anti-Black Lives Matter.

Compare that with another of the most effective ones, u/Kevin_Milner, which was pro-BLM and shared lots of posts on police brutality.

We've seen this time and again in the Russian operation: pushing both sides of divisive issues, to amplify division.

Even on the election, the picture wasn't wholly clearcut. Most posts which dealt with it were anti-Clinton and/or pro-Trump, but some early posts, in 2015, were anti-Trump.

Unclear whether this was to attract other users, or reflects the campaign's evolution.

This matches what we've seen on other platforms. The Russian operation had multiple goals: attack Clinton, attack the idea of US democracy, support Trump, sow division. It looks like the Reddit component's main goal was division and polarisation. / Thread ends.