Due to happenstance, we ran across a bunch of right-wing Twitter accounts with 🐻 emojis or references to bears in their display names/profiles. Somebody should probably warn Goldilocks.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
@ZellaQuixote The bear thing seems to have originated with right-wing comedian @OwenComedy, who calls his fans "bears" or #Unbearables. By exploring @OwenComedy's followers and those of several "bear" accounts we ran into on our own, we found 1517 accounts with "bear" or 🐻 in their profiles.
@ZellaQuixote @OwenComedy The 🐻 accounts by and large link right-wing conspiracy-oriented websites (Breitbart, Infowars, etc), although the most frequently-linked site is satire site babylonbee(dot)com. Voice Of Europe, Reddit, and Russia Today also turn up.
@ZellaQuixote @OwenComedy Who do the 🐻 accounts retweet? Mostly major right-wing accounts, with Trump, @PrisonPlanet, and @StefanMolyneux as the most popular. Self-proclaimed Twitter philanthropist @pulte is an interesting inclusion.
@ZellaQuixote @OwenComedy @PrisonPlanet @StefanMolyneux @pulte What do the 🐻 accounts tweet about? "Trump", "right", "white", and "people" are among the most common words in their tweets. Frequent hashtags include #MAGA, various #QAnon hashtags, #Unbearables, and gaming/comics hashtags.
@ZellaQuixote @OwenComedy @PrisonPlanet @StefanMolyneux @pulte Speaking of "white", many of the 🐻 accounts have the habit of claiming (often without even an attempt at evidence) that various people and organizations are "anti-white". #AltWankers
@ZellaQuixote @OwenComedy @PrisonPlanet @StefanMolyneux @pulte The 🐻 accounts dig conspiracy theories in a big way, especially of the "X event was a hoax/#FalseFlag" variety. Examples:
- 9/11 #FalseFlag ("building 7 didn't kill itself!" tweets)
- moon landing was a hoax
- Holocaust denial
- 9/11 #FalseFlag ("building 7 didn't kill itself!" tweets)
- moon landing was a hoax
- Holocaust denial
