Thread by @olgs7

1/ Every week, I have mentorship sessions w/ students/others interested in getting into the “field” of countering influence operations, disinformation, misinformation. Having all these conversations, I realize it might be helpful to share the advice and tips more broadly: a 🧵

2/ Normally, I break down the “field” into several different categories: investigations, policy development, advocacy, and resilience/literacy. For many of these categories, you can do this work in government, at tech companies, multilateral institutions, or in civil society.

3/ Within government, certain agencies are responsible for technical investigations, some responsible for deterrence and response, and others policy or regulation. Same often goes for tech companies. The question is what folks are most interested in spending their time doing

4/ As for the advocacy and resilience/literacy pieces, this is what I normally describe as dealing with the “demand” rather than “supply” side of the IO equation. Here, there are literacy programs, education, cognitive science research, policy development, and more.

5/ One common theme I find is that mentees often have a lot of angst around the word “technical.” I regularly hear “but I’m not technical” or “I don’t code” -- people self-selecting out. My answer is: not every area is technical, but also aim to understand how the internet works

6/ Common sense doesn't require technical prowess: if you know how a “troll farm” operates in the “real-world,” for example, you'll know there may be shift work, employees perhaps using the same computers. Now, think about what that might tell you about their online presence.

7/ Many of the best investigators in the field didn't start out as coders. The most important attribute isn't being able to run a Python notebook. That's something you can teach yourself. In fact, many IO researchers are self-taught. All you need to have is Intellectual curiosity

8/ Other advice I give (and colleagues like @markhansontoo agree) is that a great “in” to understanding tech is experience in operational roles. Students & mentees often gravitate to words like “policy” b/c that is what they know. Ops work is crucial and often helps shape policy

@markhansontoo 9/ I also have found myself lately telling folks to (1) sign up for the @IOpartnership newsletter, which regularly lists IO roles across tech, academia, and civil society, and (2) check out the @tspainfo website/job board for roles in trust & safety
cc @helloyouths @tweetclarita

@markhansontoo @IOpartnership @tspainfo @helloyouths @tweetclarita 10/ Last but not least, read everything you get your hands on. The last few yrs have yielded a lot of scholarship on every aspect of the IO space, from detection to deterrence. I first got into this field by reading everything I could read & talking to anyone who would talk to me