Thread by @sejoalzir

TROLLING THE ANTI-ROBREDO TROLLS

It's a bad idea to place the socmed campaign at the bottom of our list. Considering the pandemic, the internet users in the Philippines, and the social media influence on the political choices of Filipinos, social media is where the battle is.

Yes, a lot of Filipinos don't have access to computers, mobile phones, the internet or a social media platform, but it's possible that most households have someone, probably a breadwinner, who has a gadget and a socmed account. That's enough to politically influence a household.

There are four kinds of trolls in the Philippines. Let me enumerate the bad ones first: paid trolls who only post scripted lies and manipulated images anywhere and loyalist trolls who aggressively argue using the same scripted lies and manipulated images against their targets.

The two other kinds are the good ones, but their numbers aren't enough to weaken the hostility of the bad trolls on social media--good trolls who squarely respond to attacks by simply using truths and another group of good trolls who creatively present truths--satire or mockery.

Since there's no word yet for unpaid good trolls, let me use "grolls"--good trolls. Basically, grolls are benevolent volunteer trolls who use the online methods of bad trolls to spread the truth and counter their lies. We see that on Philippine social media--truthful flooding.

After studying the paid and loyalist bad trolls of Marcos and Moreno, I'm confident that they can't execute the proposals in this thread that are best done in private. They're not creative. Without scripts, they can't function. I think they're college dropouts and high schoolers.

We need more "grolls" who can drown the lies and manipulations of bad trolls. Let's call it swarming--for every lying post, at least three truthful posts will drown it. When undecided voters see the thread, the dominant truthful responses or comments will catch their attention.

Noncreative "grolls" should use ready-made infographics or images that are succinct and straight to the point. Examples: that teeth-grinding emoji, the image that compares Marcos' and Robredo's educational backgrounds, etc. Use such graphics repeatedly to drown the bad trolls.

Undecided voters tend to skip arguments and avoid confrontations. They should be the target of creative "grolls". Remember that video about Imelda's gold and Ibong Adarna or that guy who said he would vote for Marcos and enumerated the latter's personal defects? That's creative.

We need more creative "grolls" who know how to use literary or rhetorical devices in their responses to the lies and manipulations of bad trolls--example, obvious satire that employs humor, irony, exaggeration, or mockery. Make the Tallano gold the Martians' gift to the Marcoses.

There are four issues "grolls" should use against the bad trolls of Marcos--addiction, joblessness, stealing, and lack of formal education. They should be unleashed ad nauseam. Many Filipinos hated addiction in 2016. Stealing somewhat connects Marcos to covid scams via Duterte.

Marcos' non-existent work experience outside of politics will convince many jobless Filipinos that he's not the one and expose his political jobs during his father's dictatorship. His lack of formal education will discourage voters since the presidency is the highest position.

These are the four potent responses to "bobo si Leni": UP, Economics, Law, and the bar exam. In the minds of Filipinos, UP is the best university and the bar exam is the most difficult. Economics and Law are the solutions to the sagging economy and the lawlessness in the country.

Expect the bad trolls to say Robredo failed the bar exam on her first try to insist that Leni is bobo. "Grolls" can shoot back, "Claro M. Recto and Koko Pimentel flunked too". To go for a double kill, "Marcos failed in his college courses that were easy compared to the bar exam."

Lastly, I suspect foreign trolls are involved in Marcos' campaign because they murder English grammar or post a scripted line in Filipino and quickly disappear. They should be blocked immediately. Hell, block those bad trolls after you drown them with truthful flagrant responses.

Done.