Nando161<p>"The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/grifters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>grifters</span></a> that make up the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/troll" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>troll</span></a>-industrial complex are not okay.</p><p>"One can see the sheen of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/desperation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>desperation</span></a> in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/world" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>world</span></a> of self-identified <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/conservatives" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>conservatives</span></a> who make a living by "triggering" the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/liberals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>liberals</span></a>. The usual dose of outrage bait isn't working as well any longer, so the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rightwingers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rightwingers</span></a> are escalating the provocations. Tucker <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Carlson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Carlson</span></a>, for example, gave a glow-up interview with manosphere "influencer" Andrew <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Tate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tate</span></a>, who is being held in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Romania" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Romania</span></a> on charges of sex <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/trafficking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>trafficking</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rape" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rape</span></a>. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DailyWire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DailyWire</span></a> anti-trans provocateur Matt <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Walsh" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Walsh</span></a> is selling plushies of himself clad only in a diaper, which he encourages <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/people" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>people</span></a> to give to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/children" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>children</span></a>. Daily Wire founder Ben <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Shapiro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Shapiro</span></a>, on the other hand, made a nearly hour-long video <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/tantrum" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tantrum</span></a> about "<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Barbie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Barbie</span></a>," complete with setting the dolls on fire. The clawing need to get attention from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/progressives" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>progressives</span></a> seems to be driving these engagement farmers a little nuts, as they up the weird-and-evil ante, hoping to get those precious clicks and plays. </p><p>[...]</p><p>"The escalation of shock value tactics, on both the right and the pretending-not-to-be-right political classes, are likely rooted in the same cause: The slow motion collapse of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Twitter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Twitter</span></a>, now rebranded "<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/X" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>X</span></a>," under the leadership of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Tesla" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tesla</span></a> CEO Elon <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Musk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Musk</span></a>. While these folks have various outlets, both in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/media" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>media</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/socialmedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>socialmedia</span></a>, ultimately their <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/business" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>business</span></a> model of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/trolling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>trolling</span></a> depends heavily on Twitter. </p><p>"Grifters need people to harass and a mainstream discourse to counter. As traffic takes a nosedive and Twitter becomes less a part of the conversation, it's going to be harder for these folks to make <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/money" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>money</span></a>," Melissa <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ryan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ryan</span></a>, a strategist who helps counter online <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/disinformation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>disinformation</span></a>, told <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Salon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Salon</span></a>.</p><p>"They need us. We don't need them:" The fall of Twitter is making the trolls and grifters <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/desperate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>desperate</span></a>"</p><p><a href="https://www.salon.com/2023/08/01/they-need-us-we-dont-need-them-the-fall-of-twitter-is-making-the-and-grifters-desperate/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">salon.com/2023/08/01/they-need</span><span class="invisible">-us-we-dont-need-them-the-fall-of-twitter-is-making-the-and-grifters-desperate/</span></a></p><p>The clawing need to get attention from progressives seems to be driving these engagement farmers a little nuts, as they up the weird-and-evil ante, hoping to get those precious clicks and plays. </p><p>"What Musk has proven through his actions and his statements is that he's committed to serving the trolls and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/fraudsters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fraudsters</span></a> first and the ordinary good faith users second," explained Brian Hughes of American <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/University" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>University</span></a>, who is the co-founder of the Polarization and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Extremism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Extremism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Research" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Research</span></a> and Innovation Lab (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PERIL" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PERIL</span></a>). But, he noted, Musk is "blinded by his own <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ideology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ideology</span></a>" and can't see how this is backfiring. "As normal people, for lack of a better term, continue to leave Twitter, that's actually going to cause probably a reduction in the use of the platform by these trolls and these fraudsters. They don't have their audience of targets that they need," he continued. </p><p><a href="https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/bhughes.cfm" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">american.edu/spa/faculty/bhugh</span><span class="invisible">es.cfm</span></a></p><p>HAHAHAHAHAHA die mad about it, trolls. Full offense."</p><p><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/wilwheaton/724472830135353344/the-grifters-that-make-up-the-troll-industrial?source=share" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">tumblr.com/wilwheaton/72447283</span><span class="invisible">0135353344/the-grifters-that-make-up-the-troll-industrial?source=share</span></a></p>