I know a lot of people here will think this is fine and dandy. I do wonder how many of those accounts were really legitimate people who were "expressive" in their political opinions. I have even been called a Russian bot and I rarely post on social media.
Digital terrorism is already in full swing. Just like in the early '00s, when Americans couldn't board a plane or go to a football game without freaking out, now we are increasingly finding reasons to not trust what seemed like simple, predictable online interactions. And nobody's talking about it.
Worse, any trolling operation with a real budget is already three steps ahead. Somebody's still out there, putting forth effort to build legitimate-looking accounts that, after a few taps, prove to be totally lacking in organic interactions. They have intelligent-sounding sentences and an apparent identity, but they also mostly focus on RTing stuff of a certain political bent AND sending @replies only to verified accounts. And they're definitely not limited to one political party of thought.
I continue to monitor and point these out at my Twitter account, @samred. Feel free to join me for the paranoid shouting (or send us examples of apparent farms and made-up content on ANY side of the political divide).
NINJA EDIT: Oh, and I am suspicious of similar actors lurking in Ars' comment threads and forums. Don't be shy about sending any hints/tips in that regard to us, longtime readers.
