Russian Influence Reached 126 Million Through Facebook Alone

[R Glass]

If we're down Russia using FB, YouTube, Twiter. etc. to overthrow the elections, what's next, Tiddly Winks?
WASHINGTON — Russian agents intending to sow discord among American citizens disseminated inflammatory posts that reached 126 million users on Facebook, published more than 131,000 messages on Twitter and uploaded over 1,000 videos to Google’s YouTube service, according to copies of prepared remarks from the companies that were obtained by The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/technology/facebook-google-russia.html

[Barb135]

There are actually some people who were in my class in school who continue to share the memes that depict Trump as such a great person and the Clinton's as devils/horribles - not that I'm fans of the Clinton's, but let's face it - Trump hasn't shown himself to be any better or more trustworthy than anyone else, if as much so.  These articles and memes only serve to create and spread dissension in the country, which is exactly what Russia wants.  I've wondered for some time what Russia might be holding over Trump and it looks like that's beginning to come out, with the allegations of the Trump Tower Moscow.  

I do have the smart phone, but rarely access social media on it... I'm with you - I'm computer poor as it is and can get into enough trouble with my desktop and a couple of laptops... lol

[mikesimon]

"...Trump hasn't shown himself to be any better or more trustworthy than anyone else, if as much so. ....."

Now that is exceedingly generous.

[Barb135]

Hey, Mike... well, I guess I was in a good mood that day and willing to give the benefit of doubt.  I certainly wouldn't be that generous today and that post is only a couple of weeks old.  :-)

[R Glass]

DAMN IT!!! MY WIFE GOT ME A SMARTPHONE FOR CHRISTMAS

[Barb135]

Welcome to the world of technology, Ricky...lol   Just remember, you don't "have" to use the smart phone to access things like e-mail and MedHelp... I read e-mail on my phone, but about all I do with MedHelp on it is read a post or two now and then, if I can access them from e-mail.

[R Glass]

I just really have no use for it. I don't text message. I'm sure I looked like a dear in the headlights when my daughter proudly showed me that I didn't even have to type a text. I can just talk to the phone and it would send it in a text. I asked, why not just call them? Someone told me what if they are at work and can't talk on the phone? That one really turned my head sideways. I guess now, it is alright to play with your phone at work as long as you don't talk on it. To me, all text should start, hello, I don' have the time or want to talk to you so I'm sending you this text.
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[Barb135]

Well, I'm kind of with you on the text messaging... sometimes I just like to hear people's voices so it makes more sense to call than text, not to mention how dangerous it is to text while driving....

Young people today can't imagine how we ever managed to get through a day's work not talking/messaging with our friends - what a disaster if we didn't know they broke up with their significant other the instant it happened... lol

The only person I text with on a regular basis is my daughter and the only reason I text with her is because she doesn't like to talk on the phone - she prefers texting... why?  I have no earthly idea because it's so much easier to talk about complex things than it is to text about them, but of course, when we're texting, she doesn't have to be as explicit because that's more involved and takes longer.  She gets away with being more vague, which is what she wants...

Work - yeah... as far as I'm concerned, most people should have to put their phones in a locker and not touch them all day, but that's just my opinion... most people, especially the younger generations certainly wouldn't agree.

On the other hand, when you're sitting in the doctor's office or some place boring, it's nice to have a game to play, news to read or something like that... you might be able to get used to that kind of thing; that's mostly what I use my smart phone for except for talking...

[Barb135]

Well, I certainly can't argue about that and in the article, they're using the term "users" - not even going for viewers or readers so yeah - a lot of people use the site, but don't bother to read a good share of the stuff they see there, let alone comprehend it.  The sad part of was that a good share of them weren't "younger generations"... they were people I went to school with and that I thought were actually intelligent human beings.  I can see it from the younger set, but not from the old farts that take pride in knowing what's what...  :-)

[R Glass]

That's scary that a lot of them are our generation and leaves me with very little hope for our future. It's a shame that the Silver Lining is, we will be gone and not have to witness it. I still own an old flip phone because I'm afraid that I too will become lazy or a slave to my phone. I figure with 2 Desk Tops and1 laptop I'll do just fine without a Smart Phone. That $37.00 monthly bill is nice too.

[R Glass]

Don't get tricked by wordplay. There is a big difference in 126 Million "Viewers" and 126 Million" Readers". Texting has dumbed up the younger generations so bad, I doubt most of their Reading Comprehension could handle reading an entire article much less comprehend it and they are proud of it. Someone posted boldly that if a text is longer than 2 sentences, they skip over it. The scary part was how many agreed with them I'm afraid that movie "Idiocracy"is upon us.

[Barb135]

I think, by now, they've realized it was more than 126 million users that were reached via Facebook.  I wish I had a quarter for every time I saw something posted and tried to tell the poster that it was fake or not true, but they (and others) kept re-posting it anyway.  I finally just started scrolling on by, without commenting, unless it was something totally outrageous that I could debunk quickly and easily.  There were some things that I'd point out as fake and people would "Like" my comments, then turn around and Share the post anyway.  I'd just sit and wonder where the heck their common sense flew off to... they know it's fake, lies, etc, but they're going to keep spreading it around anyway?  Really?  How stupid can we get?

I guess it's no wonder there was such an uninformed group of voters in 2016...

The sad thing is:  people are still doing this so it doesn't look a lot better for 2020...