"One can see the sheen of #desperation in the #world of self-identified #conservatives who make a living by "triggering" the #liberals. The usual dose of outrage bait isn't working as well any longer, so the #rightwingers are escalating the provocations. Tucker #Carlson, for example, gave a glow-up interview with manosphere "influencer" Andrew #Tate, who is being held in #Romania on charges of sex #trafficking and #rape. #DailyWire anti-trans provocateur Matt #Walsh is selling plushies of himself clad only in a diaper, which he encourages #people to give to #children. Daily Wire founder Ben #Shapiro, on the other hand, made a nearly hour-long video #tantrum about "#Barbie," complete with setting the dolls on fire. 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.

[...]

"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 #Twitter, now rebranded "#X," under the leadership of #Tesla CEO Elon #Musk. While these folks have various outlets, both in the #media and #socialmedia, ultimately their #business model of #trolling depends heavily on Twitter.

"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 #money," Melissa #Ryan, a strategist who helps counter online #disinformation, told #Salon.

"They need us. We don't need them:" The fall of Twitter is making the trolls and grifters #desperate"

https://www.salon.com/2023/08/01/they-need-us-we-dont-need-them-the-fall-of-twitter-is-making-the-and-grifters-desperate/

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.

"What Musk has proven through his actions and his statements is that he's committed to serving the trolls and the #fraudsters first and the ordinary good faith users second," explained Brian Hughes of American #University, who is the co-founder of the Polarization and #Extremism #Research and Innovation Lab (#PERIL). But, he noted, Musk is "blinded by his own #ideology" 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.

https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/bhughes.cfm

HAHAHAHAHAHA die mad about it, trolls. Full offense."

https://www.tumblr.com/wilwheaton/724472830135353344/the-grifters-that-make-up-the-troll-industrial?source=share

Salon.comFrom Twitter to X: What happens when only the trolls and grifters are left?By Amanda Marcotte