After the shocking revelation that social media were used to influence Americans during the 2016 election, the specter of meme-savvy Russian agents has haunted public discourse. Today there’s a kind of arms race to identify and oust troll-generated content on platforms across the internet. In May and June of this year alone, Twitter suspended over 70 million accounts it believed to be suspicious or outright fake. But it’s still difficult to differentiate real posts from content designed to incite anger or outrage from unsuspecting readers.

Can You Spot the Deceptive Facebook Post?

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 5, 2018

The New York Times recently published a piece featuring a set of posts about similar topics presented side-by-side; one post was from a genuine account and one was from a fake account. It’s quite a challenge, but the article breaks down how to begin to tell the two kinds of content apart. Words like “a” and “the,” for example, are absent in the Russian language, so they are more likely to be misused in disingenuous posts. Another hallmark of fake Facebook activity is including simply a meme and no other words at the top. While there are no dead giveaways, these can at least help social media users identify content that is intended to hurt online discourse.

With disinformation coming from the very top of our government, it’s more important than ever to stay vigilant about what content we believe. By learning the telltale signs of troll accounts, Facebook users can contribute to a more functional social media ecosystem.

“Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid for information from the Russian government to use against her government – there’s no doubt about that!” @TuckerCarlson

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018