Election “big lie” fueled a new generation of social media influencers

>To conduct its analysis, The Post identified 77 of the biggest spreaders of disinformation about the 2020 election, tracked how they built large audiences online and then analyzed how they used their new power to fuel debate on other divisive topics.

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> By tracking follower counts on Twitter and Facebook, The Post found that this group rose steeply in popularity in the six months before the Jan. 6 riot, gaining a stunning 25 million followers on the two platforms. For those who already boasted massive audiences, most grew their followings by at least 50 percent by posting about election fraud. For those with more modest audiences — about 1 in 5 on the list — the payoff for sowing doubt in the election was even bigger.

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> Of the 77 figures, 57 remain active…

> The analysis found that the massive megaphones built by posting about election fraud have given the 57 an outsize role in pushing other false and divisive narratives. For example, members of this group wrote five of the top 20 most-shared tweets about “grooming,” a homophobic meme that falsely equates teaching children about sexuality with befriending them for purposes of sexual abuse.

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> Also in March, members of the group of 77 produced eight of the top 20 tweets about “biolabs,” a pro-Russian conspiracy theory that falsely alleges the United States developed dangerous bioweapons in Ukraine. …

> And in June 2021, this group helped shape the critical race theory narrative, which involved conservative attacks on public school offerings about America’s history of racism. A tweet from Benny Johnson, creative director of the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA, was the sixth-most popular on the topic that month. Johnson claimed he had obtained “LEAKED DOCUMENTS” showing Iowa teachers being forced to classify Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan as racism.

>Another tweet by Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk about Virginia parents “being arrested” for opposing critical race theory was the 21st-most popular, with 3,700 retweets. Neither Johnson nor Kirk responded to requests for comment.

>All told, these 57 figures have composed roughly a quarter of the most-shared tweets across Twitter on those hot-button topics plus two others — drag queens and ballot harvesting — The Post found. On Facebook, those still active posted more than 10 percent of the top posts on those issues.

Everything related to Trump is ALWAYS about self promotion - either his own or using him as a means to promote themselves. It is the central motivation to EVERYTHING he does as well as everyone in in his orbit.