Political campaigns can now afford to target social media users on a 1:1 basis. A bot with 10k followers per month is an old-world threat, detectable with old-world methods. A solitary bot churning out content to the adoration of its fans, of which you are the only human, is the new threat.

10,000 followers within a month

Low grade “influencers” all parroting similar talking points can have a powerful cumulative effect.

QAnon didn’t go mainstream overnight. It bubbled up.