Teenagers In Macedonia Launch Fake Pro-Trump Sites To Earn Money (buzzfeed.com)

"In Macedonia the economy is very weak and teenagers are not allowed to work, so we need to find creative ways to make some money," one 17-year-old told BuzzFeed News, which reports on a "strange hub" of over 140 political sites, all being run in the same small town in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These sites have American-sounding domain names such as WorldPoliticus.com, TrumpVision365.com, USConservativeToday.com, DonaldTrumpNews.co, and USADailyPolitics.com. They almost all publish aggressively pro-Trump content aimed at conservatives and Trump supporters in the U.S... The young Macedonians who run these sites say they don't care about Donald Trump. They are responding to straightforward economic incentives... The fraction-of-a-penny-per-click of U.S. display advertising -- a declining market for American publishers -- goes a long way in Veles. Several teens and young men who run these sites told BuzzFeed News that they learned the best way to generate traffic is to get their politics stories to spread on Facebook -- and the best way to generate shares on Facebook is to publish sensationalist and often false content that caters to Trump supporters... Most of the posts on these sites are aggregated, or completely plagiarized, from fringe and right-wing sites in the U.S...
Earlier this year they experimented with fake sites supporting Bernie Sanders, "but nothing performed as well on Facebook as Trump content," according to the 16-year-old who operates BVANews.com. The largest Macedonian sites now have hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook, and sources close to one site say it earns $5,000 per month, and has even earned $3,000 in a single day.

Comments

Just stop

[rebelwarlock]

If it's from buzzfeed, it's trash. I'm very comfortable using an absolute here, because even if it's verifiable and posted on other sites, buzzfeed will find a way to fuck it all up.

Re:Just stop

[Anonymous Coward]

So you're trying to tell me that Buzzfeed is lying and all of these websites are totally legit source for factual American political news?

365lifetimenews.co.uk, allforusa.com, americafans.com, angryamericanpatriots.com, berniemyhero.com, bigbluedimension.com, bigbluevision.com, bigbluevision.org, bluevisionnews.com, bvanews.com, christiantimesnewspaper.com, conservativestate.com, daily-politics.com, hardnfasttruth.com, globalnews4u.com, helping-mothers.com, magseriesusa.com, newscenterusa.com, openmedianews.com, press24.us, politicsbreaking.com, politicsintheusa.com, politicsinusa.com, spinzon.com, theamericanrevenant.com, usconservativetoday.com, usadailyinfo.com, usafreshnews.us, usalibertynews.com, usanewsflash.com, usanewslive365.com, usapoliticsnow.com, usapoliticstoday.com, usapowernews.com, usatodaypolitics.com, worldpoliticus.com

These and more are being spammed all over Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, trying to get clickbait money for someone.

Re:Just stop

[hey!]

Well, and The Guardian, which broke the Snowden leak story.

Re:Just stop

[Anonymous Coward]

I've actually run into sites from Veles, Macedonia already, from people posting links to their bullshit on reddit. So stfu.

Re: Just stop

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that the real or fake Macedonia the article is covering?

I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

The fastest way to make a buck if you don't care about anything in the way of integrity, is to tell people what they want to hear.

It's an almost guaranteed way to enrich yourself, and if there are no consequences, some people will do it.

And let's face it, the Pro-Trump crowd wants to hear what they've been told, and hear it more, and more, and nothing else.

That is how he got their votes. No surprise somebody else is skimming off the chum.

Re:I could have told you that.

[JimMcc]

“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS. The money’s rolling in and this is fun.” - CBS CEO Les Moonves
http://www.newsweek.com/blame-...

Re:I could have told you that.

[FudRucker]

RE:"The fastest way to make a buck if you don't care about anything in the way of integrity, is to tell people what they want to hear."

The fastest way to get elected president of the USA if you don't care about anything in the way of integrity, is to tell people what they want to hear.[in your campain speeches]

Re:I could have told you that.

[LynnwoodRooster]

Yeah, that might get you the Presidency, but REAL power comes from selling your access inside the Government for big money. Then you can use that money AND the knowledge of the sales to pull the strings of whomever occupies the Oval Office.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Alain Williams]

The fastest way to get elected president of the USA if you don't care about anything in the way of integrity, is to tell people what they want to hear.[in your campain speeches]

Are you talking about Trump or Hillary — or both ?

Re:I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Easiest way to win a 2-party election is to make sure the other candidate is one that most of that party can't stomach voting for.

#thanksmedia

Re:I could have told you that.

[MightyMartian]

That's not power, that's simply slavery. At that point, you're the servant of those with the money.

Real power comes from being able to impose some degree of control even on those with money.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh please. Don't even try to make that false equivalency.
Hillary's lies are typical politician fudging of the truth. Trump's lies are so stratospheric that we've all become numb to it. He gets away with such a constant avalanche of falsehoods because everybody who cares about truth has given up keeping track.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Tablizer]

That editorial says news orgs should shape up and focus on accuracy over profit by focusing on Trump's deeds rather than just his entertaining antics, but acknowledges the Internet is eating their lunch. They would shrink more, leaving the antics-oriented orgs and sites to take away their market share. They are stuck between a rock and a hard-place.

You can't ask an organization to kill itself for the sake of the greater good. It may be a nice thing to do, but not a realistic expectation.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Just a thought. Did they do it for ratings or was it to undermine the Republican party? Podesta was scared the Republicans would field a viable candidate. If the Republicans had been able to field a more moderate candidate they would have almost been guaranteed a win.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Altrag]

Trump obviously. Hilary does as much as she can to not talk about the things people want to hear -- because most of what we want to hear about her is details of her numerous scandals.

Trump lies to your face. Hilary schemes behind your back. Hard to say which is worse. Great time for US politics.

Re:I could have told you that.

[fustakrakich]

If the Republicans had been able to field a more moderate candidate they would have almost been guaranteed a win.

They got Hillary. She's a moderate republican... They needed Trump to scare people into voting for her and draw attention away from any alternatives. As long as power is shared exclusively between republicans and democrats, everybody's happy.

Re: I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

So basically it works like anti-Trump comments on /.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

What if, instead, the mainstream media (who are all in the Podesta emails offering to suck any dick they can) are anti-Trump, and pro-Trump people are so desperate for neutral and pro-Trump news that they'll go read anywhere that actually has the stories? What if neutral and pro-Trump reporting is so scarce BY DESIGN in our media, that you have to look elsewhere?

Re:I could have told you that.

[K. S. Kyosuke]

I find it amusing to read that "The young Macedonians who run these sites say they don't care about Donald Trump" because the whole thing feels very Trump-ish/right-wing/laissez-faire to me. Unregulated free market decides to buy (and therefore provide) Trump news instead of Bernie news? Check! They don't care what they're doing as long as it yields the biggest buck? Check! Fake low-quality news pulls money out of the pockets of hapless poor suckers? Check! No repercussions for that? Check!

Re:I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

I, and any normal and logical person, would also do anything that can make me money, as long as it is not illegal, and there are no consequences for me personally, i am not american, but if i was and i wanted to vote for hilary personally i would vote for tramp instead if he offered me for example $10K (as long as that is legal in america, or even if it is not legal but i am guaranteed nobody can catch me), its all about money :)

Re:I could have told you that.

[penguinoid]

Oh please. Don't even try to make that false equivalency.
Hillary's lies are typical politician fudging of the truth. Trump's lies are so stratospheric that

I don't know a single person who would prefer to be lied to in a subtle way than in an obvious way. From a mathematical perspective, sure, a bigger lie is more false than a small lie. From a trustworthiness perspective, an obvious lie is not actually a lie at all. I do not know a single person who, when Trump fails to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, would say "you tricked me".

Re:I could have told you that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ya go figure. The USA has all the gold, all the guns, all the technology, is culturally dominate. For fuck sacks you won it all. Yet some how Trump gets followers with a message of "we are losing and things are terrible the country is a shambles." ???? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Clearly not everyone in your country has been sharing in your successes. Maybe if you even half the social welfare system the rest of the western world does you wouldn't be dealing with this megalomaniac right now.

Now get out there do the right thing and vote his ass into obscurity.

Re:I could have told you that.

[Pulzar]

That's not power, that's simply slavery. At that point, you're the servant of those with the money

While I get your point about having control over those with money, calling it slavery is a bit far fetched. It's just good ol' employment -- someone pays you, and you do what they say.

Nothing spreads as well as anger

[guises]

There's a rule that anger is the most effective way to spread a meme - people are more likely to talk about something which makes them mad than something which makes them happy.

Re:Nothing spreads as well as anger

[0100010001010011]

This Video Will Make You Angry - CGP Grey

It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

The country's names is FYROM, Macedonia. See wikipedia on why.

Re: It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know, it's all Greek to me.
Your title could have been "FYO it's FYROM".

Re:It's FYROM

[hey!]

The dispute is over cultural appropriation of Alexander the Great; however given the phenomenon of pedigree collapse nobody really has much of a claim to a culture that existed 2300 years ago unless they practiced very strict endogamy (e.g. the Jews) over all that time. It's a bit like the Italians going after Cincinnati for appropriating Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus.

Re:It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

They are using the name Macedonia, which much more Greek than Slavic. They think they are descendants of ancient macedonians, but they are of slavic origin than descended on that part of the world much later than macedonians. Hell, at least Alexander proved he was greek and competed in the ancient greek olympic games.

Re:It's FYROM

[MightyMartian]

I would imagine that they are as genetically "Macedonian" as ancient Macedonians (who were viewed as a sort non-Greek fringe Hellenic group before they began gaining significant power under Alexander's ancestors). Language isn't bound by genetic barriers, as is evidenced by the fact that most of the English are still essentially "Celtic" in molecular terms, despite speaking a West Germanic language with heavy admixtures of Norman French.

Re: It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

So what's the problem? Is it the tourist industry or are you still holding 2000-year-old grudges?

Re:It's FYROM

[hey!]

They probably are descended in part from the ancient Macedonians. As is practically everyone else in Europe.

It's silly to stake a genetic claim to the heritage of a people from 2300 years ago -- if you are European. Europe had a little thing called the Migration Age which shuffled the entire continent's genetic deck. That's why you see a haplotype that's believed to have originated around the Volga River in a broad swath from the Caucuses through Greece, Southern Italy and Spain, with pockets in all kinds of odd places like Lapland. You find "Norse" DNA in the Near East too -- thanks to the crusades.

All those 19th Century eugenic theories were based on philological reconstructions; they assumed that common language and stories meant common ancestry; ethnicity turns out to have very little to do with genetics. It's a stupid argument anyway; by that standard I'm English, even though my ancestors were from China. Or contrariwise, because my ancestors were Chinese I somehow "own" Shakespeare less than some British soccer hooligan who flunked his O levels.

Re:It's FYROM

[Hognoxious]

The country's names is FYROM, Macedonia.

Do they have a department of redundancy department like the United Kingdom of the UK does?

Re:It's FYROM

[dunkelfalke]

modern greek have nothing to do with the old greek - they are basically descendants of slavs and turks. they don't even speak proper greek nowadays.

Re: It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

The country is whatever the people want to call it. Why the fuck are some of you people so racist?

Re: It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

It's racism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dawn_(political_party)

^ and the likes.

Re: It's FYROM

[Anonymous Coward]

So, if I decide to call my country France and they protest, they are racists. Hmm clever...

Thank you.

[freeze128]

This is news that we could have used A YEAR AGO! What's the point in revealing it just days before the election?

Re:Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

You gotta be joking. Since the first day of his campaign there has been a non-stop deluge of stories about all the ways its a con. This story wouldn't have made a difference no matter when it was published. That's the thing about cons - at some level the victims want to be conned. They simply ignore any contrary evidence no matter how strong, and focus on the any story that reinforces their beliefs no matter how far-fetched.

Re: Thank you.

[bestweasel]

Well the Guardian story linked in the article is from August.

Re:Thank you.

[DNS-and-BIND]

DAMN that is a horrifying indictment of the Hillary campaign. She's been exposed repeatedly as a corrupt pol, her top aide Huma has turned against her to save her own skin from jail, and Wikileaks, hero of the Left, has been ceaselessly attacking her for well over a year. Who could possibly vote for her at this point?

Trump is like an emetic for the American republic. He's the best thing that could happen. Just think of all the positive effects. Under Hillary, the press will remain a government lapdog, submitting their stories for vetting before publication. Under Trump, investigative journalism will wake form its odd 8 year slumber that started under Obama. Under Hillary, the Constitution will be further shredded by her Supreme Court appointees until it means nothing. Under Trump, the Left will bizarrely find meaning in this document drafted by whites and use it to bash the government by whatever means necessary. We really don't realize just how destructive it is to our Republic for the press to be working hand in glove with the government like it has been for the past 8 years. It's high time they were in opposition again.

Re:Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

DAMN that is a horrifying indictment of the Hillary campaign. She's been exposed repeatedly as a corrupt pol, her top aide Huma has turned against her to save her own skin from jail, and Wikileaks,

Thanks for demonstrating my point. You so desperately want to believe that she's corrupt that you bought into the con about Abedin "turning against her." You are literally the exact kind of sucker I was talking about. Furthermore because you are so desperate to find comfort in lies this reply will be like water off a duck's back to you. At least you will be a cautionary tale for some readers.

Re:Thank you.

[David_Hart]

DAMN that is a horrifying indictment of the Hillary campaign. She's been exposed repeatedly as a corrupt pol, her top aide Huma has turned against her to save her own skin from jail, and Wikileaks, hero of the Left, has been ceaselessly attacking her for well over a year. Who could possibly vote for her at this point?

Please provide evidence that Huma Abedin has, in any way, "turned" on Clinton. The latest news is that she was supporting Clinton at a private fundraiser in DC the other day. Doesn't sound like someone who has "turned" on her best friend. Sounds like another conspiracy theory.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hu...

I would suspect that she would be assisting the FBI in the investigation of her husband. But there has been NO evidence or even leaks from the FBI that they have found anything new in their email investigation. In fact, it's quite likely that anything they find is just duplicates of what they already have.

Under Hillary, the Constitution will be further shredded by her Supreme Court appointees until it means nothing. Under Trump, the Left will bizarrely find meaning in this document drafted by whites and use it to bash the government by whatever means necessary. We really don't realize just how destructive it is to our Republic for the press to be working hand in glove with the government like it has been for the past 8 years. It's high time they were in opposition again.

And threatening to lock up your opposition and appoint a "special prosecutor" isn't trampling all over the constitution and the separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches?

Re:Thank you.

[SirSlud]

you fail

Re:Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem with you Americans is that you talk and talk and talk until reality mirrors what you want to believe. Your country is all talk and no action, that's why you let these two morons run for office in the first place. Of course there's the people who will 'launch a revolutionary war' or 'move to Canada' if their candidate doesn't win but we all know: that's just more talk with nothing to substantiate it.

Re:Thank you.

[quax]

It's hard to decide what's the least informed tidbit in your comment. But if I had to chose, it would be the laughable contention that the corporate owned media would change its MO in the least under a Trump administration.

He already announced that he'd go after them by strengthening libel and defamation laws. So if anything they'd be streamlined even further.

Re:Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the thing about cons - at some level the victims want to be conned. They simply ignore any contrary evidence no matter how strong, and focus on the any story that reinforces their beliefs no matter how far-fetched.

Now tell us about the Russian hackers.

Re:Thank you.

[Lehk228]

no, ya dingus, the news that you can make $5000 a day reposting trump memes on facebook.

Re:Thank you.

[SuricouRaven]

I would have gone for his strange claim that the constitution was 'drafted by whites.' It's true, the writers of the constitution were all white, but what significance does that fact have on the arguments presented?

Re: Thank you.

[Billly Gates]

Nice to see you quoting their material

Re:Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, I didn't even notice that part. I guess trumpism and racism go together so well that it all kind of blurs together.

Re:Thank you.

[quax]

Pretty sad, isn't it?

If anything can make me uncomfortable in my (white) skin it's this insidious racism of these Trumpkins.

Re:Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

The liberals have been arguing that since the constitution was written by white men a long time ago, that it's inherently racist and no longer relevant. That's their reasoning as justification for violating the 1st and 2nd amendments.

Re:Thank you.

[painandgreed]

And threatening to lock up your opposition and appoint a "special prosecutor" isn't trampling all over the constitution and the separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches?

Yes, it is, but I think the argument put forth is that Clinton's trampling will be subtle efforts that will go unobserved and result in a death of a thousand cuts, while Trump's trampling will be grand, obviously wrong, attempts that both sides will come together to stop.

Re:Thank you.

[coinreturn]

Trump is like an emetic for the American republic.

I think you 're confusing an emetic with what an emetic causes.

Re:Thank you.

[RivenAleem]

AAAaannndd now he's president.

smart people have adblockers

[Anonymous Coward]

But who is smart and supports Trump. Only the dumb people support him, that's why these teenagers can make so much money.

Re: smart people have adblockers

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is also why the Sanders sites failed.

Re:smart people have adblockers

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly.
Didn't DT say something like

"I'm more intelligent than you, the great unwashed who are going to vote for me"

I can't vote in the US Election but this man is a lunatic. If he expects the Mexican Government to pay for that wall then he is seriously derranged. If he is elected then I fully expect him to be impeached within a year with even the GOP in Congress and the Senate turning against him.

facebook will now be moving quickly to close

[Anonymous Coward]

Since facebook is so committed to prevent its network from being used to harm others, they should quickly be moving to close such groups, if they haven't done so already. I mean, if Buzzfeed has figured it out, certainly their mods have?

Trump can help exploiting people systems

[Anonymous Coward]

It is who and what he is.

"Publish sensationalist and often false content"

[Anonymous Coward]

Said Buzzfeed
What was that thing about pot and kettle?

Fake? They are not fake!

[Anonymous Coward]

Teenagers in Macedonia Launch Fake Pro-Trump Sites

Why are they named fake? Do they pretend, maybe, being a website but, in reality, don't work? Much like a wooden fake toy airplane, maybe?

Those sites look like every common news outlet these days.

Better headline:

Pro-Trump sites generate income for their creators, worldwide.

There you are.

Re:Fake? They are not fake!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me tell you, I've seen these site and - really - these are the best sites. The best. You can believe me when I tell you this, that these are the site of the future. These sites, this revolution - you come back in a year, they're gonna be YUUUGE!

Re: Fake? They are not fake!

[Anonymous Coward]

Fake because they copy original content from elsewhere and are only in it for the money.

Re: Fake? They are not fake!

[Anonymous Coward]

Like how American networks repost AP and Reuters? You'll have to do better than that.

Re: Fake? They are not fake!

[Anonymous Coward]

Fake because they copy original content from elsewhere

They do create some original content. Read the summary.
And other non-fake sites copy original content. E.g. Slashdot and every newspaper.

and are only in it for the money.

As opposed to every CNN reporter.

Re: Fake? They are not fake!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Like how American networks repost AP and Reuters? "
Which are both Subscription Services. American Networks pay to some degree or other, depending on how much News they themselves contribute. These kids just ripped off content, that itself was highly suspicious in terms of origin and validity.

"You'll have to do better than that."
Right back at you...

Re: Fake? They are not fake!

[tuxgeek]

Wrong! Not even real news. I went to one of the sites and found National Enquirer grade garbage.
Sensational clickbait bullshit aimed at trump trolls. Nothing of value, just entertainment for stupid people with nothing better to do.

Trump supporters less able to identify a fake site

[Anonymous Coward]

If this worked best on Trump supporters, is it because they're the only group who is incapable deciphering a fake news site from a real one?

The country is called FYROM not Macedonia

[Anonymous Coward]

Ancient Macedonia was greek.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Motherfucking Shit]

Consider the audience. These are the people who scream that Snopes is "rigged," and whose primary source for news (Breitbart) is published by someone on their candidate's payroll, for fuck's sake. There's not too terribly much objectivity or critical thinking taking place in that world.

List of domains?

[TheRealMindChild]

Is there a list of these domains that I am not seeing? I'll happily just block all of them.

Re:List of domains?

[TheRealMindChild]

So an AC posted above 36 Domains: https://politics.slashdot.org/...

365lifetimenews.co.uk, allforusa.com, americafans.com, angryamericanpatriots.com, berniemyhero.com, bigbluedimension.com, bigbluevision.com, bigbluevision.org, bluevisionnews.com, bvanews.com, christiantimesnewspaper.com, conservativestate.com, daily-politics.com, hardnfasttruth.com, globalnews4u.com, helping-mothers.com, magseriesusa.com, newscenterusa.com, openmedianews.com, press24.us, politicsbreaking.com, politicsintheusa.com, politicsinusa.com, spinzon.com, theamericanrevenant.com, usconservativetoday.com, usadailyinfo.com, usafreshnews.us, usalibertynews.com, usanewsflash.com, usanewslive365.com, usapoliticsnow.com, usapoliticstoday.com, usapowernews.com, usatodaypolitics.com, worldpoliticus.com

Google searching for at least these domains only brings up this post and a reddit post with the same 36 domains: https://www.reddit.com/r/polit...

Buzzfeed said "Over the past year, the Macedonian town of Veles (population 45,000) has experienced a digital gold rush as locals launched at least 140 US politics websites" and "BuzzFeed News also identified another 40 US politics domains registered by people in Veles that are no longer active"

But the list seems nowhere to be found.

Re:List of domains?

[SuricouRaven]

"theamericanrevenant.com"

I saw a comment posted elsewhere just this morning linking to that site. I can't even remember what the article was about though, and the comment has been moderated-out. Something about the government paying black-supremacist militias.

Well

[rossdee]

If the Macedonians want Trump as their leader, they can have him.

I don't think he will be leading their army into battle like Alexander, in spite of his rhetoric.

Re:"Publish sensationalist and often false content

[Anonymous Coward]

"Pot calling the kettle black" is racist (and obsolete), and should be replaced with "Pot calling the kettle rotund".

Hardly surprising

[whoever57]

The base of Trump support is poorly educated white men.

They believe lots of easily disproven lies.

It's hardly surprising that they would click on more false clickbait.

Re:Hardly surprising

[whoever57]

Butt-hut Trump supporters with mod points here?

My posting was on-topic. I can find citations to show the proof about who Trump's support comes from.

I'll probably get modded down for this also, but it won't change the facts.

Re:Hardly surprising

[MightyMartian]

There are a lot of Trump supporters with mod points on Slashdot. I mean, a lot.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't be such a whiner, it doesn't do your argument any good. Either people believed what you wrote or not. Complaining doesn't add anything new. If you must complain, add more hard proof, don't just say you could do it without actually doing it.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe your view from inside the fishbowl.

But from the outside... between the two the anti-trump people are way more stupid. and violent. and abusive. and will be the first to insult while claming victim status for social credit.

I hope he wins just to piss those people off. They seem to deserve it.

Re:Hardly surprising

[TimothyHollins]

What the hell is a butt-hut? I'm afraid of what it might be yet at the same time morbidly intrigued.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Powercntrl]

Butt-hut Trump supporters with mod points here?

You'd assume Trump's rejection of science and renewable energy would discourage most of /.'s readership from fawning all over him. But the fear of becoming a laid-off IT worker is strong with this crowd (never mind Trump has used H-1B workers in his own businesses and has no problem stiffing contractors). Then you've got the basement-dwellers who want to watch the world burn, because their parents and suburban upbringing have sheltered them from any form of real strife. These are usually the people who shout "Bring on the zombie apocalypse!", but would shit their pants if their local Walmart was closed for more than a day.

I'm sure there's also a few non-US residents who just feel we deserve Trump. Hopefully he doesn't decide to nuke your country because he had a bad day on Twitter.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently there are a lot of poorly educated people all around, as Hillary's supporters can attest to believing a lot of easily disproven lies, too. I'm not sure where you get off generalizing "white men" in there, though.

Re:Hardly surprising

[markdavis]

Yep, which clearly invalidates the GP's trolling.

Re:Hardly surprising

[whoever57]

But the fear of becoming a laid-off IT worker is strong with this crowd (never mind Trump has used H-1B workers in his own businesses and has no problem stiffing contractors).

Yes, it's not as if Trump married someone who was not only an H1-B worker, but actually worked illegally before she had her H1-B.

Oh, wait, he did. Yeah, he is surely going to crack down on H1-Bs.

That, plus he is still stiffing contractors: did anyone see that he is stiffing a polling company now?

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't seem to really understand the culture here. Theyre counter-everything popular, like a high school on the internet.

Boycott Microsoft, boycott Sony, hate Apple, hate hate SJW hate
Open source, Linux, pro gamers rah rah rah.

Trump support is not that surprising.

Re:Hardly surprising

[MightyMartian]

Yes, it does, to the extent that a claim that the entire base is ill-educated white men is false. But, as has been countless times over the years, the Salem Hypothesis, with a bit of a proviso that it extends to other technical fields, shows how certain types of well educated people can support someone like Trump.

Re:Hardly surprising

[penguinoid]

Your statement was probably modded down for being misleading. I too can show where Trump's support comes from:

http://www.theatlantic.com/pol...

voters who agreed with the statement “people like me don't have any say about what the government does” were 86.5 percent more likely to prefer Trump. This feeling of powerlessness and voicelessness was a much better predictor of Trump support than age, race, college attainment, income, attitudes towards Muslims, illegal immigrants, or Hispanic identity.

Trump's support comes from people who feel they are disenfranchised. It should be no surprise that poorly educated white men feel disenfranchised; poor education has always reduced one's influence, and currently being white and male each mean you are openly discriminated against.

Re: Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

"From the outside", +3 insightful, yeah right.

Re:Hardly surprising

[tuxgeek]

Yep, you're pretty much spot on here, trump and the dolts that follow him.

I recall every election period the past few decades with that lunatic and his wacky trademark orange orangutan hair doo, off in deep right field stamping his feet and ranting like Yosemite Sam about the lost gold of lost city of Atlantis, alien abductions, bigfoot, and whatever other crazy shit he had going on in his head at the time, just to get him into any spotlight available.

Today, that worthless cocksucker may very well become emperor of america. How fucked up is that? How could sane people let this become possible? We are SO fucked if that fraud gets elected.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

You're correct, but were modded down because the gender and race of trump supporters isn't relevant to the point you were making, or which the article was discussing. Which was that trump supports are indeed, poorly educated; and perhaps more likely to succumb to fraudulent donor scams. The mention of white men was purely to stir up some shit.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

GP's pro-Hillary racist comment get +4 insightful. A mock 'pro-trump' racist comment to illustrate the point get moded down. That is how you know the game is rigged. Slashdot has became such cancer. It's worst than tumblr at this point.

Re:Hardly surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

The left is FAR more stupid, and far easier to get clicks from... I have $5M worth of data to prove it.

Re:Hardly surprising

[whoever57]

Your reading comprehension level is not as good as you think it is and you did not check the source.

According to the article you cited, that "feeling of powerlessness" is what distinguishes his supporters from supporters of other Republican candidates.

From the original source: 'Among people likely to vote in the Republican primary, people are 86.5 percent more likely to prefer Donald Trump as the first-choice nominee relative to all the others if they "somewhat" or "strongly agree" that "people like me don't have any say about what the government does." '

Re:Hardly surprising

[penguinoid]

According to the article you cited, that "feeling of powerlessness" is what distinguishes his supporters from supporters of other Republican candidates.

IE, that is the demographics of Trump supporters, rather than the votes in the general election many of which will be "hold your nose and vote Republican", and many of which voted against Trump.

Re:Hardly surprising

[whoever57]

Which does not contradict my statement that the core of Trump support comes from poorly-educated white men.

Re:Hardly surprising

[penguinoid]

Yes, now that Trump won the primary, the core of his support is Republicans.

Re:Hardly surprising

[strikethree]

My posting was on-topic. I can find citations to show the proof about who Trump's support comes from.

I did not mod you up or down, and now I can't do either since I have posted...

I would have modded this comment up if it had actually contained the citations that you and the moderators are fighting about. Since you did not, I thought I would leave this little message for you so you could understand how non-partisan modding works for many people.

Re:Translation:

[MightyMartian]

I think you just nailed their campaign slogan. Trump commits to ending all uncomfortable truths!

Arent' they all fake?

[nospam007]

Affer all, the guy they are faking to support is abig orange, pussygrabbing fake.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

Maybe, but I recall it was Ben Carson who had a bit of trouble separating The Onion from reality.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[DNS-and-BIND]

As opposed to the pro-Hillary mainstream media who aren't even getting paid for their work? How can you possibly say objective when the entire MSM is united under Hillary? They submit their stories for vetting before publication, for fuck's sake! It's like a banana republic or China!!

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be trying to prove the GP's statement, right?

The Kid Who Took $1M off Trump Supporters

[Anonymous Coward]

Those macedonians must have heard about that kid who fleeced a bunch of trumpkins for a million dollars.

I am not making it up: Some Guy Snagged $1 Million from Trump Fans with a Fake Dinner Contest

no brain at all

[Anonymous Coward]

Is there a list of these domains that I am not seeing? I'll happily just block all of them.

your BRAIN is not capable of filtering these out? my condolences

Re:no brain at all

[TheRealMindChild]

No, the point is, there is nothing legitimate about these websites, so there is absolutely no reason to allow anything on my network to connect to them at anytime, whether accidental or otherwise

Just young go getters adapting to the new econ

[Anonymous Coward]

Worried about job losses in all sectors from automation and stupid policy? unlike these kids you just don't understand what a "Knowledge economy" is, they get it

haha inevitable

[Anonymous Coward]

Trump - Russian candidate for US President (chosen because he is weak and easily manipulated), supported by Macedonian teenagers for profit through fanning the flames of American hatred for each other.

Re:Translation:

[Anonymous Coward]

What's uncomfortable here?
1. Trump stories get clicks.
2. Some teens want ad money, so they create websites, rip off Trump stories from other websites, and then spread them on facebook to get clicks.
Though I'm not a Trump supporter, I'm having a hard time seeing how this is a story; unless you don't know what clickbait is or how it works.

Re:"Publish sensationalist and often false content

[Anonymous Coward]

fuck off

And why is it fake?

[allo]

Most of the web works this way nowadays. Just have a look at sites like buzzfeed. 20 Facts about fake sites you didn't know, no. 13 is a fake itself!
There is no interest in the content, there is interest in users clicking ads. That's why the basically fuck with users, deploy malw^W anti-adblock scripts, spy on the user and so on instead of just providing good content.

Re:And why is it fake?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because non-Americans who by their own declaration don't care about a cause are running a spam-like network of website spread through social media , all for an anti-American candidate espousing anti-foreigner views while gaining most support from Russia oligarchs and dictators, as well as these Macedonian teenagers.

Re:And why is it fake?

[allo]

And why is a website fake, just because it uses "content generation" to attract people? You're mislead, if you think modern websites care about their users and that they get the best content. They care about their advertisers and that they get the best users. A social network isn't interested in getting you networked, it's interested in serving you ads. Some news sites declared in court, that news are their vehicle to get users to see ads.
There are very little idealist sites, which have a mission. Most just want money. And then it's the same if macedonian or american people host a website with pro trump content. Both just want money by having a website for a popular topic.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Anonymous Coward]

Pro-Skub clickbait is aimed at anti-Skub audiences first, with pro-Skub audiences an afterthought. The inverse is also true.
Come on, this is basic clickbait; do you really think Jezebel published an article making light of abusing their boyfriends to appeal to their feminist readership, or to get people to share the link with 'hey, look at what this idiot/asshole wrote?'

Oh joys election time

[Anonymous Coward]

Who would have thought an entire country could fit on a perineum?

Nah, #spiritcooking started with /r/The_Donald

[Xenographic]

Has anyone ever heard of these sites before? The real news is all on /r/wikileaks.

Sounds like they make clickbait sites they want people to share and make money off the ad revenue. There's no actual indication that people take these any more seriously than the other clickbait, so it doesn't surprise me that Buzzfeed doesn't like competition.

People used to be able to go to Reddit, but /r/politics now bans anyone who mentions their paid "Correct The Record" campaigns, so .... yeah.

Re:Nah, #spiritcooking started with /r/The_Donald

[ArmoredDragon]

I wouldn't be surprised if most of the hits on these sites come from people who hate Trump. People tend to put a lot of interest in things they hate, sometimes obsessing over them, and likewise, most of what I hear about Trump comes from those who hate him -- I know many Trump supporters, but I rarely hear them talk about him. I tend to get the same thing from Fox News. I.e. I never hear anything about Fox News except from people who post on the internet about how much they hate Fox News (often in response to an opinion they don't like "durr...you must be a fox news watcher".)

Re:Nah, #spiritcooking started with /r/The_Donald

[Anonymous Coward]

> I wouldn't be surprised if most of the hits on these sites come from people who hate Trump.

Oh, the lies we tell ourselves. They are the most big league lies of them all.

Haters use the word FAKE

[frovingslosh]

Sounds like another pro corrupt Hillary post. I don't see this as fake pro-Trump sites at all. So what if the kids were in it for click revenue? The sites are pro-Trump sites, not "fake" pro-Trump sites. They are aggregating material from other sites and posting it. What the kids motivation or politics are doesn't matter. If Slashdot were motivated by the money and aggregated information from across the web, would it be a "fake" technical news site? Some pro corrupt Hillary backers just got this posted knowing that Slashdot editors are incapable of editing or thinking.

Re:Haters use the word FAKE

[Anonymous Coward]

They are examples of astroturfing - generating the illusion of grass-roots support, usually by the candidate but in this case by foreign interests profiting by feeding the American public anti-foreign content, showing Trump's positions as anti-American to begin with. Do you understand the comedy in this?

Re:Haters use the word FAKE

[SuricouRaven]

Let me quote from the front page story of one of those sites:

"Flight logs revealed that, on at least 26 separate occasions, Bill Clinton accompanied sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on his Boeing 747, which Epstein had nicknamed the “Lolita Express.” He allegedly had a team of traffickers who procured girls as young as 12 for him and his fellow passengers on their way to “Orgy Island,” a 72-acre island called Little St. James.The plane “was reportedly outfitted with a bed where passengers had group sex with young girls” according to Fox News. There were eleven separate occasions where Bill Clinton was reported to have boarded Epstein’s plane, but flight logs show the number is more than double that; 26 separate occasions between 2001 and 2003."

There is no link to the Fox News story, or other source.

This does not sound like a very reputable news source.

Re:Haters use the word FAKE

[frovingslosh]

You need other sources? Just use Google. It is well known that both Bill and even Hillary had many trips on the Lolita Express.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Anonymous Coward]

Read the fucking emails, you can see them lining up for a suck on Democrat cock. It's a matter of public record how in bed these fucks are with each other.

Re:"Publish sensationalist and often false content

[Anonymous Coward]

""Pot calling the kettle black" is racist (and obsolete), ..."
Bzzzt!
The 1620 English Translation of "Don Quixote" is where the phrase first appears, in reference to soot acquired on the vessels backsides while cooking. The original Spanish was cruder...
"...and should be replaced with "Pot calling the kettle rotund"."
Which would not make any sense, since the reference is to acquired characteristics, not innate ones. But a good, and accurate translation of original source, variation would be "Pot calling Kettle "Sooty Butt"."
Actually, that's not a bad Band Name, with just the right amount of Literary Pretension.

This only proves

[Billly Gates]

Trump fans are gullible and stupid. Bernie supporters not so much.

Sad and pathetic

Re:This only proves

[Carewolf]

Trump fans are gullible and stupid. Bernie supporters not so much.

Sad and pathetic

Note: Trolling for Bernie supporters also worked for them, just not as well as trolling for Trump supporters.

Economics.

[ChrisMaple]

In Macedonia the economy is very weak and teenagers are not allowed to work.

Effect, meet cause.

Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the article is misleading. In Greece the economy is weak but teenagers ARE allowed to work.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[bugs2squash]

Depending on the cycle one side or the other will be the most outraged. They're monetizing outrage and this cycle it happens to be Trumps turn. Eight years ago I seem to remember there was plenty of anti-bush outrage to be mined. It probably helps that Trump's approach is to play on the outrage, but it seems there is a never ending supply to tap into from both ends of the spectrum.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate to say it, but reality is getting so bizarre these days, that I've had trouble with this as well. Sometimes I read a headline and think "Damn, this has to be an Onion or joke article" and it turns out to be a real story.

Anyone remember the Onion column where some executive from Gillette makes the claim "fuck it, we're doing FIVE blades now!" which was a joke at the 3 blade razors that were released. Well, now we have that and more.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[tuxgeek]

I want to know how such a retarded fucking post such as yours gets modded informative? Is there someone out there dumber than you with mod points?
Your post is nothing but the same stupid ignorant shit spewed by fox news opinionists et al.

There is NO liberal media and NO "pro-Hillary mainstream media" you ignorant fucktard! There is a somewhat "mainstream" news media system that strives to be as informative as they can and still manage ratings, and then you have the real "fake" news propaganda outlets such as Fox News Corp that spin and twist, edit and add, delete and change current events into their own version of news they then present mixed with carefully crafted opinion by professional dicklickers like Bill OReally? and Spin Hannity.

If you are a marker of just how ill informed and ignorant the average american is, God help us all. We are all SO fucked.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[DNS-and-BIND]

You don't see the bias because you agree with it. It definitely exists. The entire MSM is on board with Hillary.

Maybe it's time for you to leave America? It seems you're really not a good fit with us. We want to rule ourselves, while you want us to be ruled by heartless oligarchs. I suggest France, that's always a popular destination. Or Venezeula, you can go and see what real leftism is like when it gets power and refuses to give up. Just bring a suitcase of antibiotics when you go, we wouldn't want you to lose a leg because you got a scratch.

Re:Trump supporters less able to identify a fake s

[Anonymous Coward]

What a crock of shit. If the media reports what Trump says, and that makes Trump look bad, the problem is with Trump. Not the rest of the world.

burn~

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHAHA, shows that no one really cared about Burnie Sanders. But why didn't they do Hillary? Most of the news media make up news on Hillary to get viewers, Democrat supporters believe anything. "Oh look, Hillary will give free education!" You have to be a moron to believe that is possible

Re: Trump supporters less able to identify a fake

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be France who welcomed the USA into existence.

France that has been a functioning republic longer than the USA. France that isn't bewitched by billionaires.