Harmony Anderson

Harmony, along with several similar accounts we identified with her, operates in a way consistent with past disinformation tactics. During the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign, the IRA ran hundreds of accounts like Harmony pretending to support President Trump, some of which were very influential. The account @TEN_GOP was mentioned by real users on Twitter over 131,400 times just in the month before the election alone. Another right-leaning troll, @Jenn_Abrams, had her own website.

Harmony’s intended audience is other right-leaning Twitter users. She has some posts that are entirely positive and uplifting, including her retweet of First Lady Melania Trump. These help her gain followers and credibility.

Very few of Harmony’s messages include what you might call “fake news.” Her disinformation is more about spin than lies; she tells her followers how to think about the stories she is sharing. And her version of reality paints the other side as despicable; they are “DemoRats” not “Democrats.” Harmony was clearly named ironically.

It’s very important to look at what Harmony DOESN’T talk about. She never talks about her real life because she doesn’t have one. She presents no identifying information, she doesn’t share any real-life anecdotes, and she only talks about politics. She is a one-trick pony.

There are many valid reasons a user may choose to remain anonymous or not share personal information on social media. The fact that someone doesn’t want to be identified is not alone enough to believe they are a professional troll. It is, however, an important point to consider when thinking about who you want to engage with online.