[pixl97]

One thing I've seen happen with some of these accounts is they remove a lot of their posts after some period of time.

So they make somewhat consistent 'generic' posts that do not get remove, but do not really convey any signal on their actual views.

Then in their last 24-48 hours there are more political style posts/concern posts that only stick around while the article/post is getting views. Then replies disappear like they've never happened so you can't tell it's an account that exists wholly to manipulate others that has been doing so for months.

Then quite often after a month or two the accounts disappear totally.

[cainxinth]

When I was a kid, internet trolls were just in it for the lulz. Today, it’s a global industry with nation states participating.

[sfink]

Perhaps they're farming accounts? As in, the owner creates a whole bunch of accounts and has them build up a generic history. Then when the owner "deploys" some of them to pump up a specific issue. I don't know why they remove the posts, but perhaps it's a way of "recycling" an account by cleaning up the dirty work it did and throwing it back into the pool of available accounts?

Come to think of it, I bet the original creator is selling these accounts to someone else who is weaponizing them. Or the creator is renting them: build up a supply, rent them out for a purpose, then scrub them and recycle. Work From Home! Make Money Fast! This is one part of why the internet has gone to hell.

I don't have an explanation for why they'd delete the accounts.