Research into Twitter interactions from the anti-The Last Jedi side of Star Wars fandom reveals Russian bots might have been at work.
If you’re a fan of Star Wars, you likely know about how much of a mess some of the reactions to The Last Jedi have been. The criticism has gone far beyond just not liking the movie, and has even extended to hate and smear campaigns that even caused Kelly Marie Tran to leave social media because of all of the hate and threats she was receiving.
While many people enjoyed The Last Jedi, some of the fandom was unfairly and aggressively racist and sexist about the film and those involved in making it.
In the early part of 2018, a Twitter account was even started with the sole purpose of remaking the film with a different director. Actual director Rian Johnson also experienced some online harassment on top of that.
Now, according to a recent study published in an article called, “Weaponizing the Haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation,” written by researcher Marten Bay, some of the criticism may have come from bots. This study was retweeted by Johnson himself and has since gained a lot of attention.
A bit of Morten’s research came out awhile ago and made some headlines - here’s his full paper. Looking forward to reading it, but what the top-line describes is consistent with my experience online. https://t.co/MTRgmPxGgZ
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) October 1, 2018
In this article, as Business Insider reports, Bay suggests that there is evidence of “political influence measure disguised as fan arguments.” The paper suggests that around half of these tweets were politically motivated or even the result of bots. Some of which might have been Russian trolls.
The type of messaging and the racist, sexist messages from many of those who so strongly dislike The Last Jedi is very much in line with Russian bots and other pro-Trump accounts. Bay also points out in the paper that the Trump era might have influenced the Star Wars fandom, as many of the themes and messages of The Last Jedi are the same as those of other Star Wars movies.
It’s unfortunate the hate and aggression that many Star Wars fans have shown, and even more disturbing that Russian bots might be influencing fandom as well as politics.