Journalists learned the work scheme and salary of the Kremlin “trolls”

Petersburg journalists have already managed several times, on condition of anonymity, to talk with former “trolls” - this is the name given to the employees of special offices, where they need to be engaged in online propaganda for a salary. But for the first time, Radio Liberty was able to talk to an ex- “bot” who did not hide his identity. We publish the main theses of the story of the blogger Marat Burkhard, who, in his own words, got a job at the “trolley factory” out of curiosity and worked there for two months.

- You can get to work at the trolls factory only after a special “literary dropout”. The applicant is asked to write several texts - first on neutral topics like “Vegetarianism: Pros and Cons”. Also, the exam is asked in a nutshell to answer the questions: who is psaki? What does Russia want in Donetsk?

- The average salary at the factory trolls - 45 thousand rubles. Pay so much for fulfilling rates in 135 comments. The working day lasts 12 hours, then the day shift is replaced by the night one. Employees work on schedule two in two days.

- In addition to the comments department, where twenty people work all the time, there are departments of pictures, LiveJournal, video and so on. There are also departments in Ukrainian and English; there is a salary from 65 thousand and above. A total of forty cabinets, each with approximately 20 people. The departments are not friendly with each other, friendship is not encouraged.

- For the credibility of the employees of the comments is divided into semantic three. The first speaks critically, and the other two oppose it - necessarily one with a picture, and the other with a reference. Chain "villain-picture-link" is mandatory.

- Work is carried out on the specified tags, keywords. A given word, for example, Shoigu, must be used by all three participants of the semantic trio. They write consistently at different regional sites, covering the entire territory of Russia.

- The comment must be at least 200 characters. Everything that the trolls write goes through constant ideological control. For mistakes and faults, the authorities cause "on the carpet", can dismiss.

- The heads of the trolls are the trolls who have made a career for themselves in the same factory. Their salary is 70-80 thousand rubles.