The Coinage

The folder on my computer which I used as a library for the (by 2023) thousands of texts I had studied on Russian disinformation, trolling and trolls was called “Folklore.” When, around February 13, 2023, I suddenly saw how the term “Disinfo” melded with “folklore” I knew immediately I had the perfect signifier for the narrative form that I had already noticed was common to Russian combat propaganda and Trumpian memetic warfare techniques.

Source: Book Proposal

I had this insight from almost the first moment I was there that there was something folklore about the entire situation. And trying to understand what the aggregated parts of that perception were, has led me on this amazing journey, which many of you have been with me on since February 2023, when I coined the word disinfolklore. So it took me eight years to realize the Disinfolklore element of this way of seeing reality.

Source: Video Podcast: In the Faery Tale

The first tweet communicating the concept went viral:

As a diplomat operating inside Russia-occupied eastern Ukraine (2015-2022), I coined the term “Disinfolklore.” Disinfolklore describes a type of emotion-moving propaganda that uses stories / tales / memes as a strategic means of manipulating its consumers, through inducing fear. At its simplest, Disinfolklore is a device through which linguistic, audible, or visual memes transform the intentions / motivations / attitudes of its consumers.

Source: Twitter (February 2023 — 800,000+ views)

Since then, the author has developed an analytical method totalling Twelve Tools to deploy, detect and defeat what he calls the Disinfolklore Universe before it destroys the post-World War Two legal and social order.

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