Caltrops - Balance of Power - NY Mag had an article about this

Forum Overview :: Balance of Power

by skip 10/01/2016, 11:10am PDT

http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/09/how-internet-trolls-won-the-2016-presidential-election.html The author sometimes falls into the trap of other journalists taking the chans way too seriously. But he gets some right:

And when channer and normie culture collide, normie culture indeed tends to spasm with offense.

It would be wrong, of course, not to cover what certainly feels like a rise in racist and anti-Semitic online sentiment. But perspective seems to be lacking. There appears to be a baseline assumption among journalists that any manifestation of web culture that is (1) new and (2) offensive on racial or ethnic lines is inherently important, uniquely worrisome, and worthy of coverage. Nazi Pepe is one example,

It would be inaccurate to say that the media or politicians are entirely getting played here. They, too, benefit from this whole bizarre game. Outrage garners clicks and it turns out voters. To journalists, there’s little incentive to do anything but cover every racist-internet twist and turn like some dangerous new development.

But then:

If you send me an anti-Semitic meme, I’m going to assume that you’re anti-Semitic. I never agreed to chan culture’s puerile, dumb rules about communication and offense.

Look dude, 99.9% of 4chan's /pol/ bullshit stays on that board. A small % leaks onto Twitter and engages in outrage culture wars with the usual suspects, usually shrill activists eager for the fight, which then gets written up into Buzzfeed articles. But a lot of people who are offended by their antics go looking for it.