Those Russian Facebook ads could have reached as many as 70 million people.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

Russian-funded covert propaganda posts on Facebook were likely seen by a minimum of 23 million people and might have reached as many as 70 million, according to analysis by an expert on the social-media giant’s complex advertising systems. That means up to 28 percent of American adults were swept in by the campaign. 

On Wednesday, Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, revealed that Russia had “likely” used 470 fake accounts to buy about $100,000 worth of advertising promoting “divisive social and political messages” to Americans. It was Facebook’s first public acknowledgment of the role it unwittingly played in the Kremlin’s active measures campaign. Stamos’ statement was also conspicuous by what it omitted. Facebook has refused to release the ads. More significant, it hasn’t said what kind of reach Russia attained with its ad buy. 

There may be a reason for that. On the surface, $100,000 is small change in contemporary national politics, and 3,000 ads sounds like a drop in the pond when Facebook boasts 2 billion monthly users. But it turns out $100,000 on Facebook can go a surprisingly long way, if it’s used right. On average, Facebook ads run about $6 for 1,000 impressions. By that number, the Kremlin’s $100,000 buy would get its ads seen nearly 17 million times.

The article goes on to explain that the initial 17 million hits would extrapolate out if the propaganda went viral, which of course we know it did as both Trump and Bernie supporters gobbled up anything negative about Hillary.

They in turn would link to the propaganda, which would then show up all across Facebook, and probably Twitter as well.

I actually have a friend who said that he did not trust Hillary based on a phony picture of her standing with dead bodies at an undisclosed location with the words "War hawk" emblazoned across the image.

That was literally all it took for him, so I certainly know how effective this strategy could be.

And the Russians have been honing this particular skill for quite some time:

Russia has meddled in the affairs of at least 27 European and North American countries since 2004 with interference that ranges from cyberattacks to disinformation campaigns, according to an analysis by a surveillance organization. 

The findings, provided to USA TODAY, show the meddling started in former Soviet republics allied with the West and spread to Western Europe. More recently affected are Canada and the United States, where Congress and an independent prosecutor are investigating possible Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. 

The alleged Russian interference abroad was compiled by the Alliance for Securing Democracy of the German Marshall Fund, a nonprofit organization that fosters closer bonds between the United States and Europe. In August, the group began tracking Russian efforts to influence U.S. public opinion through a network of Twitter accounts that disseminates messages considered helpful to the Kremlin.

One can only imagine how thrilled Putin was to have Edward Snowden fall into his lap and present him with the tools to supercharge his program of political manipulation.