When Bad Actors Adhere to Group Norms

The term," bad actor" can suggest an individual that is easily identifiable by their offensive or antisocial behavior—perhaps as suggested by the growing focus on online harassment. In this paper, we examine a set of accounts that do not fit this image. These accounts do not necessarily engage in vulgarity or abuse, but rather purposeful, targeted, and systematic manipulation. Consequently, we take the position that a useful definition of bad actors has to consider not just behaviors, but intent. We also argue that social media companies need to move beyond sanctioning" bad actors" to helping users understand our vulnerabilities within these information ecosystems.