In the summer of 2014, fighters of the self-declared Islamic State (also known as ISIS or Daesh in Arabic) roared into northern Iraq, armed with AK-47 rifles, grenades, and even swords. Their dusty pickup trucks advanced quickly across the desert. Far from keeping their operation a secret, though, these fighters made sure everyone knew about it. There was a choreographed social media campaign to promote it, organized by die-hard fans and amplified by an army of Twitter bots. They posted selfies of black-clad militants and Instagram images of convoys that looked like Mad Max come to life.
