Facebook posts by Islamic State (IS) recruiters show that the radical group is actively targeting and attempting to recruit Australian teenagers via social media, an online surveillance expert says.

The Facebook posts are included in a new research paper released today by Dr Robyn Torok, at a security conference held by Edith Cowan University in Perth.

In the paper, Dr Torok — who has spent about 50 hours a week since 2010 watching IS recruiters at work on Facebook and other social media — outlines how the IS online recruitment process hones in on young people’s feelings of alienation.

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Initially, recruiters identify potential targets by monitoring Facebook conversation threads.

They closely observe their target’s online behaviour, seeing how frequently they post and how they respond to geopolitical issues, and get to know their hobbies and interests.

Then they begin to interact with them, joining in on conversation threads and trying to create a relationship built through common connections.

Examples documented by Dr Torok include: “Swans are a great team” and “I also have that Xbox game”.

The relationship slowly becomes more personal.

The recruiter shows empathy when the target reveals emotional problems.

They encourage them to talk about their worries and treat them as valid problems, using posts such as “my parents never understood me either”.

At the same time, the recruiter prepares for the target to meet other recruiters and slowly disassociate from their community and become part of theirs.

“School is a waste of time always having to do what teachers tell you,” one recruiter wrote.

“My parents fought all the time as well. I used music to drown it out until I found something better,” posted another.

The recruiter then adds the target as a Facebook friend and begins to talk about political issues, posting comments like “the Government is always sticking its nose in Muslim affairs”.

To make their arguments sound more believable, the recruiter may assume many different Facebook identities, all of which support their grievances.

“I’ve noticed one person who can have 52 different accounts and have 20 friends on one account and they’re all the same person,” Dr Torok said.

“They talk to themselves.”

– ABC