Paid Trolls.... & Not So Paid Zombies

[Ahem, OWS Forum false-flag, both-same, Obama-betrayed, Unicorn-utopia Trolls.]

Posted on October 21, 2013 at 9:00 am by JM Ashby

Some people will adamantly deny that paid comment trolls are a real thing that exists, but employing paid trolls is exactly what Fox News [almost named RepubliCon News] now stands accused of.

According to an NPR reporter, Fox News’ PR staff created at least one hundred fake accounts to troll blogs. via Media Matters

In a chapter focusing on how Fox utilized its notoriously ruthless public relations department in the mid-to-late 00′s, Folkenflik reports that Fox’s PR staffers would “post pro-Fox rants” in the comments sections of “negative and even neutral” blog posts written about the network. According to Folkenflik, the staffers used various tactics to cover their tracks, including setting up wireless broadband connections that “could not be traced back” to the network.

This is not to suggest that most trolls are actually paid to be concerned — they aren’t — but paid trolls do exist and Fox News is not the only organization to employ them. [Ahem, OWS Forum false-flag, both-same, Obama-betrayed, Unicorn-utopia Trolls.]

The sad truth (for them) is that most comment trolls are working for their masters, unwittingly, for free. Suckers.

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GOP Site Plans To Infiltrate Liberal Sites With “Trolls”

By Casey Gane-McCalla | Jul 28, 2011

Right-wing website RedState.com has offered a comprehensive plan for its followers to infiltrate left-wing sites by pretending to be progressives to hurt the Democratic Party.

The list of directions created by the site are below.

First, infiltrate the site. For this, you will have to avoid creating screen names like “GoPalinGo” or “Heartlandredstater.” Also, some websites may actually have you wait a week before you are allowed to comment or blog. Perhaps, they are investigating the e-mail address you give them against whether it is used for a conservative website. Be sure to avoid that tendency; if you use, for example, aol.com screen name for RedState, make sure you use a yahoo e-mail address for Dailykos, or whatever. Once you are there...

The second part of the strategy is to gain their trust. For this, you cannot be too overtly gung-ho conservative in your outlook. Instead, you sort of have to be the voice of a moderate liberal. This will take a lot of acting skill, but it could be done. For example, over at ThinkProgress, they had an article about how the folks in Alabama got what they deserved with the recent spate of tornadoes because their legislators did not believe in global warming. It took all my energies not to reach through the Internet and strangle these kooks, but I responded, “Well, that might be going a little too far…” Along the way, I gained the trust of certain posters on that thread.

The third step is to move the conversation in the direction you desire. By doing this, you can then form the debate in terms you can win. For example, in the above story, although I said they were going too far in their comments, I moved the conversation somewhat by questioning whether the folks in Alabama would accept Federal funds to rebuild their lives. In other words, the subject was changed from a debate on global warming to one of fiscal responsibility. Once there, you can then highjack the thread. In effect, you have changed the subject and tenor or the conversation and the writer of the original post has lost their ability to moderate the conversation and that creates a free-for-all that gets the conversation far off the original mark. [DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR?] Of course, you will be accused of “threadjacking” or, worse (drumrolls please…) being a “troll.” To this I say, of course you are a troll and you should be proud of it. Embrace your status of being a “troll” on the liberal website and carry it through to its logical conclusion. To put it bluntly: Embrace your inner troll. If they realize what is happening and accuse you of being a troll or such, or if they try to block you and your opinions, remind them of their support for the Fairness Doctrine and their reasoning for it- to ensure that both sides have a say- should allow you to have your say. Force them to practice what they preach.

http://newsone.com/1424285/gop-site-plans-to-infiltrate-progressive-with-trolls/