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Psychological Operations

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Re: Psychological Operations

#31

Post by K7PJP »

throwaway10242 wrote: post #19
boston_clone wrote: post #5

Former PsyOp guy here with OEF experience, now working in cybersecurity. Please feel welcome to ask me (almost!) anything, and I'll do my best to respond. edit - this TTP FM [0] (warning, PDF ahead) seems to be freely available, and gives a comprehensive overview of what PsyOp actually does in the modern US Army. Perhaps most relevant for today is propaganda analysis and the SCAME method, a multi-faceted approach to…

How much warfare is currently happening on social media sites, nationally operated or otherwise? Are sites like 4chan, facebook, reddit or twitter very influenced by governmental PsyOp operations, national or foreign? To the average bloke like me it would seem like discussions on these pages are being "managed" A LOT, but i could not tell if that is the effects of standard propaganda on the population like the news o…

I'm fairly certain that /r/worldnews is gamed by western intelligence and diplomatic agencies. The top stories and top comments on said stories are invariably towing the US State Department line.

Re: Psychological Operations

#32

Post by jazzyjackson »

wolverine876 wrote: post #25
jazzyjackson wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

has a population ever been convinced they were being liberated? seems to me that's more of a lie to tell the invading soldiers to give them high morale until the truth sinks in

I think it could be a common delusion of the invaders. In the Iraq war, I think the Bush administration really thought, in a fit of megalomania, the Iraqis would welcome them as liberators. I once read a military historian who said (paraphrasing), "you can always identify a bad war plan when it ends with 'and then the local population will rise up and join us'". It's such an incredibly egocentric view of the world. I…

megolomania is a good explanation, self-deception without needing PSYOPS !

Re: Psychological Operations

#33

Post by boston_clone »

throwaway10242 wrote: post #19
boston_clone wrote: post #5

Former PsyOp guy here with OEF experience, now working in cybersecurity. Please feel welcome to ask me (almost!) anything, and I'll do my best to respond. edit - this TTP FM [0] (warning, PDF ahead) seems to be freely available, and gives a comprehensive overview of what PsyOp actually does in the modern US Army. Perhaps most relevant for today is propaganda analysis and the SCAME method, a multi-faceted approach to…

How much warfare is currently happening on social media sites, nationally operated or otherwise? Are sites like 4chan, facebook, reddit or twitter very influenced by governmental PsyOp operations, national or foreign? To the average bloke like me it would seem like discussions on these pages are being "managed" A LOT, but i could not tell if that is the effects of standard propaganda on the population like the news o…

> How much warfare is currently happening on social media sites, nationally operated or otherwise?

Plenty. Likely more than you or even I realize. That said...

> Are sites like 4chan, facebook, reddit or twitter very influenced by governmental PsyOp operations, national or foreign?

Foreign gov't, certainly. Ours? As honestly as I can claim, I never knew of any Psyop folks conducting operations on those sites, nor did I ever hear of any directives for Psyop folks to use those platforms as viable mediums.

US citizens are eternally out of scope for Army psychological operations, but I have almost no experience with influence operations conducted by a few Virginia-based agencies. Not saying CIA or NSA do such things, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

> one of the most successful PsyOp propaganda tactics is that of controlled dissent

I would mildly disagree here. Personally, in-group / out-group mentality is the easiest to manufacture and exploit, and serves as a fantastic emotional distraction from other areas.

Re: Psychological Operations

#34

Post by woodruffw »

K7PJP wrote: post #31
throwaway10242 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much warfare is currently happening on social media sites, nationally operated or otherwise? Are sites like 4chan, facebook, reddit or twitter very influenced by governmental PsyOp operations, national or foreign? To the average bloke like me it would seem like discussions on these pages are being "managed" A LOT, but i could not tell if that is the effects of standard propaganda on the population like the news o…

I'm fairly certain that /r/worldnews is gamed by western intelligence and diplomatic agencies. The top stories and top comments on said stories are invariably towing the US State Department line.

All things being equal, this doesn't seem like the most likely explanation. It's more likely that there are just a large number of people who agree with what you think are the US State Department's positions.

Whether those people have been in turn influenced is a separate question.

Re: Psychological Operations

#35

Post by IAmGraydon »

boston_clone wrote: post #5

Former PsyOp guy here with OEF experience, now working in cybersecurity. Please feel welcome to ask me (almost!) anything, and I'll do my best to respond. edit - this TTP FM [0] (warning, PDF ahead) seems to be freely available, and gives a comprehensive overview of what PsyOp actually does in the modern US Army. Perhaps most relevant for today is propaganda analysis and the SCAME method, a multi-faceted approach to…

A document with a distribution restriction and destruction instructions on the front page posted by a “former PsyOps guy”. Yeah…I believe you.

Re: Psychological Operations

#36

Post by boston_clone »

tediousdemise wrote: post #26
throwaway10242 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much warfare is currently happening on social media sites, nationally operated or otherwise? Are sites like 4chan, facebook, reddit or twitter very influenced by governmental PsyOp operations, national or foreign? To the average bloke like me it would seem like discussions on these pages are being "managed" A LOT, but i could not tell if that is the effects of standard propaganda on the population like the news o…

The answers to your leading questions are probably classified at the TS/SCI level. I think it's safe to assume that there are a non-trivial amount of psyops happening on those platforms, since those sites are among the main sources of information for almost all people. It would be foolish to not target such low hanging fruit to manufacture consent if you are trying to influence populations. I would go further and add…

> It would be foolish to not target such low hanging fruit to manufacture consent if you are trying to influence populations.

While I agree at a conceptual level, I don't believe US Army Psyop to have a hand in any of that. However, the government as a whole is not exempt from that claim - see Operation Mockingbird, for example [0].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

Re: Psychological Operations

#37

Post by runjake »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #7
hirundo wrote: post #4

I would think this specialty would build skills that are well compensated in the private sector: public relations, marketing, political campaigns, journalism, SEO. Since gaslighting and enlightening aren't all that different in terms of PsyOps, also include teaching. Convincing a population that they are being liberated rather than invaded is good training for convincing another population to use chorizo flavored too…

has a population ever been convinced they were being liberated? seems to me that's more of a lie to tell the invading soldiers to give them high morale until the truth sinks in

A few countries and peoples in Europe after WWII, maybe?

Although granted, cases with positive outcome seem rare.

Re: Psychological Operations

#38

Post by csee »

boston_clone wrote: post #5

Former PsyOp guy here with OEF experience, now working in cybersecurity. Please feel welcome to ask me (almost!) anything, and I'll do my best to respond. edit - this TTP FM [0] (warning, PDF ahead) seems to be freely available, and gives a comprehensive overview of what PsyOp actually does in the modern US Army. Perhaps most relevant for today is propaganda analysis and the SCAME method, a multi-faceted approach to…

Are Putin's nuclear threats a deliberate PsyOp to strike fear into the public so as to reduce calls for help/sanctions?

Re: Psychological Operations

#39

Post by boston_clone »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #35
boston_clone wrote: post #5

Former PsyOp guy here with OEF experience, now working in cybersecurity. Please feel welcome to ask me (almost!) anything, and I'll do my best to respond. edit - this TTP FM [0] (warning, PDF ahead) seems to be freely available, and gives a comprehensive overview of what PsyOp actually does in the modern US Army. Perhaps most relevant for today is propaganda analysis and the SCAME method, a multi-faceted approach to…

A document with a distribution restriction and destruction instructions on the front page posted by a “former PsyOps guy”. Yeah…I believe you.

Just wait until you find out that my security clearance is now expired and I occasionally browse Wikileaks!

Information should be freely accessible. I held that belief long before I joined the military. If you're interested in the SCAME approach, check it out. Baseless accusations about my integrity are uncalled for, though.

edit - for what it's worth, my calling it "PsyOp" versus "PsyOps" is a good indicator that I am what I say to be.

Re: Psychological Operations

#40

Post by wolverine876 »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #32
wolverine876 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it could be a common delusion of the invaders. In the Iraq war, I think the Bush administration really thought, in a fit of megalomania, the Iraqis would welcome them as liberators. I once read a military historian who said (paraphrasing), "you can always identify a bad war plan when it ends with 'and then the local population will rise up and join us'". It's such an incredibly egocentric view of the world. I…

megolomania is a good explanation, self-deception without needing PSYOPS !

That is really a vaulable conception of it (and LOL funny). I suspect Putin psyoped himself.
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