This story pops up regular as clockwork, going back before 2012. It's propaganda in its' own right - no doubt, with equally depressing regularity, I shall be downvoted into oblivion for having the temerity of actually pointing it out.
The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
71–80 of 97 posts
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#72This story pops up regular as clockwork, going back before 2012. It's propaganda in its' own right - no doubt, with equally depressing regularity, I shall be downvoted into oblivion for having the temerity of actually pointing it out.
Got any references or links?
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Israel commands a small army of these as well, it's almost comical to see them appearing in social media and comment sections, but I have no doubt they're effective. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/14/israel-s...
I do think it's strange that when Israel promotes nationalism in it's clearly more controversial status -- being defamed by all of its neighbors and a large segment of the western left and right -- suddenly this is a bad thing. If we had (serious) pressure to dissolve the U.S., I think we would see a backlash of equal or greater measure. Your use of language here also clearly shows your position: 'army' is a very har…
...said the israeli agent.
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#74This sort of thing has happened recently on HN, where trolls derailed the conversation so badly that it was flagged into oblivion. (dang brought it back to life after an email appeal). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9570202 What's the right way for a community to permit free and welcoming discourse and simultaneously blunt the ability of malicious actors intent on spreading disinformation? It's a hard problem.
Be careful. The notion that opinions we don't like are generated by organized trolling campaigns is toxic, and insidiously serves the objectives of the trolls. If you feel like comments on a thread are coming from an organized trolling/shilling campaign, try to collect some evidence for it and then notify hn@ycombinator.com --- that's what they've asked you to do. But don't start a conversation on the thread itself a…
My biggest concern with the death of that thread was that it died due to flagging.
Totally agreed that even the prior belief that trolling campaigns might exist is toxic.
Thanks, everyone, for the comments. They're thoughtful.
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#75My dad claims that the level of brainwashing in Russia far far exceeds that of the Soviet regime, and the propaganda is by far worse (and worse than WWII Germany he says). Of course statements like that evoke Godwin's law and a hard to swallow. However, my dad grew up in Soviet Russia and trained troops on the use of artillery equipment during the Soviet Afghanistan conflict. He's been around the block and has seen f…
I was born and raised in Ukraine till I turned 14. Still have most of my family there and they visit regularly. They were present during most of the revolution and I can confirm nothing but love and pride to be Ukrainian. All that talk about Ukrainian nazi is garbage. Yes, we aren't perfect and we may have difficulties bringing order but it was all done with good intentions at heart. Most recent revolutions, includin…
Truly united? Sadly that's just your PoV.
I was too born and raised in Ukraine, in Odessa. As many Odessans, we will never forget May 2nd, 2014 and will never forgive.
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do think it's strange that when Israel promotes nationalism in it's clearly more controversial status -- being defamed by all of its neighbors and a large segment of the western left and right -- suddenly this is a bad thing. If we had (serious) pressure to dissolve the U.S., I think we would see a backlash of equal or greater measure. Your use of language here also clearly shows your position: 'army' is a very har…
...said the israeli agent.
Not sure if this is joking or not, but the fact that I can't tell is itself indicative. This is an example of just how toxic state- and corporate-sponsored trolling is to communities. Any given position will promote winners and losers, and any position anyone takes could, in theory, be the result of dishonest, arational, apersonal influencers who lack the desire or drive for a rational civil society. And I think it's even fair to discount all potentially corrupted opinions because of that risk--but the end result is having to give up on the Internet as a forum for discourse, which pretty much kills off its liberatory potential.
We need to find a way around this ASAP, before it gets worse. And it will most certainly get worse.
(This message has been bought and paid for by... well, who knows?)
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do think it's strange that when Israel promotes nationalism in it's clearly more controversial status -- being defamed by all of its neighbors and a large segment of the western left and right -- suddenly this is a bad thing. If we had (serious) pressure to dissolve the U.S., I think we would see a backlash of equal or greater measure. Your use of language here also clearly shows your position: 'army' is a very har…
...said the israeli agent.
Israel's recruiting power in Georgia is unrivaled. I know at least twelve other Georgia natives who are part of the shadow cabal, using our WASP heritage as cover!
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
...said the israeli agent.
Not sure if this is joking or not, but the fact that I can't tell is itself indicative. This is an example of just how toxic state- and corporate-sponsored trolling is to communities. Any given position will promote winners and losers, and any position anyone takes could, in theory, be the result of dishonest, arational, apersonal influencers who lack the desire or drive for a rational civil society. And I think it's…
Every opinion is potentially corrupted, especially when propaganda exists. The result isn't giving up on the Internet as a forum for discourse, it's giving up on discourse.
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well they didn't really need propaganda in Russia. They had communism. Believe it or not some people actually believed that Communism is better than capitalism, and arguably at one time capitalism kind of sucked.
> Well they didn't really need propaganda in Russia. They had communism. And how do you think they spread that and maintained it once it was spread? Propaganda.
The exact same way they maintain democracy and fascist dictatorships. Even though the fascists need more than propaganda to keep it up.
Re: The Agency: An army of well-paid “trolls” in St. Petersburg
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
...said the israeli agent.
Not sure if this is joking or not, but the fact that I can't tell is itself indicative. This is an example of just how toxic state- and corporate-sponsored trolling is to communities. Any given position will promote winners and losers, and any position anyone takes could, in theory, be the result of dishonest, arational, apersonal influencers who lack the desire or drive for a rational civil society. And I think it's…
>This is an example of just how toxic state- and corporate-sponsored trolling is to communities.
Rather, this is an example of how toxic the fear of it is. It's like that episode of the Twilight Zone, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," where the invaders only have to sow a tiny bit of paranoia and mistrust and watch people teach each other apart. Except in this case, there don't even need to be shills, the result would be the same either way.