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COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum. (Trolling 101)
E-Mail and Freepers

Posted on 01/16/2009 12:36:53 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator

Thanks to many FReepers who have sent us this information. Apparently, this is floating around the Internet now. It is a guide to trolling. While it may or may not be fake in its origins, we do see these techniques all the time and felt it would be good to share with everyone.

______________________________________________________ COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..

There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a ‘uncontrolled forum.’

Technique #1 - ‘FORUM SLIDING’

If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by ‘forum sliding.’ In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to ‘age.’ Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a ‘forum slide.’ The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a ‘forum slide’ and ‘flush’ the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then ‘replying’ to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting ‘slides’ down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.

Technique #2 - ‘CONSENSUS CRACKING’

A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at *********) is ‘consensus cracking.’ To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favour is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger ‘evidence’ or disinformation in your favour is slowly ‘seeded in.’ Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then ‘abort’ the consensus cracking by initiating a ‘forum slide.’

Technique #3 - ‘TOPIC DILUTION’

Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a ‘RESOURCE BURN.’ By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a ‘gossip mode.’ In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to ‘drive in the wedge.’ By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.

Technique #4 - ‘INFORMATION COLLECTION’

Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a ‘show you mine so me yours’ posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your ‘favorite weapon’ and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favorite ‘technique of operation.’ From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.

Technique #5 - ‘ANGER TROLLING’

Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to ‘stage’ a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to ‘lead’ the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you ‘do not care what the authorities think!!’ inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.

Technique #6 - ‘GAINING FULL CONTROL’

It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavorable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the ‘ultimate victory’ as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a ‘honey pot’ gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.

CONCLUSION

Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precedence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.


TOPICS: Announcements; Free Republic; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abuse; definitionoftroll; freerepublic; garbage; howtotroll; pl; repository1; trolling; trolling101; trolls; zot
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To: Lurker
You should see the socks I have on today...

What color are they?

161 posted on 01/17/2009 7:10:52 AM PST by Allegra
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To: Lurker
You should see the socks I have on today...

What color are they?

162 posted on 01/17/2009 7:10:55 AM PST by Allegra
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To: Sidebar Moderator

You signed up on 05-09-2001 just to post this? ;-)


163 posted on 01/17/2009 7:12:13 AM PST by Allegra
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To: Judith Anne; Brad's Gramma

You are welcome to use them...They hang above my computer with this:

I don’t have a weight problem. It’s a furniture problem. My chest has fallen into my drawers.


164 posted on 01/17/2009 7:17:26 AM PST by hoosiermama (Berg is a liberal democrat. Keyes is a conservative. Obama is bringing us together already!)
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To: Sidebar Moderator

I am delighted that you have researched and are aware of these techniques. That means you may be ready. Please remain vigilant!


165 posted on 01/17/2009 7:20:27 AM PST by Lazamataz (Illegal Zombies: Just Eating the Brains that Ordinary Americans Won't Eat)
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To: Allegra
Actually today I have on two pairs since it's unbelievably cold here.

One is a nice pair of black silk and those are covered with a nice fluffy set made of Merino wool, a light grey in color.

I've topped that off with a yummy pair of fuzzy slippers that Mrs. L (who has MUCH love for me) got me for Christmas.

Our best to you my dear.

L

166 posted on 01/17/2009 7:28:50 AM PST by Lurker ("America is at that awkward stage. " Claire Wolfe, call your office.)
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To: Lurker

Icelandic wool is better, and warmer. Every freeper knows that.

(as an example)


167 posted on 01/17/2009 8:34:22 AM PST by xcamel (The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: Star Traveler
My own selfish motives for posting this, is simply, that some posters are hammering me... LOL...

Let 'em hammer you. They're hammering me too. No big deal. It's just killing certain individuals here that Jim won't zot our accounts. I know every morning they're clicking on our names (supposedly there's about 25 of us) expecting to see "this account has been banned or suspended" and it's eating them up that we're still here, refusing to allow their absurd claims to go unchallenged on a public forum.

BTW, I like the "Bagdad Bob" analogy. It's perfect.

168 posted on 01/17/2009 9:02:55 AM PST by Drew68
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To: Drew68

Yeah, about the Baghdad Bob analogy — it’s exactly what some are doing... and you gotta laugh about that one...


169 posted on 01/17/2009 9:26:00 AM PST by Star Traveler
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To: Lurker

Hm...s that technique number 4?


170 posted on 01/17/2009 10:14:52 AM PST by rlmorel ("A barrel of monkeys is not fun. In fact, a barrel of monkeys can be quite terrifying!")
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To: Allegra
"...You signed up on 05-09-2001 just to post this? "

ROTFLMAO! It is posts like THAT that make me login to FR nearly every day...:)

171 posted on 01/17/2009 10:31:41 AM PST by rlmorel ("A barrel of monkeys is not fun. In fact, a barrel of monkeys can be quite terrifying!")
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To: Sidebar Moderator

Bump! ;)


172 posted on 01/17/2009 12:52:15 PM PST by LibertyRocks ( http://LibertyRocks.wordpress.com ~ Pro-Palin & NObama Gear : http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: TigersEye

I did see where Obama dropped his Blackberry and SS picked it up for him. The article I read was hoping it broke and it would solve the legal problem of POTUS having his own phone line and the legal problems it can cause. Obama will consistently buck the system and do it anyway. Maybe they will tap his ultra secret phone calls like they did Blago. Hee!


173 posted on 01/17/2009 4:40:57 PM PST by MirandaRietz
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To: MirandaRietz

I thought your point about Zer0 using his network of phone/web minions was very interesting. That immediately made me think of his Blackberry mishap. He can summon instant responses from his web-zombies.


174 posted on 01/17/2009 5:08:47 PM PST by TigersEye (80 million men. One shot each.)
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To: xcamel; little jeremiah; MHGinTN; Kevmo; lucysmom

I don’t follow the fairtax stuff very closely. There’s only so many hours in a day. Here’s something from LJ on a fairtax disruptor who migrated to the CoLB threads for more. LJ, if you want to proceed on hitting the abuse button and establishing trollhood with the poster, that seems to be the process. I don’t trust the process. It isn’t out in the open, too secretive, too capricious, and a person could be accused of being a troll without ever having a chance to defend herself. That doesn’t sound like the proper conservative approach. And besides, with the admin mod first kicking out “searchin” the troll for keyword abuse and then another admin mod refusing to look into the same sort of thing later on, I don’t have much confidence that trollhood would be any better handled.

Interview, Orly Taitz: Chief Justice Roberts Calls Conference on Obama Challenge: Lightfoot v. Bowen
Saturday, January 17, 2009 3:15:26 PM · 1,086 of 1,114
little jeremiah to MHGinTN; Kevmo
lucysmom has posted exclusively, up until recently, on the Fair Tax thread/s. Someone said yesterday on the Trolling thread that there are people posting on the Fair Tax issue using Alinsky methods. Those methods are being used extensively here as well. The motives are not to help discern truth or promote discussion, the motives are to blurr and hide the truth, and foil discussion.

Using nastiness, disrespect and agressive derision as tactics, when called on this, they play the victim card and say others are calling them names.

They think no one sees their methodolgy, but they are wrong. Many people just don’t want to participate on these - my conjecture - because they don’t want the dog pack to bark at and bite them. Looks like another method to control the discussion.

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175 posted on 01/17/2009 7:53:03 PM PST by Kevmo ( It's all over for this Country as a Constitutional Republic. ~Leo Donofrio, 12/14/08)
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To: Kevmo

There is keyword abuse on this thread, I hit abuse about it a while ago, now there are more keywords, and hoosiermama said to try hitting abuse again.

What’s the point of alerting mods to stuff like this if they don’t pay attention to it?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2162033/posts?page=1115

KEYWORDS: 114birthers; 8balls; 911truthers; bho2008; birthcertificate; birthers; certifigate; conspiracytheories; eligibility; getalife; itsover; nutballs; obama; obamanoncitizenissue; robertscourt; scotus; screwballs; trollsonparade; whereisrush; Click to Add Keyword


176 posted on 01/17/2009 8:10:51 PM PST by little jeremiah (Leave illusion, come to the truth. Leave the darkness, come to the light.)
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To: Admin Moderator; hoosiermama

Oopse - meant to ping Admin and hoosiermama to my comment about keywords.


177 posted on 01/17/2009 8:12:01 PM PST by little jeremiah (Leave illusion, come to the truth. Leave the darkness, come to the light.)
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To: Star Traveler; Admin Moderator; All

I haven’t read your post, but I think I’ll take the admin moderator’s offer up and hit the abuse button & call you out as a troll, which is basically what I’ve been doing on that other thread. So I’ll hit the abuse button and see what kind of exchange is required to prove that you fit the definition of troll as stated on this thread.


178 posted on 01/17/2009 8:14:11 PM PST by Kevmo ( It's all over for this Country as a Constitutional Republic. ~Leo Donofrio, 12/14/08)
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To: little jeremiah

What’s the point of alerting mods to stuff like this if they don’t pay attention to it?
***Pretty much exactly why I haven’t bothered. I do not understand it. The effect it has on discussion is to embolden trolls.


179 posted on 01/17/2009 8:18:22 PM PST by Kevmo ( It's all over for this Country as a Constitutional Republic. ~Leo Donofrio, 12/14/08)
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To: little jeremiah; Sidebar Moderator

I also hit the abuse button. Twice That’s what we were told to do. Maybe moderator is at lunch, bathroombreak, or “busy”...

I’m sure they will monitor this thread as requested and remove the keyword abuse, again and again and again. Who ever is doing it replaces words almost as soon as they are removed if the pervious pattern is continued..


180 posted on 01/17/2009 8:20:43 PM PST by hoosiermama (Berg is a liberal democrat. Keyes is a conservative. Obama is bringing us together already!)
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