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.
If you think someone is trolling, just click abuse on the thread and we'll look into it. Just remember that critically thinking on a subject isn't necessarily trolling. We've had reports (not from you) on people who where simply discussing or debating the legal issues that we didn't see as trolling.
If the case is strong, debating the details will strengthen your argument and shore up your case. If the case is not strong, it will expose holes you can fill.
Thanks... I just didn't want to flood the thread with another post. I had forgotten that it didn't word-wrap with the <PRE> tags (which I had used for the "classic look." :-)
LOL! Ok if I borrow that sometimes?? :)
Decades of experience has shown that the most effective way to deal with trolling is to ignore those who troll.
You might have heard the expression, "Don't feed the trolls." Just like a fisherman trolling a lake and not getting any bites, someone trolling will give up if nobody takes the bait. It's when they get a reaction that they continue.
Thank you for pointing this out.
As my tagline leaves out, it wouldn't have been much good if Paul Revere had been gunned down as a troll. It's bad enough dodging musket balls from head-in-sand types, let alone the grapeshot of the Mods! :-)
AGR, I thought you may find this interesting.
HollyB
bump
The "Look at this terrible article" gambit, followed by mild criticism
The troll hopes to force many readers to at least read the article, which would otherwise be totally ignored.
You too, huh? This place is a MESS!!!! ;)
Keyword spam?
This was Bernie Ward's entire Schtick. You remember? the San Francisco Radio pervert who finally got busted and disappeared?
It was painful listening to that loser.
If you think someone is trolling, just click abuse on the thread and we’ll look into it.
***Is the process out in the open or is it cloaked in such a way that we can only see the end result? I prefer an open system, lots of daylight, so that others can learn from the mistakes of current trolls and, perhaps, people like me might learn what constitutes trolldom if we have the wrong idea. That brings up another question — is this the Free Republic definition of Troll?
Just remember that critically thinking on a subject isn’t necessarily trolling.
***Quite the contrary. It’s the absense of critical thinking that is trolling, as set forward in the definition and the first thing mentioned, “An individual who ...regularly posts specious arguments”.
We’ve had reports (not from you) on people who where simply discussing or debating the legal issues that we didn’t see as trolling.
***So it appears there’s a cloaked approach rather than out in the open. How will all of us learn if the process is hidden? It doesn’t strike me as healthy that we could pull the trigger on 25 trolls and it would be a mystery to them as well as those arguing alongside them. People should have a chance to change their behavior.
If the case is strong, debating the details will strengthen your argument and shore up your case. If the case is not strong, it will expose holes you can fill.
***Do you mean the case for whether a person is a troll? Or do you mean the case for an issue? If we’re constantly covering the same arguments then it’s a clear case “that they have no real interest in learning about the topic at hand”.
It is one thing to request clarification of an issue and state you don’t agree.
It is another to take every sentence of every post and state an opposing statement. Argueing IS NOT debating an issue.
OTOH when the poster asks a questions is given material to read that answers that question...and immediatly posts a negative without reading said material. It is obvious that the person is only trying to disrupt the flow of the thread. This is a technique used by posters who appear and disappear in multiples.
I posted to one earlier after giving them a link to this thread which they obviously ignored (no one reads that fast):
It’s like a pregnant girl who doesn’t know which one of the football team is her baby’s daddy......swears she’s not a slut.
Compare your postings with those described by the moderator’s post...
If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck....It sure ain’t no elephant
Ping!
While were in discussion, is there anything that can be done to the individual that fill the keyword space with garbage? It seems to appear when certain groups make their appearance.
Is too.
< /Monty Python >
IS SNOT !
Is this story real? There are a couple (maybe more) standard American English inconsistencies--notably,the more British "favour" vs "favor" and "abusing there powers" that caught my eye. There was another sentence that sounded a bit "off", but I'm too lazy to look it up...
Oh, wait...am I being a Troll by asking this question?
“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.”
Just tell me who they are and I will hunt them down like the dogs they are and will kick their @sses! ;)
“It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position.”
Kin I have one a dem dare ‘Moderater Poz-ish-eons?’ :)
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