[HOAX] I Was a Paid Internet Shill [HOAX]

To all the people saying they have seen something like this before being posted on ATS can you provide links? I cannot seem to find it.

Also, I am not 100% convinced about the OP's story however I do believe this goes on.

Originally posted by Eidolon23

Originally posted by torqpoc
reply to post by ExShill

 

Anyway, nice prose.. don't believe it for a second. A company who employs shills would not be in a derelict building, and that was your give away.

I picture it looking exactly like one of those fly-by-night telemarketing operations, and for the same reasons: low overhead, minimal paper trail, high mobility.

It makes perfect sense to me.

I know exactly what you mean, having worked in a place like that during the GBic boom, half the building was falling apart. But that was an entirely different business model, so i'm going with my gut on this one and would expect things to be a little more "up market" for this kind of enterprise.

Appreciate the response

T

In fact, the more I think about it its more probable that the good ones don't get paid, but are on weird leashes somehow considered for advancement based on their work, ie they're trying to earn their wings.

reply to post by MegaMind


And yet one of the primary patterns I've observed is a tendency to go radio-silent when confronted with a dogged member with irrefutable, well-presented arguments. They just *poof* vanish right off the thread, or only engage with less challenging marks.

They are sprinters, not long-distance runners.

I don't know if I believe the OP's story. But I know there are shills here. I watch them come into action every time we have a thread on solar flares, UFO's and other topics. Not going to name names, but these people are so obvious. They work together too, because whenever a certain topic comes up, they start in with asking for a well known poster to come in and debunk it, and then they argue argue argue, then high fives all around.

you know who you are!

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
Post a photocopy of your W-2 tax forms with personal information redacted and then we will believe you.

Shills get paid in unmarked carbon credits and get a 1-time autographed copy of "An Inconvenient Truth".

Really, if shills exist, they are not going to be free-lance nobodies off the street. C I A and it's comparable agencies around the globe would be employer #1, and probably with a primary mission of gathering intel, provoking/inciting "enemies" to reveal themselves, not influencing opinion.

Employer #2 could be political orgs or corporate lobbyists, but again, they aren't just going to select some obscure schmo off the street and give him a bunch of secure information.
"Hi Mr Schmo, here's a top-secret and illegal list of user profiles we obtained through highly nefarious means. Be sure you take that home with you, and it's ok if you quit tomorrow and spill your guts on the interweb."

Originally posted by Eidolon23
reply to post by MegaMind

 

And yet one of the primary patterns I've observed is a tendency to go radio-silent when confronted with a dogged member with irrefutable, well-presented arguments. They just *poof* vanish right off the thread, or only engage with less challenging marks.

They are sprinters, not long-distance runners.

When they have been had badly, with their face turning red, you are right ...

However, I have encountered my fair share and they put in the overtime ... milking that clock ...

Originally posted by Eidolon23

Originally posted by torqpoc
reply to post by ExShill

 

Anyway, nice prose.. don't believe it for a second. A company who employs shills would not be in a derelict building, and that was your give away.

I picture it looking exactly like one of those fly-by-night telemarketing operations, and for the same reasons: low overhead, minimal paper trail, high mobility.

It makes perfect sense to me.

Such operations have no need to hide that cheaply. They would have had at least a decent office with computers, data bases, and comfortable chairs. To be a call center requires some capital and suitable data connections. They have no need to move frequently. Why (if I must ask)? Are they doing something illegal? Who is going to smoke them out and why? The story does not make sense on that score alone and that is a major flaw in his argument that he is telling the truth and nothing but the truth.

Megamind hit it spot on in his posts on page 6.

Funny, I don't see any of the regular shills in this thread! So true that the paid shills post all day long, some 7 days a week till all hours of the night. There is one on ATS that annoys the heck out of me and he posts 7 days a week from about 8 am to 11 pm, posting almost every hour of the day. If you ever suspect this, just check the member's posts on their member page.

Obviuosly we can't prove their shills, but if it walks like a dog and talks like a dog......

We should all be aware of this, and try to engage them whenever possible, as hard as that may be!

reply to post by primus2012


Exactly what I posted. And some make good threads. They would be very protective of their reputations too. They would be under the secrecy acts, not just common hired folk. And I doubt they would get paid, its probably working overtime, for some of the ones I suspect of being on assignment, work day and night, perhaps even share an account, for agencies. And they may get bonus's but probably aren't paid direct incomes. And/or earn advancements this way. And there is probably heavy comptetition.

CIA types, FBI, miliary, basically a certain of being a black op.

Who in their right mind would pay someone to argue with people on sites like this?

First of all, these sites house some of the most egocentric, stubborn people on the Internet. You won't be changing anyone's views, any time soon. In fact, typically, challenging someone is the surefire way to cause them to dig their heels in even further to defend their stance. Turn a debunker into a UFO believer? Cause a truther to become an anti-truther? Turn a hater of Israel into a lover of Israel?

They may have well just asked you to make pigs fly.

Second, the sites you mentioned are ridiculous. You think the people at these sites of any power whatsoever in regards to things like relations with Israel? Why Israel at all? The only possible entity that would care what people think of Israel would be a government entity. When is the last time we had to vote on a pro or anti Israel policy? Do you honestly think that Joe Citizen on the street giving two damns about Israel matters to the government?

Aside from the silly theory of paid shills (I believe they exist for certain, very focused reasons, and are honestly not that common), your entire story reeks of "I've seen too many spy movies." You are simply preying on the suspicious nature of folks on sites like this to try to convince them your ridiculous story is true. How many "paid shills" are on this site? Probably next to none. Or.. none at all, I'd guess. I get a laugh at all the times I've been called a paid disinfo agent, just on this site! If you are pro or anti anything here, if you provide any sort of a decent argument, you will be called a paid disinfo "agent."

reply to post by primus2012


Compartmentalization ... and a need to know ...

Seriously how much secret info do you need to be a shill?

You could send me a check (maybe someone already does ) and I could work from home ...

Just tell me what themes you want me to argue for or against ...

If I'm no good quit sending the checks ...

... If you do I'll come on here and tell everyone I am an ex-shill ...

But you don't care that I do cause your other shills will attack me ...

and no one will believe me anyway ...

Not too hard really ...

edit: see I'm pretty good ... will work for food, etc ...

Originally posted by SavedOne

Originally posted by Eidolon23
And for the rest of us: become empowered Users. Spot the shill should be our new Whack-a-Mole.

And of course a "shill" is anyone that doesn't agree with you, right? Surely you can see the dangerous waters you're wading into with that approach. Losing a debate? Declare your opponent a "shill"! Game, set, match! This isn't what ATS is about.

They have a certain method, and they hardly stray from it. Especially when they work in groups. They aren't very good at hiding themselves either. It's not just a matter of disagreeing, it's a way of purposefully and intentionally setting out to create doubt. The shill presents himself/herself as someone highly educated on a few certain subjects. They work to gain some form of credibility and make buddies who believe in them. Then when a certain topic comes up that needs some disinfo treatment, their buddies come rolling in and call for that poster to debunk it to death until people are arguing and the thread gets shut down. It's their way.

Usually the goal is to present yourself as credible and educated, make buddies, work within your group, give certain topics the disinfo treatment. Create doubt, present "facts" that are skewed, get your buddies to argue with others within the thread. Get your buddies to back you up by saying you are the man/woman and you know your stuff. Get them to thank you for saving the day with your mad debunking skills. Start personal attacks among those that disagree with the shill, then BAM thread gets shut down. Shill has done their job, got the disinfo in, and the thread can go no where else.

I'd love to name names, but I'm not gonna. As I said they know who they are and I've watched this for some time now, the same group of people on ATS.

Originally posted by MegaMind
reply to post by primus2012

 

Compartmentalization ... and a need to know ...

Seriously how much secret info do you need to be a shill?

Someone could send me a check (maybe they already do

) and I could work from home ...

Just tell me what themes you want me to argue for or against ...

If I'm no good quit sending the checks ...

Not too hard really ...

edit on 4-4-2012 by MegaMind because: (no reason given)

Well for starters, the hugest secret of them all is "We're going to pay you to influence people and undermine others on the subject of _____."

Oh and by the way, some of them have two and three different member names on here, but you can tell who is who by their style of writing and thinking.

Shills exist without a doubt. Spending my time in ATS has made me realize this truth. If the OP is telling a true account then good for him and good for us by making us aware. If the OP is making up a story, so be it but good for us anyway because it makes others aware of the possibility of paid shills with added context, regardless if it is based on fiction. Sometimes fiction speaks more about reality than non fiction. 1984 is worth a half dozen non-fiction books on totalitarian dystopias.

The 9/11 and alternative energy forums are littered with shills. Political forums not so much (a few here a few there) because more conventional propaganda tactics have already swayed a good portion, and the sheep end up herding themselves. If I were to hire paid shills for an agenda I would flood the not so known areas where opinions aren't as defined because of either lack of information, or lack of thought. But they would have to be areas of interest that will have a future impact on my given industry. Free energy/alternative is a good example.

reply to post by primus2012


And? With that info I will do what exactly?

Show my pay stub? What does that prove?

Will it say "shill work" on the memo line?



Like I said just point me and shoot!!

Originally posted by Chewingonmushrooms
Shills exist without a doubt. Spending my time in ATS has made me realize this truth. If the OP is telling a true account then good for him and good for us by making us aware. If the OP is making up a story, so be it but good for us anyway because it makes others aware of the possibility of paid shills with added context, regardless if it is based on fiction. Sometimes fiction speaks more about reality than non fiction.1984 is worth a half dozen non-fiction books on totalitarian dystopias.

9/11 forums are littered with shills as well as alternative energy forums. Political forums not so much (a few here a few there) because more conventional propaganda tactics have already swayed a good portion, and the sheep end up herding themselves.

You know, I almost expect it on the political and 9/11 forums. But when they flood the UFO and solar flare threads...... gets ya to thinking..... why.

reply to post by Unity_99

I think of them as military/paramilitary/fbi/cia even, the desk jobs. Not just people who are out of work as that would leave an enormous amount of people who know too much. But the dark side minion jobs where they have you contracted and under their thumb, threats to the family the whole bit. That is how I see it.

Consider for a moment that State assets account for a very small percentage of the field. Virtual states, corporate entities, political parties, marketers, and more all stand to benefit from public opinion engineering. Probably there are "consultant" style high-ticket shills, and probably there are trashy little operations like the one described in the OP.

Volume vs. quality. You get what you pay for.

reply to post by Aisling


I know in this site, most of the shills are obviously debunkers because no one is going to pay a shill for posting lunatic fringe theories, unless of course the theory is similar to some real life theory which is unknown (and they would like to keep it that way), and is done for the sake of "strawmanning it. UFO forums are good examples in that a paid shill can post video or picture that is a known hoax for the purpose of getting it labeled as a hoax and in doing that influencing others on the fence on the subject to believe that all UFO pics and videos are fakes ("another example of a fake UFO, therefore all UFO are fakes").