"Plants" in internet forums

Originally posted by MagicWand67
reply to post by 3n19m470

 

I do think this occurs quite often. I also think that some accounts are being used by more than one person. You can notice differences in their writing style and the time of day they post.

Certain topics have members who appear almost instantly in a new thread. Always to debunk or derail the topic and it doesn't matter what time it is. It's like they have a system to alert them whenever a new thread is posted on that topic.

They do. I know of at least one type of software capable of just such a thing. If that certain software weren't recently purchased by a certain company where a certain close family member is employed, I'd just out it. But suffice to say the tech exists. This particular company uses it for stealthy advertising, not "paid shilling" but it could easily go that way and who knows what similar and more powerful "top secret" programming is out there.

The prevailing argument I've seen against plants existing in this thread is that people have been falsely accused of being a plant. That hardly negates the premise.

reply to post by guanyu


It's no secret at all that Cybercommand is using such techniques and software in their OSD Human social behavior modelling program.

If they have not already reached a point of veritable saturation and truly undetectable camouflage in Cyberspace? They soon will. The idea that they can be detected by posting habits or depth of "persona" are pretty much out the window at this point - as even entry level hackers can easily create a persona that seems real. A few years back I helped a friend catch her husband cheating on her by creating an entirely fake ( and stunningly attractive ) artificial persona on the 'Net. A persona that had multiple social networking sites, online resumes, a large retinue of seemingly consistent "friends", and folders filled with not just pictures of the persona, but an entire family social life - totally fleshed out. All this was accomplished with a few hours and a quick search for pictures based upon this persons husbands known preferences ( dark hair, buxom build, goth dress ). I invested enough time to make the person appear real and whole - then turned over the passwords and URL's to the wife - who then used it to catch her husband red handed. Literally.

The point is that there really is not a way to detect the professionals any longer - so the only operationally sound response is to simply assume that everything is agenda based and then take on the added responsibility of fact checking what one reads. There have always been (at least) two sides to every story and people have always had to figure out which side of the line they choose to be on. So, in reality the only difference now is that non passionate posters might play that role without conviction and as a profession.

reply to post by Hefficide

But will that information have an effect on the many people who continually pshaw this thread?

Really a moderator should just reply with a final YES and close this thread.

reply to post by Hefficide


Heff, I'm only going to disagree on ONE thing you have stated.

There are THREE sides to every story. The two sides being discussed an somewhere in the middle is the truth.. Just one of those maxim's i tend to live by..

reply to post by vkey08




Which is why I put this in there:

(at least)

Seems science is now studying the effects of "trolls" on the internet. I always thought that whilst there was something to it, the effects would be minimal (the type of people on ATS generally pride themselves on critical thinking rather than herd mentality). Shows how much i know!

Trolls online comments skew perception of science

reply to post by MrSpad


How the heck did Jack Burton drive his truck to the South Pole? Was that where the pork chop express was heading on that dark and stormy night ? How about this one, the 'Government' says, infiltrate all conspiracy sites, does that include the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branch sites too? Or, what if that was really a 'Shadow' government person, and they were talking about infiltrating the 'shadow' ATS site? What would Lo Pan do? Were is Dr Quest, Race Bannon, and Johnny and Hadji when you need them? Yes Sir, the Check is in the mail !

Of course. They'd be dumb not to. Just look at how shook certain topics have the site owners shady shady shade

Originally posted by Rising Against

 

Nine times out of Ten, anyone getting labeled as a "plant", shill, dis-info agent, and any other variation of, is only labeled that way for disagreeing with another poster.

I agree.

That, or because they have, or are very much in the process of, losing an argument. The "shill" argument really does seem to be, to me at least, a last resort, an act of desperation and the like. A pathetic one too. It's a real pet peeve of mine and It's also a personal attack, one used to wholly discredit someone else, and it won't be allowed to happen here, and if I see it I know I'll call on it too.

I mean really, I do wish people would stop with it because honestly, it is just silly. Whether you believe they are here or not (I do not), there's no point in attempting to call it out other than to feed your own ego anyway. For arguments sake - If a shill is here, ignore them, move on and carry on trying to find your own personal truth. Don't give them the light of day. There, simple. Then again maybe I'm over simplifying it, but I'm yet to be provided with solid, or even any kind of, proof for their presence here.

I disagree, politely.

On the other side, people are called Conspiracy theorist, Truther, Birther, Climate denialist, Holocaust denyer, Anti-Semite, etc. I find THAT pathetic, especially when the person is not even claiming to have a "theory" but simply asks questions about things the government has control over but does not disclose.

I am opposed to any kind of personal attack, name-calling or labeling. But it is important for unassuming readers (such as myself not too long ago) to become aware of the possibility of government supported writers with the explicit goal of convincing the public of specific beliefs. Because I would have never expected them to exist when I was reading just general media forums.

The government has an interest in having the public believe certain things. Why would it NOT hire PR agents? There are many examples of far more vicious things we KNOW the government has done.

I do not know how any "solid proof" of such an agent could be available because only the government has access to other people's bank accounts. But whether or not they are being paid, I AM able to point to disinformation where, IMO, it is.

Originally posted by Hefficide

 

The point is that there really is not a way to detect the professionals any longer - so the only operationally sound response is to simply assume that everything is agenda based and then take on the added responsibility of fact checking what one reads. There have always been (at least) two sides to every story and people have always had to figure out which side of the line they choose to be on. So, in reality the only difference now is that non passionate posters might play that role without conviction and as a profession.

I would like to add/suggest that the government may also sponsor fake conspiracy theories, simply in order to then be able to discredit them, and to implicitly discredit all conspiracy theories.

Originally posted by lynxpilot
Would powerful establishments bother to install "plants" or moles into forums (such as this one) to try to subvert any ideology that is contradictory to the NWO status quo?

I think so.

I have often wondered about this. Not so much on conspiracy forums like this one. I kind of expect it here. It's forums that have nothing to do with conspiracies where I notice some posters who get seriously bent out of shape if you mention anything conspiracy related.

I can understand people being a bit incredulous about conspiracies. Hell, even I think some of them are just ridiculous. But it really makes you wonder when you can't breathe a word about it anywhere without "debunkers" coming out of the woodwork. You can talk about ghosts and goblins and not get attacked nearly as ferociously as you do if you question 9/11 or something.

The really weird thing is that they can be hard to spot. They do seem to be just ordinary members until they switch into debunking mode. If you research their posting history, it generally doesn't turn up anything suspicious. Makes me wonder if they would really go to all that trouble just to have a plant in a forum.

Originally posted by BrianFlanders

 

But it really makes you wonder when you can't breathe a word about it anywhere without "debunkers" coming out of the woodwork. You can talk about ghosts and goblins and not get attacked nearly as ferociously as you do if you question 9/11 or something.

I noticed the same thing. I am okay with ferocious attacks. What is difficult for me is the relentless name-calling, and misquoting.

I can understand people being a bit incredulous about conspiracies. Hell, even I think some of them are just ridiculous.

Please be aware when there is a conspiracy that sounds ridiculous, it may (or may not) be because your mind has been biased by hearing the same "official" story enough times.

Originally posted by ThinkingHuman
]Please be aware when there is a conspiracy that sounds ridiculous, it may (or may not) be because your mind has been biased by hearing the same "official" story enough times.

And the flip side is that constantly reading about far-fetched conspiracy theories may bias your mind towards accepting increasingly ridiculous theories.

Originally posted by DelMarvel

Originally posted by ThinkingHuman
Please be aware when there is a conspiracy that sounds ridiculous, it may (or may not) be because your mind has been biased by hearing the same "official" story enough times.

And the flip side is that constantly reading about far-fetched conspiracy theories may bias your mind towards accepting increasingly ridiculous theories.

No, the "official" story has the backing of the government and the MSM. Even a million conspiracy theorists cannot overpower their voice. Plus a "theory" requires quite a bit of research about information TPTB don't want us to know.

Are you naive enough to believe that there are no false flag attacks? Or that the government will disclose them willingly?

If you leave a trillion dollars on the table and go out, and you come back and half of it is gone, and the people you had watching over it tell you they do not know what happened to it - do you believe them?

Would powerful establishments bother to install "plants" or moles into forums (such as this one) to try to subvert any ideology that is contradictory to the NWO status quo?

I think so.

well, it is a perfect, and I mean perfect media to do just that. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can be who or what they want to pretend to be, in this anonymous realm. Even deeper down the rabbits hole I have suspicions as to where the mindset came from to even institute this media called "Inter-Net". Was it truly devised to connect the intellectual dots of mankind, or was it to ultimately "Hack" it, from Within?

We find ourselves members of a "Conspiracy" web site, and some members are quite obviously "Anti-Conspiracy", just a very simple question here is, why are you here? Oh sure, disagreements will come up as to the mechanics of any given conspiracy, that is a given knowing humanity is not "Perfect" but some just pound away at the status ques position as if nothing else exists...... Why?

I have found that Hacks, moles, and plants are most active only in certain areas of research. when you stumble into one of these subjects you are attacked with a vengeance. It is almost as if you are trying to communicate with someone who is Possessed, and, fighting to protect their way of life.

You call it the New World Order, I have another name for it.

There are probably a few. I doubt as many as we'd think, but probably a few.

Originally posted by ThinkingHuman
No, the "official" story has the backing of the government and the MSM. Even a million conspiracy theorists cannot overpower their voice.

ONE conspiracy theorist can overpower their voice for a given individual if that individual believes the alternative narrative and not the "official story."