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"Shill Hysteria" Is Destroying the Conspiracy Theorist World

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posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 01:42 PM
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Just to point out my sig...



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 01:59 PM
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olaru12
reply to post by schuyler
 


You sure raked me over the coals on that one but I wasn't being a shill; I was just expressing what I thought and felt.

Even honest discourse can be misinterpreted as shillary. I've been called worse as well.


OF COURSE YOU WEREN'T!!! Nobody, including me, SAID you were! You were accusing Friedman of being one, which is what this thread is about. Do you understand that? This thread is not about calling out shills; it's about pointing out how other people (in this case, you) call OTHER PEOPLE shills. That isn't "honest discourse."

Further, I never mentioned you by name. You were anonymous in this thread until you spoke up.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 02:18 PM
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reply to post by Phage
 


I lol'd, as I've been getting called that over the past few days.

ETA:

How do people get that gig? Id post propaganda for pay, if anyone out there is listening?
...
...


edit on 16-3-2014 by benrl because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 02:38 PM
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This is 2014, and I don't doubt for a second that shills exist, and that goes double for sites like ATS as well as sites with any MSM discourse...

Don't forget, shills are not ONLY shilling for an organization; they are shilling to serve a certain mindset/agenda OF that organization i.e. CIA, for example. Therefore while they might appear as simply trolling, the halting of ideas and divisions they create is well within their modus operandi. One of the main motivations of a shill, especially on what one would term a conspiracy forum, is to stop productive conversation at all costs. Their job is to derail, and cause division on ANY topic that might attempt to a) discuss ideas that b) thwart their employer's agenda.

That being said, whenever I see people genuinely interested in discussing a topic, and then a swarm of people repeatedly try to derail said topic, they are going down as a shill in my book. Because while they could create their OWN thread about why "such and such is a foolish and pointless discussion", they won't. They will batter any topical discourse until it can no longer be had and the thread is either closed or drops by the wayside. When they succeed, any valid discussion has become nothing more than a waste of time for interested parties, and, in the world at large (stepping outside the box), no change can ever be implemented or improved upon - because the very nature of shilling is to PREVENT THAT AT ALL COSTS. Oftentimes you can check their post history and find the same type of behaviour on the majority of topics they post in. And while some of these people may be simply trolls; the best way for shills to hide is in plain sight and blend in with them, while still accomplishing their goals.

I am not speaking of mere disagreements herein, as that is ABSOLUTELY the point of the whole Deny Ignorance schism; it is the PATTERN of REPEATEDLY disagreeing, several times in one thread, NOTABLY by dropping 1-2 line responses, snark, with no NEW refutation points EVER added, that make me class one as a shill.

While I will never accuse someone outright, I may point out obvious tactics, so others viewing can come to their own conclusions.


edit on 16-3-2014 by MoonBlossom because: Spelling



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 02:43 PM
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It’s, to me, just the nature of the beast, the messed up human being….If we were perfect enough not to be foolish, we wouldn’t need conspiracy theories.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 03:25 PM
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NVM
edit on 16-3-2014 by OpinionatedB because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 04:39 PM
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Excellent thread.

I daresay that I have seen a fair amount of this through the years. I learned the hard way, it took a while, that once they latch on to you, the subject matter they wish to drown out is best let go.

They are unrelenting, unmerciful, and wierd things start to happen. In real life. Am I paranoid? You betcha. Did things happen in real life? You betcha! Were they connected? I can swear so, because, only when I backed off, so did they.

Can I prove it? Only circumstantially. But, once I backed off, so did they. It was frightening enough that it reached into real life, to make me withdraw, stop posting for months, and made me have real, palpable fear of my government.

Once I backed off, stopped posting, and made it appear I was no longer a threat, had actually even "changed my opinion", the posters "disappeared", got banned, though some are back under other pseudonyms. I didn't care so much, because they left me alone in real life.

I am not, however, hysterical, but, it is also very easily testable, provable, and if it didn't represent a real life effect to me, also proveable and repeatable, and has been tested to prove to someone else, I would do it again.

When someone starts reaching into your real life over forum postings, it tends to make you rethink not only your need to reach out, but just exactly where you live. You have to decide what is more important, trying to get "truth" out, or, the perceived threat they try to make you feel.

And, admittedly, that's what it was. Perceieved threat, but it was very real. Very intense, and enough to give one pause. The first thing I had to ask was how they knew who I was. I know it wasn't ATS that was involved, so once revealtions came out about government spying capabilities, those questions answered themselves. I had always heard 'paranoid stories' about the government, but that was how I had always treated them. It's very different when it happens to you. You have to say, wow, all those stories had some truth behind them afterall. But, you also know if you say anything, everyone will think you are crazy, like probably most everyone reading this, right now. And, I don't care.

I had never made any real effort to hide my identity, my fault. Now, I don't bother. It doesn't matter. If they want to find you, they will, and ATS doesn't have to do a thing to aid them. I trust ATS, I don't trust our government.

Who was I that made me think I was so important? No one, except I was very verbal, very vocal, insistant on certain topics, ones that hit nerves apparently. Enough so, that it even surprises me. At first, I almost enjoyed it. I toyed qith them. Then, I realized the reality of it. Now, I kind of don't care. I don't wish to reinflame it, and won't, but I also won't hold back, ether, if I want to discuss anything. There are only two topics I will no longer discuss online, and I won't even name them.

You just have to decide what is more important to you. Trying to convince a bunch of people, against the governments' wishes, you may be onto something, or, your peace of mind. In the end, what do you really stand to gain from it? Smug satisfaction? That's about it, because, you will soon be forgotten when the next cool story comes along anyhow.

I deduced it was't worth it. So, you could say the shills won. In the end, that's all it is about, winning or losing what looks like to the casual observer, an online "argument". But, when it touches real life, it becomes much, much more.

And the reality is, no one on ATS or any other forums will care about the real life stuff, aside from some morbid momentary fascination. After that, you are on your own. You quickly find out you have NO friends.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 05:05 PM
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shills are insane



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 05:33 PM
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network dude

PsykoOps
Accusing another member of being a shill is actually specifically forbidden in T&C. If you see that happening just report the post. That's the best thing you can do.


And this is enforced?


I've seen it work many times.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 05:37 PM
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I love the title of this thread...
It's so exciting don't you think..

Ah the images it conjures up lol


"Shill Hysteria" Love it
edit on Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:37:51 -0500375America/ChicagoSunday4 by rigel4 because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 05:45 PM
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theirs always been shills... even before the internet.. and there will always be shills



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 06:30 PM
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reply to post by GRADUALSTORM1
 


Shills are everywhere in life. Known by various names. Since the beginning of humanity. And it's a little bit of a downer to see this thread, "Shill Hysteria" Is Destroying the Conspiracy Theorist World" which was just started today, on the front page of ATS with 3 pages of replies, many of the replies doing exactly what the thread title states. Paranoid people obsess about shills. I filter them in and out of my brain while reading, whatever you call them, people who disagree, just want to argue, different point of view, paid propaganda, etc.
I would say it must be a slow news day but it's not. Plenty going on in the conspiracy world. My higher opinion of ATS members is floundering a bit here.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 06:45 PM
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I think there has been threads on shills.
Perhaps we need a balance anyways because there's an abundance of fear mongering. That gets on my nerves the most. The people who make up a topic to get attention for themselves pretending to give warnings because they care.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 06:45 PM
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I have been called shill, troll, crazy, lunatic , ignorant
Yawn...
What I am is effective, when I can be bothered and this annoys
those with lame arguments and low brow reasoning.
I think being called a shill is a victory in my own
twisted way.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 07:24 PM
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reply to post by Libertygal
 

I cut my teeth in UseNet. If you don't know what I mean by this declaration PM me. Some asshat cop there (I didn't know he was a cop initially) threatened me and then my family because he couldn't get the better of me using words. To make a long story short, I got the better of him IRL. There was a lesson in that for both of us. What I want you to know in public, is that sometimes people think pretty highly of their opinions. Nothing shillish about the UseNet forum or the players involved.

ATS is well moderated. The owners don't allow this site to be put at risk. If that's shilling, which hardly requires an expressed opinion, that's about the limit of my concerned observations. I firmly believe this site is electronically monitored for classified spillage (what isn't?) ... it goes hand-in-glove with the website's name. Nothing more.



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 07:38 PM
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S+F good post OP!

I've stopped using ATS as much as I used to because I noticed that a few individuals on this site seem to consistently post "hoax" or whatever on the first page of any thread that is remotely controversial, effectively derailing the thread and any sort of serious discussion on the subject matter. I don't know how they are able to make it on first page every freakin' time, but they do, and that's suspicious to me. As soon as these users yell "hoax", a bunch of other sheeple chime and start doing the same, and then it turns into a huge circle jerk. It's thought control.
edit on 16-3-2014 by phantomlord because: typo



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 07:41 PM
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reply to post by rigel4
 


Don't forget egotistical... you left that one out!



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 07:48 PM
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OpinionatedB
reply to post by rigel4
 


Don't forget egotistical... you left that one out!


Ah.. Thank you, I'm not as sharp as I used to be.
I did indeed miss that one.


Good night my brothers



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 07:50 PM
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reply to post by rigel4
 


lol... goodnight!



posted on Mar, 16 2014 @ 08:02 PM
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reply to post by mikegrouchy
 


Interesting, perhaps that's the reason I have often been accused of being ''a spy''.

Perhaps it takes a certain level of intelligence, clarity of sight, insight, fast thinking, analytical skills etc that those excelling at their jobs are the ideal candidates for spying.

Spy scouts, headhunters etc obviously recruit intelligently.




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