Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'

I found this an interesting read and the mention of abovetopsecret.com on this board definitely made things clear to me. Members of other forums are visiting this site and signaling out our vices.

External Link

A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com) 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.'

What are your thoughts on this? And would you agree or disagree that this kind of thing does happen on the ats boards?

Very interesting info you found.I think that ATS isn't that under control as it says in the info you provided,but I do suspect it has it's own share of bad seeds taking in consideration the size of the board an the nature of the subjects discussed here.It is possible ,but unlikely,seeing that you would need more than one man to fully control the forum.But who knows,maybe the gov decides to tackle the internet problem,deciding ATS is a threat to them,if not now in the near future.I made a copy of all the techniques described just in case they "accidentally" get deleted or "disappear" somehow.

reply to post by nahsik

yes, it probably happens on occasion. it seems a lot of trouble to go to though. i don't know if it's common, i never noticed it as a large issue. the writer suggested it was common on ats, and while he linked to the site, he didn't bother linking to a specific thread, which might suggest he is writing from a position of conjecture and......ill feeling.

maybe not, just a suggestion.

It does happen

If you look at the following thread on ATS I have shown proof of Chinese, American intelligence communities posting on ATS,

The Israeli's have also started doing it openly too:

Paid Disinfo Agents - ATS Members are Watching You

So yes it does happen, but any critical reader should take anything posted by the strength of the contributers previous work, the same as you would trust more a scientist giving results with many years of proven experiential research, than the evidence of a high school kid in his Garage with a Lab.

So the what the site mentions above, is actually reverse spin, they are infact trying to Crack the true core of ATS which is Deny Ignorance and the search for truth. By stating all our posts and contributers are doing this, they are no better than the paid disinfo agent's, and maybe so.

The world is full of spin, it is up to the reader to check the source, validity and previous honesty of the bearer of information before accepting it as truth.

But as I have shown, in the link, well I am certainly on their case, Will always catch them, name and shame them if I have the time and it is of particular importance, and many others are so here to.

Kind Regards,

Elf

One of the things that moderators do is look for "sock puppets." We don't get them all, but we have shut down quite a few people who open up sock puppet accounts and then pretend to argue with themselves -- or agree with themselves, for that matter.

This is actually standard practice on most moderated boards on the Internet. I've shut down many of them, as have the other moderators. A few of them try it again or try the old "it's my cousin and he lives here" (after which we point out that the account holder and the cousin have the same writing style and make the exact same spelling and grammar mistakes.)

I don't think the writer of the article understands just how easy it is for any moderated area on the Internet (board, blogsite, whatever) to identify and shut down sock puppets. On huge sites (YouTube... or here) it's impossible to catch all of them, but we do catch many of them.

Originally posted by Byrd
I don't think the writer of the article understands just how easy it is for any moderated area on the Internet (board, blogsite, whatever) to identify and shut down sock puppets. On huge sites (YouTube... or here) it's impossible to catch all of them, but we do catch many of them.

You must only get the REALLY, REALLY stupid sock puppets.

From my apartment I can access about 5 unsecured wireless connections. If I wanted to I could have 5 accounts with 5 different IPs. And changing ones writing style isn't that hard(for anyone over 15).

Vas

reply to post by nahsik


I wouldn't doubt it. ATS has had some real Moderator Nazi's... at least a while back they did. I haven't noticed any lately. I never understood their over zealous behavior... their extreme concern over their public image.

I think this kind of thing does happen here on ats but also on other forum boards. Were just lucky to have moderators who work tirelessly to fight these kinds of problems and others as they arise.

Originally posted by Vasilis Azoth

Originally posted by Byrd
I don't think the writer of the article understands just how easy it is for any moderated area on the Internet (board, blogsite, whatever) to identify and shut down sock puppets. On huge sites (YouTube... or here) it's impossible to catch all of them, but we do catch many of them.

You must only get the REALLY, REALLY stupid sock puppets.

From my apartment I can access about 5 unsecured wireless connections. If I wanted to I could have 5 accounts with 5 different IPs. And changing ones writing style isn't that hard(for anyone over 15).

Vas

Oh, we know. We've caught a few of those as well.

We're not perfect or all powerful, nor do we catch everyone. But (as I said) we do catch many of them.

They are basically using some psychological techniques that involve social proof.

A good book on that is Robert Cialdini's

en.wikipedia.org...