Paid shills?, how it really works

Apparently, the federal shills don't just repost the disinformation in mainstream media. You can't assume that just because some ATS members parrot the conserveral Demopublican party line that they are paid to do so.

When paid shills are at work, they use much more sophisticated tactics as described below.

You’ve probably run into them before — those seemingly random antagonizers who always end up diverting the conversation in an online chat room or article comment section away from the issue at hand, and towards a much different agenda. Hot-button issues like illegal immigration, the two-party political system, the “war on terror” and even alternative medicine are among the most common targets of such attackers, known as internet “trolls” or “shills,” who in many cases are nothing more than paid lackeys hired by the federal government and other international organizations to sway and ultimately control public opinion.

Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “false flag operations” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “negative information” on various forums.

Yes, There Are Paid Government Trolls On Social Media, Blogs, Forums And Websites

According to infowars?

Ok.

Let me ask you this: have you developed a foolproof method of outing these guys without accusing the innocent and the opinionated?

Do we draw attention to their tactics and ask for clarification? Do we "follow the money" and ask how much they are getting paid to shill Alex Jones, for example?

I'm just trying to figure out where the line is here.

a reply to: 0zzymand0s

The premise of the OP is correct. We know this. If you have been following along you would know that not only does our "government" do this; but corporations as well.

Apparently, the federal shills don't just repost the disinformation in mainstream media

No one can dispute this.

Because that is what politicians ARE, and what they say is paid disinformation.

See those 535 congressman on Capitol Shill get paid for their opinions.

In cash, and by vote.

Never forget this people.

NEVER.

They do exist, but usually they're fairly easy to spot. They're shallow. They either do drive-bys and make a single post or their arguments have little depth to them because they're making the arguments off a fact sheet with no real substance to them.

While I 100% agree they're here, I have to be suspicious of your op!

You have used A Jones as an information source, yet he's gota be one of the biggest shills around! He's easily debunked, and that is one of the tactics used by shills, to post something thats easily debunked!

a reply to: BSndsMPBlk47

you don't really have to pay them since the beginning of the internet there have been people who do this constantly

originally posted by: ketsuko
They do exist, but usually they're fairly easy to spot. They're shallow. They either do drive-bys and make a single post or their arguments have little depth to them because they're making the arguments off a fact sheet with no real substance to them.

Oh thats so wrong!
They'll post pages and pages of stuff, and they'll stay with the thread to make sure they get the final few posts where they will post stuff like "Debunked Case closed"

I know they exist, I was one myself. Not on this website and no longer. No one believes me though.

The pay was decent and the work fun. Look for job postings for "political blogger" to get started in the field. Ultimately I quit because I needed better pay, and health insurance, which "they" didn't provide.

Oh and to identify paid shills, it's easy. They always have good spelling and grammar, that's one of the requirements of the job. It's also a requirement that they spend a minimum of four weeks "warming up" to the online communities they will be posting to. This involves four weeks of posting in off topic categories, gaining credibility and looking legitimate before delving into political issues.

They are encouraged to be thread starters, as threads get more exposure than individual comments.

Some websites had "paid status" donation systems to get a badge on your profile, or access to members only forums. We were given a $50/wk. allowance for this.

The work was mostly freelance, in the sense we were given a topic of persuasion and method, and we had to use our own wit to find websites to practice our work. We had to be actively posting to a minimum of 10 websites per week. Occassionally, there were specific target sites they asked us to go to, such as Facebook or CNN.

On Facebook, fake profiles were made, and "friends" were bought. Certain fan pages were targeted, and certain people befriended to gain access to their friends and followers.

originally posted by: 0zzymand0s
According to infowars?

Ok.

Let me ask you this: have you developed a foolproof method of outing these guys without accusing the innocent and the opinionated?.

Exactly why, as I said, we shouldn't be hurling accusations.

originally posted by: 0zzymand0s
Do we draw attention to their tactics and ask for clarification? Do we "follow the money" and ask how much they are getting paid to shill Alex Jones, for example?

I'm just trying to figure out where the line is here.

You really think Alex Jones pays people to post on the Internet?

a reply to: VoidHawk

I don't know. Maybe the ones on conspiracy sites are different, but on political sites, they act just as I described. But then, it works better when you fit in and on political sites most people aren't looking to make in-depth cases with pages and pages although they will come back to a thread that has been inactive and get the last word in.

a reply to: BSndsMPBlk47

No. I don't think he has to. I think the Barnum effect is in full force. That doesn't mean he can't be right, it just means that -- in my opinion -- it doesn't really matter to him.

I don't blame him of course. Frankly, at 45 -- I'm just looking for something simple I can sell to stupid people at a 400% markup.

My point remains: can you tell a paid shill from a non-shill, reliably? Because, if not, this is all just "pissing in the wind." No ad-supported community will ever tolerate outing shills without some kind of foolproof system. That's all I'm saying.

Gee, any chance the Russian government will pay me for attacking the warmongering neocons?

I'm sure they pay less than the U.S. though.

I'd settle for that, but I'd really like to work for Russia Today and get in Abby Martin's pants.

Lots of posts, almost immediately.

originally posted by: neo96

Apparently, the federal shills don't just repost the disinformation in mainstream media

No one can dispute this.

Because that is what politicians ARE, and what they say is paid disinformation.

See those 535 congressman on Capitol Shill get paid for their opinions.

In cash, and by vote.

Never forget this people.

NEVER.

What does conserveral mean? Does this make me a shill? ffs

originally posted by: Jonjonj
What does conserveral mean? Does this make me a shill? ffs

It means I see the liberal -- conservative spectrum to be latitudinal thinking..

I wonder how many have already posted in this very thread.
And a question for you, in your experience, do they ever work in tandem?

a reply to: WP4YT

Wow that's really awful pay. $50/wk Why waste your time?

I'd volunteer to post for pay but not for $50/wk.

The government has soldiers doing it full time. I can't tell you how I know, but I do. whoa......

Anyway they have been on ATS and will always be on ATS

We just have to realize it and not freak out over it, because that's the way it is, the price of posting is being "spied on".

Just the way it is

Let them shill, we all know here that there are people paid by governments and big corporations to sway public opinion and cut down those who go against the grain of their employer. I have seen people quoting stuff that is not near relevent to the thread, but are they shills? I don't know. At least these people have jobs and aren't collecting assistance. A paid shill does not have to target people they get along with. They can pick and choose.

originally posted by: grandmakdw
a reply to: WP4YT

Wow that's really awful pay. $50/wk Why waste your time?

I'd volunteer to post for pay but not for $50/wk.

The government has soldiers doing it full time. I can't tell you how I know, but I do. whoa......

Anyway they have been on ATS and will always be on ATS

We just have to realize it and not freak out over it, because that's the way it is, the price of posting is being "spied on".

Just the way it is

No, 50/wk was to pay for things in the sites.

The pay for the job was $400/wk