Just spotted a Shill Personality

Not on here. On another group, that would possibly get some corporate attention due to the way those affiliated groups are effecting a part of that corporation.

Maybe I'll start calling them Identity Golems.

The shill could be mistaken for being a real person. There is a real person with almost exactly the same information all online. That persons online/irl identity was clearly intended to give "back story" to the Identity Golem.

Just a heads up about what to look for if you run into them. Using a "real" person to fill in back-story and create an identity.

Ok, I'll bite. You have a link to this person's post or info? How did you determine it to be a shill?

I am interested to know if we both spotted the same one.
Never mind didn't read the not on here part.

How did I figure it out.

Intent is everything man. There are some groups of people that you know your "tribe." Even the crazy ones. Even the utterly insane ones.

This person was just all wrong. They weren't a tribe member. It was obvious. Their intent was also just off, but not the trolling kind of way. Trolling is an art when done right. This Golem wasn't a troll, and wasn't Tribe.

Spotting them, and then finding the real person their back story was based on pretty much cinched it.

Originally posted by thatonedude
I am interested to know if we both spotted the same one.
Never mind didn't read the not on here part.

edit on 25-5-2011 by thatonedude because: (no reason given)

I'm sure there are some on here. However, I would imagine that creating an identity on here is actually harder. You don't have a "real" person on which to rely on to produce your back story for you. You actually have to HAVE a back-story. Because there is no real person to back up your story and provide something to sit on.

Oh my gosh! I see one too!

Oh! There's anther one! OH MY GOD! They're everywhere! Lock the windows!

reply to post by Aeons



Well post a link to where you have discovered this "shill" then!.......he/she is not on this site, so not only post a link tell us who it is!


All is fair in love and war

reply to post by Argyll


Yeah they are on here too. But they are easy to spot.

They either parrot the OS or diss CT with a scripted cute remark then go back to "trying to change your mind".

They seem to register in the late 2010-2011 dates and the topics they post on give them away.

I am laughing so hard and yet I know it must be true because I suspect it quite often. However, this is the first time I have ever see the word "shill".

Although I am not quire sure I fully understand; it is another person acting on behalf of a corporation within the persona of a real live person? I assume the real live person gets paid to have them use their identity? Where do I sign up?

Way back, before most of you were ever on the Interwebz, there were some BBS systems that had chat line 'personalities'. The programs' names were a person's name. Were talking the 1980s, 1990s here.

The psychological "personality" was just a program with a set of interactive responses it used to respond to things you said, asking for more input, dispensing "advice." It was very annoying. But it could also take you a few minutes to realize that you were talking to someone insane, a troll, or.....a program.

And they were programs. I knew several BBS operators who had them. They thought it was very amusing. They'd read the transcripts of people blowing their freaking stack later for kicks.

The process today really isn't that different. However, I would imagine that the progamming and psychology behind them is likely way better now.

You are always gonna run into the fakers and liars out there the good ones are hard to spot. That's why I say all the time giving out your personal info online is dangerous. Other than that there are countless people claiming to be seals, black ops, and military and luckily there are organizations that are out there to give them hell for that. It's just plain reticulum. Keep hunting them down with the facts!

Yep. When someone asks why anyone would ever do something like this the answer is simple.

Because they can.

Oh, well then a salesman is a sort of Shill since they only tell you the good things and never the bad; or they lie outright about the product itself.

A politician is a shill for dispensing rhetoric over and over!

However, I think the OP is implying a honest to goodness program and not a real human, is that right? Too creepy, can we talk to this shill?

Well, it could be a someone.

However, I would suspect in this particular case it is a program.

I also suspect it is possible to set up a system where you could have the most useful program personalities (been accepted to a degree by their forum), that have routines to recognize being recognized, and possibly alert a real person to come on and re-establish rapport or "save" a personality.

Program "personalities" don't respond to what you are really saying. It responds to key words, or phrases.

Sometimes it doesn't even do that. Thse only have an "attack" "cause confusion" mode. It really is just intended to make people tune out of a particular subject/topic.

People do this too, but at some point try to demostrate that they "get" something in the posts to demonstrate that they aren't as dumb as the other people they are talking to think they are.

Admit it, you've all done that. (so have I)

The response to key words or phrases, or not necessarily discussing a topic at all is quite possible for a person to do - in some forums or with some subject matter this wouldn't be noticed. There are dumb people who just don't get things, or where the subject matter is supercificial to begin with, or where the entire subject is a crafted story.

The "smarter" base group, or a group dedicated to minutia, the more likely that not understanding the subject is going to be noticed. Being crazy is still an option, but even smarter crazy people still can demonstrate understanding of aspects of the topics even if they don't see things the same.

Using someone else's online back story means that if someone (like me) goes to look for the program, they'll find someone who looks utterly plausible.

reply to post by Greensage


I have a feeling this one is abandoned for now. Having someone pull a card out of the house of cards so quickly probably has it back on the shelf.

But now you have something to keep your eyes on. I'd like to see if anyone spots any other ones. Twitter, Facebook, the MSM forums, political forum, and of course the "non-topic" sports forums for targetting a "core" known coveted audience of males between 18-35, that sort of thing.

A pattern I would imagine to be the most difficult to spot would be a Shill intended to only back up a "real" poster. Less obvious, draws less attention.

reply to post by Aeons
Wow...you have really done your homework on this, i'm impressed.

Originally posted by Aeons
Well, it could be a someone.
However, I would suspect in this particular case it is a program.

I would suspect your assumption is correct.
As you probably know chat bots exist and have become quite sophisticated.
www.chatbots.org...
nlp-addiction.com...
alice.pandorabots.com...
The program you describe seems very plausible to me.

Sounds like those clever "bots" that are on Yahoo Chat. You_can_screw_them_up_like_this. OrByRunningWordsTogether.

Originally posted by Aeons

And they were programs. I knew several BBS operators who had them. They thought it was very amusing. They'd read the transcripts of people blowing their freaking stack later for kicks.

I hate to admit it, but I would probably pee myself laughing if someone was raging at a troll program.

Im kind of evil like that.

reply to post by thatonedude


Eliza! Yes, that's one of them.

Thank you. Eliza was one of the original ones I played with. I don't think it was Eliza that was the one that "got me" the first time, but a program very similar to the original Eliza.

Originally posted by Illusionsaregrander

Originally posted by Aeons

And they were programs. I knew several BBS operators who had them. They thought it was very amusing. They'd read the transcripts of people blowing their freaking stack later for kicks.

I hate to admit it, but I would probably pee myself laughing if someone was raging at a troll program.

Im kind of evil like that.

I swear that some of those people were going to froth and throw their computer out a window.