“Any rule of thumb on how to identify them? I suppose a signup date of less than a year might be an indicator.”
it’s just a gut feeling several of us have based on based on massive frequency of posting and continuous ad hominem attacks on others. no hard evidence.
signup date not helpful. Looks like most are 1998/1999/2000 accounts that started becoming active again after long absences. possibly hacked or purchased accounts?
Some of those nics I recognize; others I don’t remember EVER seeing from the old days here. But back then, some people had many more than one account...sleeper accounts that they kept for when they were banned, got a time out, or used to talk to themselves with.
My first thought was wondering what the current price is for a FreeRepublic account.
Thinking about it a little more, I suppose those people that make a living working for political campaigns may have a number of accounts that they can dust off whenever the next election cycle rolls around. Give the signin info to a staffer and let them spend their time on the best conservative forum out there trashing the opponents.
The thing is, most of those kinds of posters end up doing harm to their candidates, but only if they’re countered. It’s easy enough to respond to them and expose the unseriousness of their arguments. But it takes effort, and if they’re not countered then they succeed by drowning out serious discussion.
I wasn't aware there is a market for old signup accounts. Is there bidding?