COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum. (Trolling 101)

E-Mail and Freepers

[Sidebar Moderator]

Thanks to many FReepers who have sent us this information. Apparently, this is floating around the Internet now. It is a guide to trolling. While it may or may not be fake in its origins, we do see these techniques all the time and felt it would be good to share with everyone.

______________________________________________________ COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..

There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a ‘uncontrolled forum.’

Technique #1 - ‘FORUM SLIDING’

If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by ‘forum sliding.’ In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to ‘age.’ Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a ‘forum slide.’ The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a ‘forum slide’ and ‘flush’ the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then ‘replying’ to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting ‘slides’ down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.

Technique #2 - ‘CONSENSUS CRACKING’

A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at *********) 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.’

Technique #3 - ‘TOPIC DILUTION’

Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a ‘RESOURCE BURN.’ By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a ‘gossip mode.’ In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to ‘drive in the wedge.’ By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.

Technique #4 - ‘INFORMATION COLLECTION’

Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a ‘show you mine so me yours’ posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your ‘favorite weapon’ and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favorite ‘technique of operation.’ From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.

Technique #5 - ‘ANGER TROLLING’

Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to ‘stage’ a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to ‘lead’ the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you ‘do not care what the authorities think!!’ inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.

Technique #6 - ‘GAINING FULL CONTROL’

It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavorable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the ‘ultimate victory’ as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a ‘honey pot’ gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.

CONCLUSION

Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precedence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.

[TigersEye]

That’s what I thought. {{{crickets}}}

[MHGinTN]

Troll crickets?

[TigersEye]

Wellllll, looky there! I got a bite on both lines.

[MHGinTN]

You're too easy to please. ;^)

[Gondring]

Not clear without a smiley whether you're being serious or not, but in case you are, I didn't hit abuse. See #30 (and then #83).

And if you were joking, then, "Oh, no...you're on to me! ;-)"

[TigersEye]

Yep, just give me a fishing pole and a box of crickets and I’m all set for a little troll trolling. ;^)

[3D-JOY]

Thanks...I am sure that anything I post gives away the fact I am a newbie!

[TigersEye]

The article is extremely interesting and it deserves everyone’s attention for sure. Obama said he would be asking for help even after he was in office and many said they would be sitting by their phone waiting for his call.

He does love his Blackbarry(s) doesn't he?

Did you hear that he dropped his Blackberry today? Where would we be without the MSM?

[Kevmo]

Here’s a discussion we had on that other thread that seems pertinent. Let’s get the admin moderator to agree what the definition of troll is so we can start workups on all the certifiGate trolls operating right now.

To: hoosiermama; Jim Robinson; Star Traveler
Please stop using the term TROll .
***I’d be more than happy to if the recipient does not fit the definition of troll. Where is that definition? I’ve offered to help generate it, no takers. Star fits the definition of an issue-specific troll.

It is not in the interest of open expersion of ideas and Star is really trying to share his thoughts.
***When it’s an open expression of the same debunked troll argument for the 15th time, it’s time to use the word Troll.

They may not be the same as yours , but he (as we all do) still have our right to express them.
***I don’t deny him the right to express them, I just think he fits the definition of troll. He’s here to disrupt. He admits he does it for entertainment. That’s not conducive to open expression of ideas, is it?

810 posted on 01/15/2009 10:06:32 PM PST by Kevmo ( It’s all over for this Country as a Constitutional Republic. ~Leo Donofrio, 12/14/08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 801 | View Replies | Report Abuse]

[Kevmo]

We do try to clean those up when reported or when we catch them. It is why reporting is so important if you see it.
***It doesn’t seem like you folks tried very hard here. As a result, the keyword abuse has continued to today. What gives?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2146370/posts?page=29#29

To: LucyT; pissant; SE Mom; Calpernia; Polarik; Admin Moderator
For your respective ping lists, and also for the mods to once again investigate keyword abuse on certifigate threads.

blackhelicopters; conspiracytheories; nirther; nutobamatrollsdaily; tinfoilhats; wingnutdaily;

26 posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:34:26 AM by Kevmo (Palin/Hunter 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse]

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To: Kevmo
We will not look into your request.

Thanks,

27 posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 9:45:37 AM by Admin Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies | Report Abuse]

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To: Admin Moderator; Jim Robinson
We will not look into your request.
***The admin mod did before and the troll “Searchin” was zotted. I notice that was when JimRob was cc’d. My keyword abuse investigation requests will be cc’ing JimRob from now on.

28 posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:11:10 PM by Kevmo (Palin/Hunter 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies | Report Abuse]

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To: Kevmo
Whatever floats your boat.

29 posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:27:54 PM by Admin Moderator
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[hoosiermama]

I appreciate your ping. Star travelor had been away from the threads for severl weeks and was trying to join in the conversation....There was no reason for the name calling except you recognized the name... Maybe the poster had a change of style....maybe even a change of heart...

Sorry sir but you were out of line then and are out of line now in thinking that name calling is a respectable form of communication or debate...and I’ll stand by my original post for you to stop it.

It’s a form of invalidation and is not acceptable between adults. No matter which side of the issue you are on......

[little jeremiah]

So some of the mods are trolls, then? They like keyword spam trolldom?

(BTW - your dissection - or would it be vivisection - of ST’s logorrhea were stellar!!)

[Kevmo]

Decades of experience has shown that the most effective way to deal with trolling is to ignore those who troll.
***That doesn’t work against gangs of trolls. We saw that in the tootyfruityrudy brigade, and many of them committed freepercide on the bugzapper thread. How many of them didn’t? Several of them have returned.

Now we see similar tactics on the CoLB threads. When trolls play tag team, it’s time for the higher ups at FR to do something about the problem or they just invite more abuse.

[MortMan]

Here’s a nickel’s worth of free mentoring:

First, when you disagree and dispute another poster, do so respectfully, at least the first time.

Second, when you make a sarcastic remark that may be out of context, or could be mistaken for a serious remark, use the “/sarc” tag (that means “end-sarcasm” :)

Third, use documented (or at least documentable) facts to make your point.

Fourth, if someone posts something you don’t understand (due to phrases, jargon, acronyms, or whatever reason), ask what they mean. If they object to am honest question, they’re just being a jerk.

Which brings us to the fifth penny in your free nickel... Have fun, and don’t take the debates here on FR personally. If you are passionate about a topic, that doesn’t mean you are more or less of a person when you win or lose a particular discussion.

Of course, there are other long time (and LONGER time) posters who might disagree with every point I’ve made, so...

[Kevmo]

I’ll stand by my original post for you to stop it.
***And I stand by my original assessment that ST fits the definition. It’s plain for all to see. Of course, part of that issue is whether the mods stick to what’s mentioned here as the definition or if they have their own that we don’t know about.

This should be a formal process of open accusation, show how the troll fits the definition on an open thread, and let the mods decide out in the open. Everyone learns that way. It’s simple. KISS.

[little jeremiah]

Perhaps you have not been interacting with ST the way Kevmo and others have. There is a history with that person and several of us - just pinged two of them - have dealt with the purposeful disrution for a long time. Anyone who admits that they post in such a manner for their own entertainment is admitting they are a troll; along with the other evidence such as Kevmo has noted. People who just aren’t up to speed or have rational disagreements are conspicuous by different manner, attitude and posting history.

[Kevmo]

So some of the mods are trolls, then?
***No Freepin’ Way. My assessment is that they’re just... really busy. Having an open troll accusation thread would help them do their jobs rather than hinder them, and everyone would learn. A rare Win-win-win.

[little jeremiah]

Heck, I didn’t mean you said that! I was sort of tongue in cheek...

[Kevmo]

Please post (in full) the footnoted sources of the information you are claiming.

How do you know that “kicking their @sses!” will do any good? Are you a professional “kicker” ?? Do you have some special affinity for “@sses”?
What exactly are you not telling us?
***To add:
Where are the procedures and statutes for “kick their @sses”? It’s up to YOU to prove that they “kick their @sses”? I’m not convinced — show me the notarized and signed proof that someone just “kicked their @sses”. Just because the highest law of the land says you can’t “kick their @sses” doesn’t mean anything — where are the statutes and procedures for “kick their @sses”?

[Kevmo]

I don’t need no steenkin’ trouble with the mods...

Where’s the html tag for /TongueInCheek?