Poll trolls' GCHQ script sock puppets manipulate muppets

Re: AH HA!!!!

And he has serious cameltoe.

Next time, you'll see it and then you'll always see it.

I'm sick of suffering this alone.

Re: Well that explains....

"that explains......some of the posts on here,"

Come off it, this is a haven of sanity, even including Amanfrommars' cryptic contributions. Look at the ignorant dribblings that dominate any newspaper comment pages.

Re: Iran.

Yes, I'm sure they do... more crudely probably than Israel, USA and UK do it. Also makes you wonder whether GCHQ 'you have nothing to hid' shills are real or not...

"Isn't this this sort of social engineering that the Chinese government does, which our hacker spies are now admitting to?"

Yes, but as usual government are behind the times. This is no different from things companies have been doing for years. "Digital" departments seeking to build up Facebook friends, sales departments seeking to manipulate search engine rankings, or marketing departments seeking to buy their way up the "most respected brands" listings. Or HR departments seeking to pretend their company is a great place to work.

For many years government manipulated the media directly, in the UK it used to be "D notices". They probably used those to keep the press quiet about all the kiddy diddlers in the establishment, for example. Those don't work with the internet (although Cameron thinks the internet needs more government "help"), so the next best thing is to try and pretend that opposing opinion is less popular, or that your own views have some following. And in the Westminster/Washington/Moscow/Beijing bubble, fiddling the figures counts for success, whether that be output figures, unemployment, inflation, debt, or public opinion.

Isn't this this sort of social engineering that the Chinese government does, which our hacker spies are now admitting to?

Welcome to the 1980s, when sock-puppetting on online forums became too common to be remarkable. Even Wired magazine covered the phenomenon in '96, and they're usually a couple of decades behind the curve. (Why are all those kids on my lawn?)

Personally, I miss the days when some 'bots were memorable enough to become famous, like Serdar Argic.

All that's really changed is that we now have better algorithms and more computing power to devote to fully automating the bots. For many attackers, though, it's just as economical to have people do it, whether they're cheap labor, motivated by ideology, or rewarded in some other fashion.

Re: Insert_Title

Hi Joey, Am i talking to myselfs here or what?