I beleive you're on to something with this, but I would say they probably spend most of their time on the "new" sections of various subreddits, in particular r/conspiracy.

They'll downvote something into obsurity rather than have to combat it after it reaches the front page.

That's possible. It could simply be 1 person doing the voting and creating content with 20 accounts. That would be extremely efficient because 1 paid person can control the content of a sub that reaches over 200,000 people.

I've noticed in the new que that many posts get 3 automatic downvotes within the first 20 minutes. These quick downvotes count way more than the upvotes later, since that is how Reddit works. Even if a post is great, if it has 3 downvotes early in it's life, it is almost impossible for it to be upvoted anywhere near the top of the front page.

i dont think that their worried about paying a few people.. what could they be getting? they have trillions..

and yes, you're onto it

continue

I should have taken a screenshot, but there was a post where the comment section only had a handful of comments, the post itself did not have many upvotes or downvotes, but one of the shilly comments had like 250+ upvotes and two hundred or so downvotes. The other, regular comments had about 6 upvotes and a few downvotes.

PS - I consider having an impersonator the highest form of flattery. I think I know what account did it too.

proof of shills on /r/conspiracy

Have you even seen this sub recently?

There's still people who claim this isn't proof.

You can't prove common sense.

Must be some new definition of "proof", given there was no actual evidence is there that he was a shill the first time? Seems all you've got is that he disagreed with a post. OMG! Someone is being consistent in their views! Must be a shill! Er, no.

Repeatedly proclaiming someone a shill doesn't make them one.

Short of a confession, how could you prove this to even the most stubborn people out there (like yourself) who will assume shills don't exist on Reddit until the shills themselves make a video admitting to it?

Keep in mind that the existence of shills on social media is a fact and admitted to.

This means that it would be unlikely that shills aren't on Reddit, given that Reddit is such a massive social media website. Therefore, since shills are obviously on Reddit, and this person only appears on 9/11 threads once a month, it is reasonable to conclude that this is a shill. This is not some outrageous claim.

Oh, I've no doubt there are plenty of PR people on Reddit, assuming that's what you mean by "shills". This is more evidence of what I was talking about earlier this morning: the term "shill" is so over-used, it has become entirely devalued. Assuming that someone, with an obvious interest in 9/11 and other conspiracy matters, is a shill basically purely because he expressed skepticism in a somewhat abrasive fashion...

Welcome to the Internet. That's what people do. You should probably get used to it. :)

I'm not overusing it. This person is obviously a fucking shill. it can't be any more clear. I'm sure they also have side accounts that go around accusing people of being shills for no reason to discredit the accusation as well.

It's... SHILLCEPTION!

But I'm afraid "obviously" and "sure" aren't proof or even evidence. They're nothing but your opinion.

Do shills exist?

What types of shills exist?

Do they ignore Reddit?

Yes

Mostly PR ones for businesses

As such, they probably largely ignore this subReddit as of no commercial value. An average audience of 600 - particularly cynical fucks like us - isn't worth anyone's time or effort.

Okay, the one thing I know for sure is that JIDF exists. I've caught a few threads riddled with Israeli drones. Whether or not our gov does it, that's another thing. However, it would not even slightly surprise me.

r/c*nspiratard is their lair. They are overly sensitive to their struggles, yet couldn't care less about any other group that are maligned.

Yes

I'm glad you aren't mentally retarded and can admit such a thing.

Mostly PR ones for businesses

But why wouldn't you mention government shills and Israeli shills, both of which would be extremely interested in this sub and are admitted to exist?

As such, they probably largely ignore this subReddit as of no commercial value. An average audience of 600 - particularly cynical fucks like us - isn't worth anyone's time or effort.

We have 200,000 subscribers. They get the top 1 and 2 slots in /r/conspiracy fed to their front page. My post is dealing only with posts that made it to the top slot (and only with 9/11 coincidentally), therefore I am talking about these shills being interested in influencing up to 200,000 people.

To answer your second point, because there are much better ways to influence people. 200,000 subscribers may seem like a lot, but that's less than, oh, /r/gentlemanboners, and in line with a fairly obscurist cult TV show like 'Doctor Who' [not to pick on DW, but it's on my list, so was easy to check. :)].

There are 81 subreddits with more subscribers, so it's really not worth the effort, especially considering how few of those 200,000 are actually reading what's posted - 0.3% at any time. It's lovely to think we're "important", but a good rule of thumb - those who actually have to say they're important, rarely are.

I've no doubt federal authorities are reading this sub - sadly, given the sometimes violent rhetoric here, I have to hope they are - but actively participating? Not seen evidence for this, on any meaningful level.

There is a specific type of content here that I think would catch their attention. And I'm certain they are in Worldnews as well. That would be an easier case to prove. I remember one thread where a guy who was 8 months old never posted a thing except for one in a worldnews thread that got like 200 upvotes and was at the top of the thread. It was about Israel, but I can't find it at the moment.

Edit: here's one http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiro/comments/1u41gy/uzibigniew_brzezinski_here_i_have_proof_of_shills/

One mans Propagandist is another mans PR guy, is another mans shill. What this comes down to is motive. If these people are simply engaging in conversation and stating opinions that is one thing. Astroturfing, buying accounts, trolling, multiple accounts all that. This is a complex issue and we shouldn't be pointing fingers, but at the same time we should be aware of the actors. Just like anything else.

Says the shill.

???????????

It's probably just someone's alt account they use for posts in /r/conspiracy and similar... I used to do that with this account (although now I use this one mostly because my previous one was a little too easily connected to me personally anyway)

EDIT: Or more likely he's just someone who doesn't comment that often... Looks like he spent a lot of time playing GTA for a while, but otherwise doesn't tend to comment much.

Apparently since I don't agree with 95% of what is posted here I am a shill instead of someone trying to expand my views while giving information I know of. Instead of information in rebuttal I get called and shill and that's all.

Everyone gets called a shill, including me. That has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not shills are manipulating the top post in r/conspiracy. Assuming you aren't a shill and you are sincere in your posts and don't have some kind of strange obsessive need to defend the government at all costs, then I would say those accusations are bogus and the person accusing you is either a troll from /r/conspiratard or legitimately mentally challenged.

Oh phooey, I want a thread with a title:

I was a paid comment shill, or I volunteered for ___site to post supportive comments and challenge and down vote opposition comments and posts.

-wink-

shameless plug - /r/NolibsWatch

You are delusional. Really delusional. What did largemason hurt your feelings by not blindly agreeing to your nonsense?

Why is he in this sub? What conspiracies does he believe in? Also, how am I delusional when the government itself admits to hiring shills?

The posts he is shilling on were exposed to 200,000 people who are subscribed to this sub. The top posts here get fed to the front page of those users. You think the government has no interest whatsoever? You're the delusional one. If you don't believe in conspiracies, then get the fuck out. Go to another sub that doesn't interest you and bother them.

You are probably talking to someone paid to disrupt conversations here.

The best thing to do is just hide posts that do nothing but attack.

Also, just so you know, this sub is probably a lost cause, we have been trying to deal with shills hear for several years.

It's probably the same guy and he's covering for his other account. I already know that. His history is very weird as well.

Why shouldn't he be in this sub? You shouldn't have to agree with every topic in here, that isn't healthy right? Hell, that is the reason for this place. You shouldn't be afraid to discuss ideas if they are not your own beliefs, that is just close minded.

He only posts basically once a month in 9/11 threads. Not weird to you?

You are delusional. Really delusional.

Oh, so you are just ignoring all of his other posts in all the other subreddits which looks like he has been pretty active in over the last few months.

My claim, if you couldn't figure it out, is that this person is a shill. Not that account. That person. This means they have many accounts and apparently were too lazy to make this specific account look genuine and was caught.

For anyone reading, please click http://www.reddit.com/user/largemason

You'll see that this person I am talking to now is attempting to paint the picture that /u/largemason is very active in many subs, when in fact he has only posted a few times last month in the 9/11 thread I showed, and this recent 9/11 thread, plus one post in between about the holocaust. That is not even close to a believable account. It is clearly a lazy shill with 20 or so accounts and should be fired for incompetence.

His very limited posting to /r/conspiracy has to do mostly with NFL and 9/11 or a connection that can be made to 9/11. I just don't see the connection to him being a shill. So if he posted in UFO threads or something, it would make him legit? There are going to be people who disagree with you in life, you can't just write them off.

There are going to be people who disagree with you in life, you can't just write them off.

Strawman argument. Are you serious?

I think you need to pay attention to the upvote scores.

Also, IP might be wrong, but I think it would be helpful if you could admit the possibility of paid shills is a real one.

Hugs.

Of course there are paid shills out there, but let's not start a witch hunt.

Question: are you denying the existence of shills/paid interns in general, or just on r/conspiracy?

Or is that not your point at all?

His very limited posting to /r/conspiracy has to do mostly with NFL and 9/11 or a connection that can be made to 9/11. I just don't see the connection to him being a shill. So if he posted in UFO threads or something, it would make him legit? There are going to be people who disagree with you in life, you can't just write them off.

It's... SHILLCEPTION!

But I'm afraid "obviously" and "sure" aren't proof or even evidence. They're nothing but your opinion.