Does anyone else think Reddit is filled with gov't moles that downboat?

140  2011-07-14 by [deleted]

or am I paranoid?

138 comments

You are not paranoid. The feds have tens of thousands all over the world who do nothing but feed disinfo via social networking and alternative media sites. They even have computer programs that generate usernames and replies to comments that help spread the disinfo.

I believe HBGary (they may have changed their name) is one of the companies who are paid by the feds to do this work. They were caught in a scandal a while back when company emails were found that discussed some of the really underhanded methods used to keep the public in the dark about what the governments in the usa and the uk are doing.

You're right. Not only are there tens of thousandsof gov shills, I wouldn't be surprised if reddit has been infiltrated by various corporate shills.

That's ludicrous.

Why don't you just go enjoy an ice-cold Coca Cola and calm down a little?

Nice try, Pepsi.

Smooth one, water.

Tap water, to you.

I didn't know it was possible to get that much negative karma!

Apparently they called it "downmodding". Weird.

Wow. I wish I could downvote that still.

That was LouF's comment. LOL!

[deleted]

I'm not a kid or your kid. You have -1650 karma. Seems like it's you doing the playing.

What exactly is your beef with Ron Paul, anyway? Are you a shill? Most likely.

[deleted]

Ha, interesting. Thanks!

He's a racist for starters.

He also has formed a cult. These kids, like yourself, buy his books and send him money. They have absolutely ruined the internet with their smoke and mirrors bullshit.

Paul is also an anti-American asshole with an isolationist foreign policy.

His domestic policies would cause a depression.

Do yourself a favor pumpkin and get out of the cult!

As bad as the man himself is, his supporters are worse. They are probably his worst enemy in politics, next to those racist, homophobic, anti-American news letters.

There are no 'shills" hon. That's just a name given to anyone who disagrees with him by his cultists. Sometimes they just refer to them as trolls. It's easier than admitting the man is a loser.

Just curious. What makes you assume that I support Ron Paul?

Let's play devils advocated....(i'm independent btw)

You obviously don't know much about Ron Paul. You are making a lot of false accusations with nothing to back them up with. How is he racist? How is he anti-American? You make it seem like Ron Paul is the only candidate out there. You must feel extremely threatened by him to go to these extreme measures to slander him.

May I ask who you support?

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-10/politics/paul.newsletters_1_newsletters-blacks-whites?_s=PM:POLITICS

I don't really support any politician. I don't contribute to any of them. If the vote was tomorrow I could support Romney or Obama. Most the other candidates are fringe. Appealing to religious fanatics or folks like Potheads.

LOL, sorry kid, no one is threatened by a 5% guy. Except of course the extremely gullible who he sucks into his cult! He really plays to these wet behind the ears kids who like all generations are just looking for a cause. The difference with him is he has turned them into paranoid conspiracy theory freaks. He remind me of a Jim Jones!

You didn't answer my most important questions....

See, since I began chatting with you my karma dropped 7 points. Kids!

Conspiracy nut!

Why did I think you might be a Paul supporter? Well, you seem kinda whacky!

Straight from the horses mouth:

Paul told CNN's "The Situation Room" Thursday that he didn't write any of the offensive articles and has "no idea" who did. Watch Paul's full interview with CNN

"When you bring this question up, you're really saying, 'You're a racist' or 'Are you a racist?' And the answer is, 'No, I'm not a racist,'" he said.

You are incapable of providing facts to back up any of your claims. You are extremely disrespectful for a multitude of reasons. I completely understand why you have -1600 karma.

Paul owns the news letters until he tells who wrote them. These were written over 10+ years. No one in their right mind would allow this to go on without a care. WTF did you expect him to say?

In 1996 Paul defended the news letters saying they were typical of the times. Lew Rockwell, a friend and fellow racist of Paul's, has been named as a suspect as well. They are still thick as thieves today!

All of Paul's positions are in inherently racist. Especially his opposition to civil rights laws. He's slick though, I will give him that. It's been nice chatting!

Don't sweat the karma kid! There are 2 Paul supporter websites burying my comments! Such is life!

IRREFUTABLE FACTS ABOUT RON PAUL

Links proving that Ron Paul is a racist, and possibly a "White Nationalist"

NoNoLibertarians, you forgot to sign back in to your negative karma account :P Thanks for the info, I'll read over it in little bit.

I'm not NoNoLibertarians you conspiracy nut!

Speaking of Coca-Cola --- here's an interesting video I came by the other day, about the corrupt coke.

It's a matter of public record that there are corporate shills in the reddits.

Corporate and political, or am I being redundant? ^

One place I see this (but alas, have no proof) is r/apple as well as various apple user forums.

Normally, things chug along and us actual users of apple stuff discuss and debate our issues. Then something controversial, especially when damning to the apple or the competition comes up, and the traffic goes through the roof.

Anti-apple or pro-competitor comments get voted sky-high, while the reverse get buried.

It just stands out from the day-to-day pattern and tone of the discussion. But fairly impossible to prove.

Refs, please.

Here's an easy one. There are MANY others.

In its statement, G4 said that the company had originally found a Digg power user who also had other social networking accounts, including one on Reddit. G4 had traded games, then later money to this individual in return for them submitting stories to the social-news site.

crazy shit

Tens of thousands?

They don't need disinfo agents when they can just cultivate stupid people via propaganda and environmental poisoning. Occam's Razor.

When this much evidence has already surfaced, Occam's Razor dictates that the data is almost certainly valid. There are corporate, govt, and ideological disinfo agents in the reddits and there have been since nearly the beginning.

I'd like to see the evidence.

I commend your inquisitive spirit!

Look at the whole comment thread. There are a number of links that show examples of all three types of "gamers", ideological (like the pro Israel social media tools), govt (the recent HBGary stuff is dead on), and corporate (G4 and many others have attempted to game reddit in the past).

Rather than participating, I think the government would be keen to see how far a story gets naturally (ie without them voting on it).

I'd be far more concerned about passive analysis.

  • Who knows whom, and what friends do they have in common?
  • How frequently are certain people communicating with one another?
  • How symmetrical is the communication between people?
  • Who are the quietest/chattiest people in a network?
  • Who are the most influential/popular people in a network?
  • What are people chatting about (and is it interesting)?

It always reminds me of the comns monitoring hinted at in the dialogue of the V for Vendetta film. The government was portrayed as being in a feedback loop between iterating on its public policies and gauging reaction based on intercepted comns. I don't think that's at all far from the truth.

From Richard Aldrich's GCHQ: The uncensored story of Britain's most secret intelligence agency:

Recent job advertisements for Cheltenham state: "At GCHQ, we are leaders in the emerging field of data stream mining," and that "the next few years are guaranteed to be an exciting time" because of several new technologies which are "set to dramatically change the way large volumes of information are analysed". Areas in which GCHQ is currently looking for skilled personnel include "development and interrogation of large databases", "data-warehousing" and "machine learning" The latter is defined as "classification, prediction, clustering, pattern finding".

This was in 2008.

I was watching a National Geographic programme about "Hermit Kingdom" North Korea and Kim Jong's cult of personality earlier, wondering if the koreans had documentaries on how oppressive it is living under western imperialists, when something caught my attention as they listed the restrictions on cell phones and broadcast media.

We can communicate freely because it's monitorable. The bars on our prison are transparent. My father openly says "Don't say anything over the phone you wouldn't shout across a crowded room." You can think outside of the box as much as you want, you'll only think yourself into a bigger box.

It's part of a bigger picture of statecraft. It's not just arbitrary. It's the maintenance of a monolithic control structure.

Fortunately all of these tools are open source. Learn to code yesterday. Write a script to anonymously rent a VPS, set yourself some sock puppets up and start telling people how to empower themselves. en masse.

Why not employ their tactics for a diametrically opposed cause, if you really think these are tactics they're employing?

That's pretty much how I see it. They can just watch the echo chamber of "public opinion". The government training for the "grassroots democracy"(conspicuously harmonious with American interests) is so wide spread. The shame of it is real people don't know or care that its happening.

Which is why I was completely serious about DIY sockpuppets. It's quite literally a force multiplier and a simple enough concept to grasp that any amateur propagandist could do it. Not just people with vested interests. Imagine bringing consensus to online discussions with "Actually, the sky isn't falling. Yes our institutions are fucked, but it also falls upon you to replace them."

The reason this grassroots democracy thing is so american is because it's being funded by the likes of Google and Pepsi. http://www.counter-currents.com/2011/03/twitterers-of-the-world-unite-the-digital-new-left-as-controlled-opposition-part-1/

You're not paranoid. Anyone who doesnt think so is naive.

DAE suspect that r/conspiracy is filled with people who submit ridiculous things to discredit conspiracy theorists?

This thread in particular isn't ridiculous (imho), but wading through flagrant bullshit comes with the territory.

Shapeshifting reptillians, Faked moon landing, UFOs (rather than black budget spy planes)

Those are just a handful I've come to ignore by default when the real meat lies in that sweet spot between high level corruption and supressed technologies. (imho)

Considering how many governments around the world have publicly acknowledged that we have experienced a number of UFOs of extraterrestrial origin, you are still ignoring those data points?!? Are you one of those people who have to view something personally to accept it into your worldview?

Definitely not trying to beat you up or anything. Just incredulous that there are thinking people in the world that still don't believe in ETs given the evidence and testimony (from ex-military witnesses) that is so widely available now.

A canadian aircraft company released a press statement in Life magazine during the 40s about having created a rounded omnidirectional aircraft. The statement was aparrently retracted the following week. The nazis were aparrently working on similar aviation methods.

Personally I'm not saying governments haven't witnessed (..or bought) "flying saucers", I just doubt they're ET in origin.

There's a very slim probabilistic chance we're alone in this 3 × 108080 cubic meters. There's a slimmer chance, with that kind of distance, we'd ever meet an ET organism save for (very high latency) radio communication.

Wow. That's a very 50's viewpoint I think. We've learned a lot since then.

Well, depending on the quality of the project bluebeam holographs, I'm up for admitting I'm wrong and old-fashioned. :P

Yeah, if Jeebus appears in the sky, I think I'll have to call shenanigans. :-)

Often, it isn't necessarily the topic; rather, it's the presentation of it.

Aliens, UFOs, and Black Budget [Military] Aircraft <-- the potential for overlap of these three separate topics is where the disinfo artists and fanatical bloggers wreak havoc on the playing surface. Like drunken college kids playing football on a golf course fairway while a troupe of monkeys tries to rape the football.

EDIT: Wait. Did you see that? Over there... was that bigfoot?

See how easy it is to turn it into a tabloid article for ridicule?

Yeah, this one wasn't the best one to make that ascertation, as I could kinda see it happening, even if I don't think it actually is. It did make me say "Really?" though.

I really don't think it's ridiculous, but you're entitled to think whatever you want.

Yes, I think here is a clear example.

I've often suspected that many of the extreme, crazy posts are submitted to deliberately turn the average reader away from more reasoned posts on the same general topic. They are used as a way of poisoning the waters, so to speak, so that no one wants to even become involved in the discussion.

Example, 9/11 conspiracy theorists. There is good reason to believe that Israel, and perhaps even the CIA, had some foreknowledge about the attacks, but this never gets talked about because it is overwhelmed in all the crazy posts about missiles and planted explosives.

No, I don't.

Then you haven't been paying attention...

Ahem...Look at his username.

I assure you we have been paying attention. Move along citizen or I have a place for you.

I always liked camp! Can I bring my wife and kids with me? Make it a whole family thing..

Of course!

No. Not paranoid. One of the smart ones.

You're not paranoid. Bots are easy to apply.

there was a redditor that came public with his reddit bot network and actually allowed users to use his botnet for a limited time... you can be damn sure that there's a massive botnet that's out here to promote certain ideals.

you got a link for that?

HBGary automates downboating. So, yeah.

That's just the one we know about publicly. There are many others that have not yet been made high profile.

If you can conceive of the idea and it's benefits, I'm pretty sure they, and other groups have.

Nah, you're just paranoid.

government

israel

gay

nuclear

banking

big pharma

those are all the down voting blocks i have noticed thus far...

Banking = Government + Israel + Energy (sale of energy vs. sale of energy generation -- e.g., giant farms to sell electricity by the unit of energy, indefinitely forever and ever for profit amen vs. selling smaller units to the public creating energy independence and a communityst grid) + Big Pharma (the "legal" drug cartel) + Agriculture (Monsanto) + Media + [this list goes on and on and on: colleges and the student loan scam, even supposedly humanitarian groups get caught in the pervasive umbrella of the bankster control]

EDIT: formatting

No. I do however think it is filled with Zionist shills that downvote.

Then you are myopically focused on only one threat vector. There are many govt and corporate shills as well and this fact is well documented.

documented where?

Here are a couple of examples: G4 gets caught.
HBGary also splashed big.

There were MANY others that have been outed to varying degrees. A few minutes on google should unearth some if you still doubt the veracity of my assertions.

You sir, don't have to GTFO. You may stay.

Oh no I don't doubt you at all, I was just wondering if you had links at hand. I remember microsoft doing something similar as a kind of marketing thing, and to dissuade people from trying linux. Like I said in another post in this thread, it's an issue of statecraft, ultimately. Bigger than corporate image. Can't have parasites without a host.

[REDACTED]

Corporate, maybe. Zionist, without a doubt. I don't think the American government has yet started to invade Reddit, however. I just don't get that vibe yet. Of course I could be wrong.

Nothing to see, citizen. Move along.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/956411--u-s-military-using-fake-online-ids-in-sock-puppet-operation

They admit to doing it around the world, and they openly admit to spying on U.S. citizens, so they probably do it here too.

Here's a neat live example

Downvotes for the divergent thinkers.

Upvotes for the guy who knows a guy that said so, therefore it must be true.

Thanks for that. I just put my two cents in.

Actually I think the first post shows it best with roughly 2/3 of people believing 9/11 conspirators are full of shit. Great to see a predominance of rationalism on Reddit.

All social networks of any significance have various govt and private factions trying to game them with varying degrees of success.

Yes, and it's not just reddit.

Have we forgotten the HB Gary fiasco already? Reddit has a fairly significant population, and you can bet that it's targeted by HB Gary (the us gov't)

Sure, goes without saying really. The more interesting question would be reddit's "shill" / bot to person ratio. On "hot" topics I'd say pretty close to 1-to-1. The retarded reddit hivemind is far too succulent of a fruit. Yum!

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Nah, I think the CIA is too busy making twitter accounts and reporting on the arab spring.

Meta-conspiracy?

No, I don't think so.

Now you will get so paranoid about this ,you won't post on reddit anymore

There are some, but it's mostly brainwashed people. Yes, you and I are part of those brainwashed in some way as long as we're part of the system. Think about the times you upvote something funny, entertaining or stupid. You're helping the system.

Duh. No, you're not paranoid.

In a culture where you can't even hide from marketing and advertising and any public place where more than handful of people gather is flooded with ads both political and commercial, that this even viewed as speculation is actually a bit comical.

I mean c'mon, you can't even lay on the beach without someone hiring a plane towing ads to fly past you. How many people are on Reddit now?

Reddit is a big fat spin/disinformation/viral marketing target for every group with an agenda. The only question is how many of them there are working at this.

and upvote

Probably, just don't believe ANYTHING!!!!

Yes, I don't doubt that there are shills spreading misinformation, but I don't think there are that many on reddit.

You have to remember that downvotes are fuzzed and that everyone has their own opinions on certain topics.

Fair enough. Just seems like some of the mods downvote anything controversial, before it has a chance to be shared.

It is not the mods.

It is admins.

IDF internet troll division checking in. "were going to have to go ahead and downboat this".

I'm not sure what IDF is..but whatever.

Israeli Defense Forces

i don't think i know.

reddit is the last place they'd look for dissidence. your safe here children. go back to sleep.

Corporate moles too.

Careful lads maybe this guy is a bot gathering research data on us.

No. Now go back to your browsing.

And it's not just downvoting, but submitting stories and artificially inflating them to the front page. Upvoting can be used as well to promote certain ideologies.

Why, some ask? There's a memetic war being waged on the internet, and some people realize the significance of it, even on "small" sites like Reddit. It's the same reason the msm is controlled.

Anyone who's been here since Reddit's inception has to be painfully aware of this trend. It is glaringly obvious.

I do.

Maybe /r/conspiracy was set up by the government to keep us blind to the real conspiracy!

It might be happening but is the userbase big enough to warrant it extensively

Don't say downboat it makes you look like a circlefag.

You may be paranoid, all right, but this question is not a sign. They surely are here: Information. We want information.

Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

Well it certainly isn't the shitty posts!

Clearly the only thing bigger than your paranoia is your ego.

You guys should listen to yourselves sometimes... yes, I'm very sure the gubment has no other way of dealing with unfavorable people than voting them down on an internet message board. Surely they go to great lengths to do so. You should have seen Bin Laden's karma... man was that low!

But now that funkyipod has uncovered our intricate conspiracy we will have to come up with a new masterplan to keep r/conspiracy down! Curses!

Wednesdays, bless your heart. Also, perhaps have a cocktail and relax.

Heh, I'm not the one who thinks the government is out to get me on the internet.

I think we could both do with a drink or two.

Someone is disagreeing with me on the internet?!

Must be a government sockpuppet.

I'm from the government, I collect vast amounts of personal information about a particular group of individuals, and I used to work in the MIC.

Regardless, I don't downboat any more than I upboat... ;)

Oh, and did I mention my rather Masonic family?

Do you get bored at work?

Extremely...there's something fundamentally flawed about the internet connection I'm using (I'm in the field, rather than at the home office) so I'm offline more often than I'm on.

What do you do in the field?

This is even too paranoid for r/conspiracy

You are paranoid as hell. There are folks on reddit smart enough to play to your juvenile mind and make you believe that they are indeed agents.

The internet is filled with paranoid conspiracy freaks such as yourself. Get a grip son, reddit is NOT that important,

If you will excuse me, I have to go to my weekly Legion Of No Meeting.

DAE suspect that r/conspiracy is filled with people who submit ridiculous things to discredit conspiracy theorists?

[deleted]

Meant to be DAE, "Does Anyone Else."

thanks, I should have knowed that

What's a downboat?

hipster slang for downvote

You're paranoid.

Reddit is filled with people mature enough to recognize crap when they see it, despite the 14 year old socially maladjusted kids who often populate conspiracy sites.

Of course don't let that stop you from believing that the government hires people just to sit on reddit and downvote your posts.

Thanks for that. I just put my two cents in.

Actually I think the first post shows it best with roughly 2/3 of people believing 9/11 conspirators are full of shit. Great to see a predominance of rationalism on Reddit.

You didn't answer my most important questions....