Earlier today I wrote about the way the official Obamacare website has apparently recruited people to post thousands of comments each, creating the appearance of mass support, a variant on the traditional astroturfing strategy of creating bogus grassroots organizations.
Big Fur Hat of iOTW Report has spotted what looks very much like a Craigslist ad recruiting trolls to post positive or negative comments on left-wing or conservative websites, respectively. The text in full, as well as a screen capture (in case the ad is removed), follow:
Write About Green Issues, Animals, Human Rights, Progressive Politics (per content and completion bonus) compensation: telecommute
We are a large social activism organization that advocates on behalf of issues including the environment, human rights, animal welfare, social justice, politics and more. We are seeking part-time interns who are interested in working on these important causes. Interns will improve their writing and research skills, while building a broad portfolio of online writing samples.
Interns are given broad discretion in choosing the causes they work on. The time commitment is flexible and work can be done from anywhere with an Internet connection. Applicants should have a strong interest in activism and possess good writing and Internet skills, but prior activism experience is not required.
Interns are compensated for their work, and graduates of the internship also receive a bonus and may be considered for future work.
To apply, please respond with a brief cover letter and writing sample (pasted into your email). Please also provide at least two specific examples of causes that you would take action to support.
To assist in our internal tracking, please place "891" in the subject line of your response.
Please do NOT use the anonymous Craigslist email feature to respond to this post. We've had a number of problems with those emails not delivering or being spam filtered. Please respond with your real email address directly to: jobs [at] forcechange [dot] com.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. do NOT contact us with unsolicited services or offers post id: 4743148454
posted: 15 days ago
updated: 15 days ago
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Note that they call this work an internship, so they can pay really badly.
It was exposed recently that just four people started the firestorm and boycott thing against Rush through tactics like this. They made it seem like there was a groundswell of outrage when it was just a coordinated, well organized foursome. It took 2 years for it to be ferreted out. Unless the Right fights back in the same fashion, they are doomed to be the victims of this crap over and over again.
Quote: Frank Cannon wrote in post #2It was exposed recently that just four people started the firestorm and boycott thing against Rush through tactics like this. They made it seem like there was a groundswell of outrage when it was just a coordinated, well organized foursome. It took 2 years for it to be ferreted out. Unless the Right fights back in the same fashion, they are doomed to be the victims of this crap over and over again.
My bet is we know one of the four, maybe more, maybe all four, who knows?
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“Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brains.” ¯ Winston S. Churchill
Quote: Frank Cannon wrote in post #2It was exposed recently that just four people started the firestorm and boycott thing against Rush through tactics like this. They made it seem like there was a groundswell of outrage when it was just a coordinated, well organized foursome. It took 2 years for it to be ferreted out. Unless the Right fights back in the same fashion, they are doomed to be the victims of this crap over and over again.
Yep
We are in a war for our culture and there is this myth that you can compromise and play nice with the enemy. The enemy consists of fanatics, bullies, and cowards.