[DON'T] Get Out Your Tinfoil Hats

[Caro]

In no way is this, below, tin foil hat territory. Every time you read a comment on a blog or news website that seems oh so reasonable but casts doubt on anything bad the writer or the commentors are saying about a company or a candidate, you should be suspicious that the writer is a ringer for the entity being called to task. I really noticed the tactic when the DCCC put up a primary candidate against Christine Cegelis in the Illinois 6th last fall. DCCCers were all over the political blogs, artfully casting doubt, and successfully fooling the netroots into failing to fully support the grassroots candidate.

BUT THIS TACTIC IS NOT NEW.

The first instance I ever heard of was microserfs being sent out in the mid 80s to the message boards of the time, without identifying themselves as Microsoft employees, to trash OS/2 and sing the praise of Windows. I never used OS/2, but someone whose judgment I value highly in these matters said that OS/2 was far superior to Windows. The highly successful campaign to make Windows the dominant operating system was documented by longtime Windows and Microsoft expert Brian Livingston, in one of his Windows secrets books.

I no longer have the book, and so cannot at this time give you a link or a citation. But thinking that PR pushers are writing for and commenting on websites today is in no way a stretch. Anyone who thinks otherwise is being unbelievably naïve. There are big bucks at stake.

From AGITPROP:

GET OUT YOUR TINFOIL HATS

Blanton's & Ashton's reports that a group called Netvocates has been watching their blog. Who or what is Netvocates, you might ask? Their website claims they go after blogs who say bad things about a company or its products, but B&A has them dead to rights:

Basically, Netvocates is an organization that sends people out to web logs to post propoganda in comments. They appear to be tied to conservatives and there appears to be a tie to townhall.com, the ultra-right-wing web site. Cybersoc.com spent time running down the facts on Netvocates and the man behind Netvocates. I recommend that people who read blogs check out the Cybersoc.com posting. Education is armor…

Agitprop respectfully suggests that all bloggers, big or small, tag all your posts with the Netvocates label. We've got to help them watch us, after all.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com