MNeagle
9th August 2012, 09:44 AM
Submitted by Tyler
Durden (http://gold-silver.us/users/tyler-durden) on 08/09/2012 08:22 -0400
Corruption (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/10021)
Federal Reserve (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/9244)
Newspaper (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/12244)
Reality (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/12218)
Submitted by Brandon Smith from Alt-Market (http://www.alt-market.com/articles/964-disinformation-how-it-works)
Disinformation: How It Works
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/07-2/lies.jpg
There was a time, not too long ago (relatively speaking), that governments
and the groups of elites that controlled them did not find it necessary to
conscript themselves into wars of disinformation.
Propaganda was relatively straightforward. The lies were much simpler. The
control of information flow was easily directed. Rules were enforced with the
threat of property confiscation and execution for anyone who strayed from the
rigid socio-political structure. Those who had theological, metaphysical or
scientific information outside of the conventional and scripted collective world
view were tortured and slaughtered. The elites kept the information to
themselves, and removed its remnants from mainstream recognition, sometimes for
centuries before it was rediscovered.
With the advent of anti-feudalism, and most importantly the success of the
American Revolution, elitists were no longer able to dominate information with
the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun. The establishment of Republics, with
their philosophy of open government and rule by the people, compelled
Aristocratic minorities to plot more subtle ways of obstructing the truth and
thus maintaining their hold over the world without exposing themselves to
retribution from the masses. Thus, the complex art of disinformation was
born.
The technique, the “magic” of the lie, was refined and perfected. The
mechanics of the human mind and the human soul became an endless obsession for
the establishment.
The goal was malicious, but socially radical; instead of expending the
impossible energy needed to dictate the very form and existence of the truth,
they would allow it to drift, obscured in a fog of contrived data. They would
wrap the truth in a Gordian Knot of misdirection and fabrication so elaborate
that they felt certain the majority of people would surrender, giving up long
before they ever finished unraveling the deceit. The goal was not to destroy the
truth, but to hide it in plain sight.
In modern times, and with carefully engineered methods, this goal has for the
most part been accomplished. However, these methods also have inherent
weaknesses. Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them
alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies,
evaporating it instantly.
In this article, we will examine the methods used to fertilize and promote
the growth of disinformation, as well as how to identify the roots of
disinformation and effectively cut them, starving out the entire system of
fallacies once and for all.
Media Disinformation Methods
The mainstream media, once tasked with the job of investigating government
corruption and keeping elitists in line, has now become nothing more than a
public relations firm for corrupt officials and their Globalist handlers. The
days of the legitimate “investigative reporter” are long gone (if they ever
existed at all), and journalism itself has deteriorated into a rancid pool of so
called “TV Editorialists” who treat their own baseless opinions as supported
fact.
The elitist co-opting of news has been going on in one form or another since
the invention of the printing press. However, the first methods of media
disinformation truly came to fruition under the supervision of newspaper magnate
William Randolph Hearst, who believed the truth was “subjective” and open to his
personal interpretation.
Some of the main tactics used by the mainstream media to mislead the masses
are as follows:
Lie Big, Retract Quietly: Mainstream media sources
(especially newspapers) are notorious for reporting flagrantly dishonest and
unsupported news stories on the front page, then quietly retracting those
stories on the very back page when they are caught. In this case, the point is
to railroad the lie into the collective consciousness. Once the lie is finally
exposed, it is already too late, and a large portion of the population will not
notice or care when the truth comes out.
Unconfirmed Or Controlled Sources As Fact: Cable news venues
often cite information from “unnamed” sources, government sources that have an
obvious bias or agenda, or “expert” sources without providing an alternative
“expert” view. The information provided by these sources is usually backed by
nothing more than blind faith.
Calculated Omission: Otherwise known as “cherry picking”
data. One simple piece of information or root item of truth can derail an entire
disinfo news story, so instead of trying to gloss over it, they simply pretend
as if it doesn’t exist. When the fact is omitted, the lie can appear entirely
rational. This tactic is also used extensively when disinformation agents and
crooked journalists engage in open debate.
Distraction, And The Manufacture Of Relevance: Sometimes the
truth wells up into the public awareness regardless of what the media does to
bury it. When this occurs their only recourse is to attempt to change the
public’s focus and thereby distract them from the truth they were so close to
grasping. The media accomplishes this by “over-reporting” on a subject that has
nothing to do with the more important issues at hand. Ironically, the media can
take an unimportant story, and by reporting on it ad nauseum, cause many
Americans to assume that because the media won’t shut-up about it, it must be
important!
Dishonest Debate Tactics: Sometimes, men who actually are
concerned with the average American’s pursuit of honesty and legitimate
fact-driven information break through and appear on T.V. However, rarely are
they allowed to share their views or insights without having to fight through a
wall of carefully crafted deceit and propaganda. Because the media know they
will lose credibility if they do not allow guests with opposing viewpoints every
once in a while, they set up and choreograph specialized T.V. debates in highly
restrictive environments which put the guest on the defensive, and make it
difficult for them to clearly convey their ideas or facts.
TV pundits are often trained in what are commonly called “Alinsky Tactics.”
Saul Alinsky was a moral relativist, and champion of the lie as a tool for the
“greater good”; essentially, a modern day Machiavelli. His “Rules for Radicals”
were supposedly meant for grassroots activists who opposed the establishment and
emphasized the use of any means necessary to defeat one’s political opposition.
But is it truly possible to defeat an establishment built on lies, by use of
even more elaborate lies, and by sacrificing one’s ethics? In reality, his
strategies are the perfect format for corrupt institutions and governments to
dissuade dissent from the masses. Today, Alinsky’s rules are used more often by
the establishment than by its opposition.
Alinsky’s Strategy: Win At Any
Cost, Even If You Have To Lie
Alinsky’s tactics have been adopted by governments and disinformation
specialists across the world, but they are most visible in TV debate. While
Alinsky sermonized about the need for confrontation in society, his debate
tactics are actually designed to circumvent real and honest confrontation of
opposing ideas with slippery tricks and diversions. Alinsky’s tactics, and their
modern usage, can be summarized as follows:
1) Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you
have.
We see this tactic in many forms. For example, projecting your own movement
as mainstream, and your opponent’s as fringe. Convincing your opponent that his
fight is a futile one. Your opposition may act differently, or even hesitate to
act at all, based on their perception of your power. How often have we heard
this line: “The government has predator drones. There is nothing the people can
do now…” This is a projection of exaggerated invincibility designed to elicit
apathy from the masses.
2) Never go outside the experience of your people, and whenever
possible, go outside of the experience of the enemy.
Don’t get drawn into a debate about a subject you do not know as well as or
better than your opposition. If possible, draw them into such a situation
instead. Go off on tangents. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and
uncertainty in your opposition. This is commonly used against unwitting
interviewees on cable news shows whose positions are set up to be skewered. The
target is blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then
forced to address. In television and radio, this also serves to waste broadcast
time to prevent the target from expressing his own position.
3) Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
The objective is to target the opponent’s credibility and reputation by
accusations of hypocrisy. If the tactician can catch his opponent in even the
smallest misstep, it creates an opening for further attacks, and distracts away
from the broader moral question.
4) Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.
“Ron Paul is a crackpot.” “Gold bugs are crazy.” “Constitutionalists are
fringe extremists.” Baseless ridicule is almost impossible to counter because it
is meant to be irrational. It infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to
your advantage. It also works as a pressure point to force the enemy into
concessions.
5) A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
The popularization of the term “Teabaggers” is a classic example; it caught
on by itself because people seem to think it’s clever, and enjoy saying it.
Keeping your talking points simple and fun helps your side stay motivated, and
helps your tactics spread autonomously, without instruction or
encouragement.
6) A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
See rule No. 5. Don’t become old news. If you keep your tactics fresh, it’s
easier to keep your people active. Not all disinformation agents are paid. The
“useful idiots” have to be motivated by other means. Mainstream disinformation
often changes gear from one method to the next and then back again.
7) Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and
utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition
masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. Never give the
target a chance to rest, regroup, recover or re-strategize. Take advantage of
current events and twist their implications to support your position. Never let
a good crisis go to waste.
8) The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing
itself.
This goes hand in hand with Rule No. 1. Perception is reality. Allow your
opposition to expend all of its energy in expectation of an insurmountable
scenario. The dire possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in
demoralization.
9) The major premise for tactics is the development of operations
that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
The objective of this pressure is to force the opposition to react and make
the mistakes that are necessary for the ultimate success of the campaign.
10) If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break
through into its counterside.
As grassroots activism tools, Alinsky tactics have historically been used
(for example, by labor movements or covert operations specialists) to force the
opposition to react with violence against activists, which leads to popular
sympathy for the activists’ cause. Today, false (or co-opted) grassroots
movements and revolutions use this technique in debate as well as in planned
street actions and rebellions (look at Syria for a recent example).
11) The price of a successful attack is a constructive
alternative.
Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to
the problem. Today, this is often used offensively against legitimate activists,
such as the opponents of the Federal Reserve. Complain that your opponent is
merely “pointing out the problems.” Demand that they offer not just “a
solution”, but THE solution. Obviously, no one person has “the” solution. When
he fails to produce the miracle you requested, dismiss his entire argument and
all the facts he has presented as pointless.
12) Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize
it.
Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. The
target’s supporters will expose themselves. Go after individual people, not
organizations or institutions. People hurt faster than institutions.
The next time you view an MSM debate, watch the pundits carefully, you will
likely see many if not all of the strategies above used on some unsuspecting
individual attempting to tell the truth.
Internet Disinformation Methods
Internet trolls, also known as “paid posters” or “paid bloggers,” are
increasingly and openly being employed by private corporations as well
governments, often for marketing purposes and for “public relations” (Obama is
notorious for this practice). Internet “trolling” is indeed a fast growing
industry.
Trolls use a wide variety of strategies, some of which are unique to the
internet, here are just a few:
1. Make outrageous comments designed to distract or frustrate: An Alinsky
tactic used to make people emotional, although less effective because of the
impersonal nature of the Web.
2. Pose as a supporter of the truth, then make comments that discredit the
movement: We have seen this even on our own forums — trolls pose as supporters
of the Liberty Movement, then post long, incoherent diatribes so as to appear
either racist or insane. The key to this tactic is to make references to common
Liberty Movement arguments while at the same time babbling nonsense, so as to
make those otherwise valid arguments seem ludicrous by association. In extreme
cases, these “Trojan Horse Trolls” have been known to make posts which incite
violence — a technique obviously intended to solidify the false assertions of
the think tank propagandists like the SPLC, which purports that
Constitutionalists should be feared as potential domestic terrorists.
3. Dominate Discussions: Trolls often interject themselves into productive
Web discussions in order to throw them off course and frustrate the people
involved.
4. Prewritten Responses: Many trolls are supplied with a list or database
with pre-planned talking points designed as generalized and deceptive responses
to honest arguments. When they post, their words feel strangely plastic and well
rehearsed.
5. False Association: This works hand in hand with item No. 2, by invoking
the stereotypes established by the “Trojan Horse Troll.” For example: calling
those against the Federal Reserve “conspiracy theorists” or “lunatics”;
deliberately associating anti-globalist movements with racists and homegrown
terrorists, because of the inherent negative connotations; and using false
associations to provoke biases and dissuade people from examining the evidence
objectively.
6. False Moderation: Pretending to be the “voice of reason” in an argument
with obvious and defined sides in an attempt to move people away from what is
clearly true into a “grey area” where the truth becomes “relative.”
7. Straw Man Arguments: A very common technique. The troll will accuse his
opposition of subscribing to a certain point of view, even if he does not, and
then attacks that point of view. Or, the troll will put words in the mouth of
his opposition, and then rebut those specific words.
Sometimes, these strategies are used by average people with serious
personality issues. However, if you see someone using these tactics often, or
using many of them at the same time, you may be dealing with a paid internet
troll.
Stopping Disinformation
The best way to disarm disinformation agents is to know their methods inside
and out. This gives us the ability to point out exactly what they are doing in
detail the moment they try to do it. Immediately exposing a disinformation
tactic as it is being used is highly destructive to the person utilizing it. It
makes them look foolish, dishonest and weak for even making the attempt.
Internet trolls most especially do not know how to handle their methods being
deconstructed right in front of their eyes and usually fold and run from debate
when it occurs.
The truth is precious. It is sad that there are so many in our society who
have lost respect for it; people who have traded in their conscience and their
soul for temporary financial comfort while sacrificing the stability and balance
of the rest of the country in the process.
The human psyche breathes on the air of truth. Without it, humanity cannot
survive. Without it, the species will collapse, starving from lack of
intellectual and emotional sustenance.
Disinformation does not only threaten our insight into the workings of our
world; it makes us vulnerable to fear, misunderstanding, and doubt: all things
that lead to destruction. It can drive good people to commit terrible atrocities
against others, or even against themselves. Without a concerted and organized
effort to diffuse mass-produced lies, the future will look bleak indeed.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/disinformation-how-it-works?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedg e+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+fo r+everyone+drops+to+zero%29
Durden (http://gold-silver.us/users/tyler-durden) on 08/09/2012 08:22 -0400
Corruption (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/10021)
Federal Reserve (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/9244)
Newspaper (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/12244)
Reality (http://gold-silver.us/taxonomy_vtn/term/12218)
Submitted by Brandon Smith from Alt-Market (http://www.alt-market.com/articles/964-disinformation-how-it-works)
Disinformation: How It Works
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/07-2/lies.jpg
There was a time, not too long ago (relatively speaking), that governments
and the groups of elites that controlled them did not find it necessary to
conscript themselves into wars of disinformation.
Propaganda was relatively straightforward. The lies were much simpler. The
control of information flow was easily directed. Rules were enforced with the
threat of property confiscation and execution for anyone who strayed from the
rigid socio-political structure. Those who had theological, metaphysical or
scientific information outside of the conventional and scripted collective world
view were tortured and slaughtered. The elites kept the information to
themselves, and removed its remnants from mainstream recognition, sometimes for
centuries before it was rediscovered.
With the advent of anti-feudalism, and most importantly the success of the
American Revolution, elitists were no longer able to dominate information with
the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun. The establishment of Republics, with
their philosophy of open government and rule by the people, compelled
Aristocratic minorities to plot more subtle ways of obstructing the truth and
thus maintaining their hold over the world without exposing themselves to
retribution from the masses. Thus, the complex art of disinformation was
born.
The technique, the “magic” of the lie, was refined and perfected. The
mechanics of the human mind and the human soul became an endless obsession for
the establishment.
The goal was malicious, but socially radical; instead of expending the
impossible energy needed to dictate the very form and existence of the truth,
they would allow it to drift, obscured in a fog of contrived data. They would
wrap the truth in a Gordian Knot of misdirection and fabrication so elaborate
that they felt certain the majority of people would surrender, giving up long
before they ever finished unraveling the deceit. The goal was not to destroy the
truth, but to hide it in plain sight.
In modern times, and with carefully engineered methods, this goal has for the
most part been accomplished. However, these methods also have inherent
weaknesses. Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them
alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies,
evaporating it instantly.
In this article, we will examine the methods used to fertilize and promote
the growth of disinformation, as well as how to identify the roots of
disinformation and effectively cut them, starving out the entire system of
fallacies once and for all.
Media Disinformation Methods
The mainstream media, once tasked with the job of investigating government
corruption and keeping elitists in line, has now become nothing more than a
public relations firm for corrupt officials and their Globalist handlers. The
days of the legitimate “investigative reporter” are long gone (if they ever
existed at all), and journalism itself has deteriorated into a rancid pool of so
called “TV Editorialists” who treat their own baseless opinions as supported
fact.
The elitist co-opting of news has been going on in one form or another since
the invention of the printing press. However, the first methods of media
disinformation truly came to fruition under the supervision of newspaper magnate
William Randolph Hearst, who believed the truth was “subjective” and open to his
personal interpretation.
Some of the main tactics used by the mainstream media to mislead the masses
are as follows:
Lie Big, Retract Quietly: Mainstream media sources
(especially newspapers) are notorious for reporting flagrantly dishonest and
unsupported news stories on the front page, then quietly retracting those
stories on the very back page when they are caught. In this case, the point is
to railroad the lie into the collective consciousness. Once the lie is finally
exposed, it is already too late, and a large portion of the population will not
notice or care when the truth comes out.
Unconfirmed Or Controlled Sources As Fact: Cable news venues
often cite information from “unnamed” sources, government sources that have an
obvious bias or agenda, or “expert” sources without providing an alternative
“expert” view. The information provided by these sources is usually backed by
nothing more than blind faith.
Calculated Omission: Otherwise known as “cherry picking”
data. One simple piece of information or root item of truth can derail an entire
disinfo news story, so instead of trying to gloss over it, they simply pretend
as if it doesn’t exist. When the fact is omitted, the lie can appear entirely
rational. This tactic is also used extensively when disinformation agents and
crooked journalists engage in open debate.
Distraction, And The Manufacture Of Relevance: Sometimes the
truth wells up into the public awareness regardless of what the media does to
bury it. When this occurs their only recourse is to attempt to change the
public’s focus and thereby distract them from the truth they were so close to
grasping. The media accomplishes this by “over-reporting” on a subject that has
nothing to do with the more important issues at hand. Ironically, the media can
take an unimportant story, and by reporting on it ad nauseum, cause many
Americans to assume that because the media won’t shut-up about it, it must be
important!
Dishonest Debate Tactics: Sometimes, men who actually are
concerned with the average American’s pursuit of honesty and legitimate
fact-driven information break through and appear on T.V. However, rarely are
they allowed to share their views or insights without having to fight through a
wall of carefully crafted deceit and propaganda. Because the media know they
will lose credibility if they do not allow guests with opposing viewpoints every
once in a while, they set up and choreograph specialized T.V. debates in highly
restrictive environments which put the guest on the defensive, and make it
difficult for them to clearly convey their ideas or facts.
TV pundits are often trained in what are commonly called “Alinsky Tactics.”
Saul Alinsky was a moral relativist, and champion of the lie as a tool for the
“greater good”; essentially, a modern day Machiavelli. His “Rules for Radicals”
were supposedly meant for grassroots activists who opposed the establishment and
emphasized the use of any means necessary to defeat one’s political opposition.
But is it truly possible to defeat an establishment built on lies, by use of
even more elaborate lies, and by sacrificing one’s ethics? In reality, his
strategies are the perfect format for corrupt institutions and governments to
dissuade dissent from the masses. Today, Alinsky’s rules are used more often by
the establishment than by its opposition.
Alinsky’s Strategy: Win At Any
Cost, Even If You Have To Lie
Alinsky’s tactics have been adopted by governments and disinformation
specialists across the world, but they are most visible in TV debate. While
Alinsky sermonized about the need for confrontation in society, his debate
tactics are actually designed to circumvent real and honest confrontation of
opposing ideas with slippery tricks and diversions. Alinsky’s tactics, and their
modern usage, can be summarized as follows:
1) Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you
have.
We see this tactic in many forms. For example, projecting your own movement
as mainstream, and your opponent’s as fringe. Convincing your opponent that his
fight is a futile one. Your opposition may act differently, or even hesitate to
act at all, based on their perception of your power. How often have we heard
this line: “The government has predator drones. There is nothing the people can
do now…” This is a projection of exaggerated invincibility designed to elicit
apathy from the masses.
2) Never go outside the experience of your people, and whenever
possible, go outside of the experience of the enemy.
Don’t get drawn into a debate about a subject you do not know as well as or
better than your opposition. If possible, draw them into such a situation
instead. Go off on tangents. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and
uncertainty in your opposition. This is commonly used against unwitting
interviewees on cable news shows whose positions are set up to be skewered. The
target is blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then
forced to address. In television and radio, this also serves to waste broadcast
time to prevent the target from expressing his own position.
3) Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
The objective is to target the opponent’s credibility and reputation by
accusations of hypocrisy. If the tactician can catch his opponent in even the
smallest misstep, it creates an opening for further attacks, and distracts away
from the broader moral question.
4) Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.
“Ron Paul is a crackpot.” “Gold bugs are crazy.” “Constitutionalists are
fringe extremists.” Baseless ridicule is almost impossible to counter because it
is meant to be irrational. It infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to
your advantage. It also works as a pressure point to force the enemy into
concessions.
5) A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
The popularization of the term “Teabaggers” is a classic example; it caught
on by itself because people seem to think it’s clever, and enjoy saying it.
Keeping your talking points simple and fun helps your side stay motivated, and
helps your tactics spread autonomously, without instruction or
encouragement.
6) A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
See rule No. 5. Don’t become old news. If you keep your tactics fresh, it’s
easier to keep your people active. Not all disinformation agents are paid. The
“useful idiots” have to be motivated by other means. Mainstream disinformation
often changes gear from one method to the next and then back again.
7) Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and
utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition
masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. Never give the
target a chance to rest, regroup, recover or re-strategize. Take advantage of
current events and twist their implications to support your position. Never let
a good crisis go to waste.
8) The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing
itself.
This goes hand in hand with Rule No. 1. Perception is reality. Allow your
opposition to expend all of its energy in expectation of an insurmountable
scenario. The dire possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in
demoralization.
9) The major premise for tactics is the development of operations
that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
The objective of this pressure is to force the opposition to react and make
the mistakes that are necessary for the ultimate success of the campaign.
10) If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break
through into its counterside.
As grassroots activism tools, Alinsky tactics have historically been used
(for example, by labor movements or covert operations specialists) to force the
opposition to react with violence against activists, which leads to popular
sympathy for the activists’ cause. Today, false (or co-opted) grassroots
movements and revolutions use this technique in debate as well as in planned
street actions and rebellions (look at Syria for a recent example).
11) The price of a successful attack is a constructive
alternative.
Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to
the problem. Today, this is often used offensively against legitimate activists,
such as the opponents of the Federal Reserve. Complain that your opponent is
merely “pointing out the problems.” Demand that they offer not just “a
solution”, but THE solution. Obviously, no one person has “the” solution. When
he fails to produce the miracle you requested, dismiss his entire argument and
all the facts he has presented as pointless.
12) Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize
it.
Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. The
target’s supporters will expose themselves. Go after individual people, not
organizations or institutions. People hurt faster than institutions.
The next time you view an MSM debate, watch the pundits carefully, you will
likely see many if not all of the strategies above used on some unsuspecting
individual attempting to tell the truth.
Internet Disinformation Methods
Internet trolls, also known as “paid posters” or “paid bloggers,” are
increasingly and openly being employed by private corporations as well
governments, often for marketing purposes and for “public relations” (Obama is
notorious for this practice). Internet “trolling” is indeed a fast growing
industry.
Trolls use a wide variety of strategies, some of which are unique to the
internet, here are just a few:
1. Make outrageous comments designed to distract or frustrate: An Alinsky
tactic used to make people emotional, although less effective because of the
impersonal nature of the Web.
2. Pose as a supporter of the truth, then make comments that discredit the
movement: We have seen this even on our own forums — trolls pose as supporters
of the Liberty Movement, then post long, incoherent diatribes so as to appear
either racist or insane. The key to this tactic is to make references to common
Liberty Movement arguments while at the same time babbling nonsense, so as to
make those otherwise valid arguments seem ludicrous by association. In extreme
cases, these “Trojan Horse Trolls” have been known to make posts which incite
violence — a technique obviously intended to solidify the false assertions of
the think tank propagandists like the SPLC, which purports that
Constitutionalists should be feared as potential domestic terrorists.
3. Dominate Discussions: Trolls often interject themselves into productive
Web discussions in order to throw them off course and frustrate the people
involved.
4. Prewritten Responses: Many trolls are supplied with a list or database
with pre-planned talking points designed as generalized and deceptive responses
to honest arguments. When they post, their words feel strangely plastic and well
rehearsed.
5. False Association: This works hand in hand with item No. 2, by invoking
the stereotypes established by the “Trojan Horse Troll.” For example: calling
those against the Federal Reserve “conspiracy theorists” or “lunatics”;
deliberately associating anti-globalist movements with racists and homegrown
terrorists, because of the inherent negative connotations; and using false
associations to provoke biases and dissuade people from examining the evidence
objectively.
6. False Moderation: Pretending to be the “voice of reason” in an argument
with obvious and defined sides in an attempt to move people away from what is
clearly true into a “grey area” where the truth becomes “relative.”
7. Straw Man Arguments: A very common technique. The troll will accuse his
opposition of subscribing to a certain point of view, even if he does not, and
then attacks that point of view. Or, the troll will put words in the mouth of
his opposition, and then rebut those specific words.
Sometimes, these strategies are used by average people with serious
personality issues. However, if you see someone using these tactics often, or
using many of them at the same time, you may be dealing with a paid internet
troll.
Stopping Disinformation
The best way to disarm disinformation agents is to know their methods inside
and out. This gives us the ability to point out exactly what they are doing in
detail the moment they try to do it. Immediately exposing a disinformation
tactic as it is being used is highly destructive to the person utilizing it. It
makes them look foolish, dishonest and weak for even making the attempt.
Internet trolls most especially do not know how to handle their methods being
deconstructed right in front of their eyes and usually fold and run from debate
when it occurs.
The truth is precious. It is sad that there are so many in our society who
have lost respect for it; people who have traded in their conscience and their
soul for temporary financial comfort while sacrificing the stability and balance
of the rest of the country in the process.
The human psyche breathes on the air of truth. Without it, humanity cannot
survive. Without it, the species will collapse, starving from lack of
intellectual and emotional sustenance.
Disinformation does not only threaten our insight into the workings of our
world; it makes us vulnerable to fear, misunderstanding, and doubt: all things
that lead to destruction. It can drive good people to commit terrible atrocities
against others, or even against themselves. Without a concerted and organized
effort to diffuse mass-produced lies, the future will look bleak indeed.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/disinformation-how-it-works?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedg e+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+fo r+everyone+drops+to+zero%29