Paid internet trolls

[Togo]

No where did I see a credible response to that effect.

Of course, there are plenty of trolls for certain causes that apparently work gratis.

Sounds like intern work. Or dangle bait for job seekers.

Nah, a lot of the people in that building are people with strong views on politics - including people keen enough on a particular platform to work unpaid, or for nominal wages, to help their particular cause. The idea of 14 updates issuing from a building full of politicians and their volunteers is fairly unsurprising.

I remember getting bored at work, and submitting a Wikipedia page about a management guru I knew. It got covered in 'notability' comments and taken down. But by then one of his fans had seen it, so he resubmitted it, with more detail. Again, covered in notability comments and taken down, but the word had spread, and yet another person put it back up again. By then his MBA students got wind of it, and decided this was something they could do for him. The entry ballooned up to 24 pages mostly citations and justifications for the notability of the subject. The guy himself, who can barely manage email, was blissfully unaware of the whole thing.

The point is, people get passionate about things, particularly things they care about. 14 updates from the House of Representatives isn't a government conspiracy, it's a load of politicos getting excited about a political event.

 

[barbos]

Anyhow, I noticed that this is an article from Radio Free Europe. The radio which last fall kicked out one of their russian (from Russia originally) journalist for merely posting video he took South-East Ukraine which does not paint pretty picture of current Ukrainian government. And the thing is, that journalist has been no friend of Putin since forever (since chechen wars).
And no friend is really an understatement. So I would be careful with these guys from Radio Free Europe.

Also, I am somewhat skeptical that this Mr. Burkhard is real person.
"Burkhard" is a rather unusual last name in Russia. So it's most likely a pseudonym. And his photo must have been taken from some gay website from the 80s.

Now about these so-called pro-Kremlin "trolls", I think they exist but I doubt they are paid at all. They usually have fake accounts with names which look like real (first and last name) and I see them comment on news websites, not on moderated forums. Sometimes they are funny but most of the time they are pretty predictable, same with pro-ukrainian trolls. They have pretty boring/predictable exchanges with each other.

 

[Togo]

Anyhow, I noticed that this is an article from Radio Free Europe. The radio which last fall kicked out one of their russian (from Russia originally) journalist for merely posting video he took South-East Ukraine which does not paint pretty picture of current Ukrainian government. And the thing is, that journalist has been no friend of Putin since forever (since chechen wars).
And no friend is really an understatement. So I would be careful with these guys from Radio Free Europe.

Also, I am somewhat skeptical that this Mr. Burkhard is real person.
"Burkhard" is a rather unusual last name in Russia. So it's most likely a pseudonym. And his photo must have been taken from some gay website from the 80s.

I'll certainly give these unverifiable anecdotes the attention they deserve.

Now about these so-called pro-Kremlin "trolls", I think they exist but I doubt they are paid at all. They usually have fake accounts with names which look like real (first and last name) and I see them comment on news websites, not on moderated forums. Sometimes they are funny but most of the time they are pretty predictable,

That's certainly been my experience.

same with pro-ukrainian trolls.

Eh.. I'll take your word for it. I've never encountered them in any meaningful volume. Again though, the tu quoque fallacy still holds.

 

[barbos]

I'll certainly give these unverifiable anecdotes the attention they deserve.

That's not an anecdote, that's a fact.

Now about these so-called pro-Kremlin "trolls", I think they exist but I doubt they are paid at all. They usually have fake accounts with names which look like real (first and last name) and I see them comment on news websites, not on moderated forums. Sometimes they are funny but most of the time they are pretty predictable,

That's certainly been my experience.

same with pro-ukrainian trolls.

Eh.. I'll take your word for it. I've never encountered them in any meaningful volume. Again though, the tu quoque fallacy still holds.

I merely give you my impression of a native russian speaker who regularly reads russian news sources.

Now back to this Burkhard character. They actually have an audio of this interview.
I have to admit it looks pretty genuine to me, if this guy is fake then he is really good at making up a story and talking about it. But there is a some "But" there too. The way he describes it looks awful lot like this was a russian army project. In other words he was not paid to do that, he merely spent mandatory 1 year military service as military grade troll And army idiots are perfectly capable of coming out with such a stupid idea.

 

[crispy]

Trolling is posting with intent to disrupt, anger or annoy.

What is described in the article isn't trolling; it is astroturfing - posting with the intent to give the impression of popular support for an unpopular position.

Trolling is a form of vandalism; astroturfing is a form of propaganda.

Don't bother, usually when journalists once get to misunderstand a (new) word its gonna be like that forever...

 

[Nexus]

Again though, the tu quoque fallacy still holds.

No it doesn't. No one here tried to justify the paid shills in the op but pointing out other paid shills. And considering how often some here are accused of being paid shills for Russia its no surprise they would comment in this thread yet that didn't stop some from continuing to insuinate he's a paid shill.

 

[arkirk]

http://www.rferl.mobi/a/how-to-guide-russian-trolling-trolls/26919999.html

There have been various allegations that various posters are paid trolls for various groups.

Note the answer to the first interview question: The only place to get a paid troll job is working for the Russians.

Whatever you say, Loren. If you want us to believe this only happens in Russia, well I guess we gotta believe you.

 

[dystopian]

Again though, the tu quoque fallacy still holds.

No it doesn't. No one here tried to justify the paid shills in the op but pointing out other paid shills. And considering how often some here are accused of being paid shills for Russia its no surprise they would comment in this thread yet that didn't stop some from continuing to insuinate he's a paid shill.

If it quacks like a duck...

 

[tupac chopra]

Which isn't the point being made. Yes Loren's claim doesn't stand up to even casual scrutiny, but the response was still interesting. In a world where everyone from private firms to governments are trying to get people to support them on-line, the counter-examples given by our Russian cheerleaders were Ukraine, Jews and the White house. And while the first source was good, the Whitehouse one wasn't particularly to the point

The "Whitehouse" one was just one I find amusing. Which is why I said it was my favourite. Bad luck if you don't find it funny.

 

[tupac chopra]

It must suck to be a Putin fanboy or FOX News dittohead or one of the other amateur shills who puts in all the time and effort to spread the mandated propaganda without getting any compensation while there are others making money to do the exact same thing.

The idea of some people being more equal than others isn't all that great when you realize that you're one of the less equal.

45.000 posts. Do you project much Tom?