Comments | osewalrus: On the internet nobody knows you're a dog, unless you leave dog poop

osewalrus

On the internet nobody knows you're a dog, unless you leave dog poop

Sep 27, 2006 12:03

We used to have a saying: "on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog." The idea being that anyone can claim to be anyone else and no one will know.

But give people movtivation and they will find out.
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Comments 3

redaxe September 27 2006, 19:19:57 UTC

Astroturfing is a nasty business. I huzzahed at this story when I heard it, and wonder how many more of same are still out there.

jonbaker September 27 2006, 20:28:35 UTC

Yes. The Nielsen-Haydens have been making a big thing out of tracking astroturfing. There was also an incident on a group blog in Princeton, where a staffer from Kean Jr's campaign posted nastygrams about Menendez, and left enough clues to a) make the blog owners suspicious and b) track down who posted them. The Kean-Jr. campaign denies it, of course, but it made the papers and the AP.

osewalrus September 27 2006, 20:53:33 UTC

Indeed. I just had a little run in with someone who is probably a professional troll at the Public Knowledge policy blog. You can check it out (and my response) at: http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/1540

As I said there, I don't usually respond to trolls, but it is sometimes necessary. Just always rememebr you are not talking to the troll, but to a different intended audience.