Trolling the Muj

[AdamG]

The Art of Trolling comes to the Small Wars arena. We recently had an entity start a thread in this forum (since deleted, which I believe was a mistake to do), claiming to be 'Freedom Fighter' & spouting provocative trash-talk.

Most likely it was some precious, over-privileged American teenager begging for the attention his parents never gave him but what if it was our friends at Langley giving their new tactics a test drive?

US's new plan to fight terror involves online trolling
Plan is to undermine, shame and humiliate terrorists
If you see words like "LAME" - it's probably the CIA

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/tr...#ixzz214OIUXEW

[Backwards Observer]

State Department senior technology adviser Shahed Amanullah told the magazine he wanted to use “logic, humour, satire, [and] religious arguments not just to confront [extremists], but to undermine and demoralize them”.

Does the deployment of logic, humour, satire and religious argument even have much of an effect on the online burblings of so-called regular people, let alone extremist jabberwockys characterised, according to the Wired article as, "massive narcissists [who] need constant ego boosts"?

Could the average forum diva or comment ballerina be fairly described as a moderate narcissist who needs ego boosts of a reasonable frequency? Only our dance instructors know for sure.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012...sm-trolls/all/

And now for some engineer "humour":

The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?" The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?" The graduate with an accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?" The graduate with an arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

[Varity]

Originally Posted by AdamG

The Art of Trolling comes to the Small Wars arena. We recently had an entity start a thread in this forum (since deleted, which I believe was a mistake to do), claiming to be 'Freedom Fighter' & spouting provocative trash-talk.

Most likely it was some precious, over-privileged American teenager begging for the attention his parents never gave him but what if it was our friends at Langley giving their new tactics a test drive? [/url]

Lol, I saw that! I was actually watching it pretty closely and couldn't believe it when the admins actually gave in to the request and deleted it. Manipulative little troll... Why exactly did they do that?

Btw, I'm a new member, been lurking on SWC for over a year and thought I'd finally post. I agree, he/she/it/whatever it was--let's just say "The Entity" seemed a tad sophisticated for a teenager, not emotionally but linguistically. It was very purposeful with its provocative choice of words, good with bad English, and well versed in doctrine just enough to sound like a small wars idiot. There were times when I thought it was an actual insurgent, but then the thread just got too confusing.

Wait, so are you saying it might be Langley seeing the best way to make fools of terrorists? From the link you posted, it seemed their plan was posting derogatory, sarcastic comments on extremist websites, not pretending to be the terrorists and making them say stupid things, but who knows... Whoever it is must have had a lot of fun. This makes me want to be an agent, if it means I get to troll strategically.

[AdamG]

Originally Posted by Varity

Wait, so are you saying it might be Langley seeing the best way to make fools of terrorists? From the link you posted, it seemed their plan was posting derogatory, sarcastic comments on extremist websites, not pretending to be the terrorists and making them say stupid things, but who knows... Whoever it is must have had a lot of fun. This makes me want to be an agent, if it means I get to troll strategically.

New member, huh?

[Varity]

Originally Posted by AdamG

New member, huh?

Yeah. I introduced myself here. Guess I'm the odd one out, being Californian and female and an IR major, but this is an awesome forum. So can new members just start posting anywhere? Sorry if I barged in...

[Ken White]

Jump in, post anywhere on any topic. As a another if former IR major, you're more than welcome here...

Oh, and don't worry about posting something that may seem a trifle on the ignorant side -- we ALL do that.

I, in fact, excel at it...

[Varity]

Originally Posted by Ken White

Jump in, post anywhere on any topic. As a another if former IR major, you're more than welcome here...

Oh, and don't worry about posting something that may seem a trifle on the ignorant side -- we ALL do that.

I, in fact, excel at it...

Thanks for the welcome. I might turn out to be a bit of an infrequent poster come September because I'm taking 18 credit hours this year (graduating in 3 years, this is my last before grad school).

Did you get an IR BA or a master's? Just curious because I don't know what to do for my master's... Decisions, decisions.

[Ken White]

Originally Posted by Varity

Thanks for the welcome. I might turn out to be a bit of an infrequent poster come September because I'm taking 18 credit hours this year (graduating in 3 years, this is my last before grad school).

Overachiever!!!

Did you get an IR BA or a master's? Just curious because I don't know what to do for my master's... Decisions, decisions.

Neither. Got bored, quit and joined the Army after my fifth semester (good timing has never been a strong point...). Started having too much fun to go back.

FWIW on the Masters, I'd avoid the COIN (that's a personal bias but it is IMO also unduly specific) and try to be as generic as your comfort level will allow -- that'll give you more flexibility in the long run and it may also open avenues you might not otherwise have considered. Best of luck to you either way...

[Varity]

Originally Posted by Ken White

Overachiever!!! Neither. Got bored, quit and joined the Army after my fifth semester (good timing has never been a strong point...). Started having too much fun to go back.

That's awesome. I'd probably do something like that, if I weren't a woman. I know women can join the Army, but it's not quite the same... I've always fantasized about being approached and recruited by the CIA, but I'm not sure that's what I want and am not ready to apply.

Originally Posted by Ken White

FWIW on the Masters, I'd avoid the COIN (that's a personal bias but it is IMO also unduly specific) and try to be as generic as your comfort level will allow -- that'll give you more flexibility in the long run and it may also open avenues you might not otherwise have considered. Best of luck to you either way...

Thanks. Yeah, I'm avoiding the COIN because there are so many flaws in the doctrine. It's basically a bunch of made-up new stuff that has yet to work. What do you think about a counterterrorism degree?

[AdamG]

The Gentleperson's Guide To Forum Spies (spooks, feds, etc.)

http://pastebin.com/irj4Fyd5

1. COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum
2. Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
3. Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
4. How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
5. Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

http://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Varity

That's awesome. I'd probably do something like that, if I weren't a woman. I know women can join the Army, but it's not quite the same... I've always fantasized about being approached and recruited by the CIA, but I'm not sure that's what I want and am not ready to apply.

If you're interested in working in intelligence, there's a lot more out there besides the CIA.