astroturfing, PR-firms targeting Blogs
After seeing this website; giyus.org and watching this advert (on Fox news); “For Zion’s Sake”
According Marie-José Klaver (a Dutch journalist):
A very big lies campaign funded by PR-companies targeting Blogs.
PR-Companies are paying people to start their own Blogs or to target Blogs (via the comments), the new method called: astroturfing
Why Blogs are the favorite medium for PR-Companies?
1- A Blog is a fast communication tool; you can write your own opinion and publish it very fast.
2- Anonymity of the Blogs, one person can write many opinions under different names, giving the feeling that this is the majority opinion.
3- To manipulate, opinions, subjects …etc and steering the Blog into other directions.
Examples:
- Working Families voor Wal-Mart
Examples of paid comments:
Browse the comments of this Blog and you will see few live examples of people paid to manipulate the comments.
For good reading on the Subject, this is a good link:
PR firms show growing interest in weblogs
Two Australian PR-professionals Paul Young and Trevor Cook started a campaign against virtual misleading:
20 Comments, Comment or Ping
Charles
Who do you think that is LB?
Aug 2nd, 2006
LadyBird
You Charles
Aug 2nd, 2006
Charles
Seriously? Me?
That’s a pretty bold claim to make. If you were wrong, it would make you look pretty stupid - or at a bare minimum extremely paranoid.
But I suppose you wouldn’t just ‘make it up’ as perroquet says. You must have evidence. You aren’t THAT dishonest - are you?
I think that is one of your biggest problems LB. You are unable to assess facts/opinions objectively. If something ‘feels’ right (to you) - you just blurt it out without thinking. That is one of the weak points of blogging. 95% of the huge volume of content being passed around is misinformation and the majority of bloggers lack the intellectual integrity to even attempt to verify what they post or base it on some sort of facts.
Do you have ANY evidence to support that I am being paid to post comments on this site? Please be direct.
Did it ever occur to you that my keen interest in current events and history, and my complete distaste for garbage propaganda is what brings me to this site?
If you were presenting an honest and objective characterization of events in Iraq/Lebanon, for example, I would quickly lose interest.
I might visit and read the blog, but I would feel no urge to post and correct the idiocies that are so abundant and regurgitated so prolifically.
Aug 2nd, 2006
Truth About Iraqis
From Angry Arab:
Hasan Dib Nasrallah is now in Israeli custody. So you heard about that brilliant Israeli special forces’ operation in Ba`albak. So Israeli Orientalists as you all know think that there is one Mahmud Husayn in the entire Arab world, and one Muhammad `Ali. New TV just explained the “daring” Israeli operation at a hospital, HOSPITAL, in Ba`albak. So Israel “was told” that there is a certain Hasan Nasrallah at the hospital. The very commander of the airforce was put in charge to plan this daring kidnapping of Hasan Nasrallah. Well, it was a civilian by the name of Hasan Dib Nasrallah. They kidnapped other civilians along with him. Of course, the Nation magazine gives Israel the right for those kidnapping because it is all part of “its right to self-defense.” Hasan Dib Nasrallah is now in Israeli custody wondering why he was kidnapped. In that “daring raid” Israeli occupation soldiers also kidnapped Muhammad Nasrallah, a shepherd, but later released him. He was 14. Israeli Orientalists thought that Hasan Nasrallah is a bit older. Later, to cover the fiasco, the Israeli army claimed that they kidnapped “members of Hizbullah.” Even that claim was a lie, says New TV which investigated the story and interviewed the family members. The kidnapped Lebanese are poor construction workers.
PS. This is really something. The commander of the Israeli Special Forces still claimed in a press conference that the “operation” worked according to plan. What does that mean? That the Israeli government has been really trying the capture Hasan Dib Nasrallah, not to to be confused with Hasan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah leader?
Aug 2nd, 2006
Charles
The angry arab confuses arab names himself - even his own name! A week or so ago he posted how his aunt or some such relative was killed near Tyre. Apparently a woman named AbuKhaleel died. You see? His name is AbuKhaleel, her name was Abu Khaleel? We are therefore all socrateses?
Of course, if all the IDF succeeded in doing was killing and capturing some pre-teen shepherds, and the operation was mounted exclusively to capture Nasrallah, then in that sense it was a failure. But you can’t blame them for trying. If they had been successful it may have shortened the war and stopped the killing. That is what you want - right?
But the operation probably had secondary objectives as well. For example, maybe they wanted to show Hezbo that they could strike fast and deep anywhere in the country with boots on the ground. This would necessarily alter the Hezbo leadership view on how often they would have to move around, with whom they could communicate, where they could safely move to, etc. Encumbering strategic leadership with tactical annoyances like ’staying alive’ is certainly a reasonable objective. Israeli mobility will also impact Hezbo troop dispositions. If there was a stagnant front line, then Hezbo could deploy troops to front lines, with a few key strategic reserves. If there is no front line and the IDF could attack high value targets anywhere, then Hezbo will have to distribute troops more evenly throughout country, and reduce their concentration facing the main IDF thrusts.
Aug 2nd, 2006
Michael
Char lie writes “Do you have ANY evidence to support that I am being paid to post comments on this site? Please be direct.”
I have to say if you are getting paid to write your lies and consistant crap on this forum then someone is not getting value for money.
Aug 2nd, 2006
Charles
ah - true to form our little perroquet has nothing to offer but ad hominem attacks…
please excuse me for 3 seconds while i look for a corner to pout in…
Aug 2nd, 2006
Truth About Iraqis
Just watched LBC TV. It is a Christian owned, pro-Aoun, pro-Geagea, pro-Hariri, anti-Syrian, anti-Hezbollah station.
Or was.
Now it refers to the resistance.
They had the following report:
Hundreds of Israeli commandos were engaged in a fierce battle in Baalbeck having obtained information that high-level Hezbo cadre were being treated in the hospital.
The fierce battle lasted for seven hours, LBC reports, against four Hezbo fighters.
Just four? Israeli commanders said the raid was a success. A pregnant woman was killed on her way to the hospital for delivery. She was shot from the air by Israeli helicopters.
Aug 3rd, 2006
Charles
Imagine that! Four rambo hezbo’s against an elite Israeli airborne detachment of several hundred(or some such) armed with laser weapons and nuclear gizmo bombs…
It’s a glorious thought.
Holding them off for hours…
(martial music in background…)
Forced to crush enemy skulls with bare hands after the bullets ran out…
One of the hezbo’s - just before passing out from exhaustion after personally killing 6000 IDF soldiers, whispers to his friend in a thick austrian accent - ‘I’ll be back.’
Another exchanges forbidden looks with the night shift nurse…
But the time is not right - the tension is unbearable!
I definitely see a movie script in this.
But I don’t believe it happened.
I recall when the US invaded Iraq uruknet or some other similar site was claiming that the equivalent of several US armored divisions had been destroyed.
Aug 3rd, 2006
Bob Fox
Lebanon, Quana:
Listen and watch Hezbollah warrior eye-witness [orange vest] and his Hezbollah life partner interviewed by Hezbollah film director..
link is here
plot quality fair to middling..
Aug 3rd, 2006
LadyBird
Bob Fox
Very good video, but can please tell us what are they saying in the interview???
Aug 3rd, 2006
Bob Fox
Yes LB, the olde queen [orange vest] said “those damn Israelis messed up my pedicure appointment”.
Aug 3rd, 2006
LadyBird
Wrong
Aug 3rd, 2006
Bob Fox
I’m So Happy LB, thats the first time you’ve spoken to me!!
/feeling warm and fuzzy all over..:-)
Aug 4th, 2006
Truth About Iraqis
LB, good call. Just another enthocentric racist who can’t speak Arabic but pretends to know it all about Arabs. Charles the raping murderer would be proud.
Aug 4th, 2006
Iannis
Cool.
Nov 19th, 2007