The Dark Art of Online Manipulation
Paid Shilling and Astroturfing
When carrying out a digital deception to establish a manufactured truth, two sinister tactics reign supreme: paid shilling and astroturfing.
Paid Shilling:
This involves paying individuals to create and disseminate specific content online. These individuals, often referred to as "shills," may post comments, reviews, or even create entire social media accounts and detailed narratives to promote a particular product, service, or idea. The goal is to artificially inflate the perceived popularity or credibility of a subject.
An example of paid shilling is when a celebrity promotes a cryptocurrency without any real economic potential to investors. The celebrity is acting as a shill, or someone who is paid to give credibility to a person or organization without disclosing their relationship with them.
Shilling can occur in many areas, including:
Media: A shill may work in journalism or marketing to help a person or organization.
Politics: A shill may promote a politician.
Sports: A shill may promote a sports team.
Confidence games: A shill may work in a confidence game to make the mark believe they can win.
Cryptocurrency: A celebrity may promote a cryptocurrency to investors.
Shills use crowd psychology to make people believe they should do business with the person or organization they are promoting.
Astroturfing:
This technique involves creating a false impression of grassroots support for a particular cause or idea. It often involves hiring people to post comments, reviews, or articles online, or organizing fake grassroots campaigns. This can be used to sway public opinion, influence policy decisions, or damage the reputation of individuals or organizations.
In my previous article I spoke about Online Narrative Warfare and both the above psychological control techniques are used by the individuals mentioned in the section of that article.
Pharmaceutical companies may sponsor patient support groups and simultaneously push them to help market their products. Bloggers who receive free products, paid travel or other accommodations may also be considered astroturfing if those gifts are not disclosed to the reader.
The Role of Influencers
Influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for brands and organizations. However, it can also be exploited by malicious actors. Trolls may approach other well known trolls/social media influencers to promote their agenda, offering them financial incentives or other benefits. By leveraging the influence of these individuals, they can amplify their message and reach a wider audience.
Protecting Yourself from Online Manipulation
To protect yourself from online manipulation, it's essential to:
Be Critical of Online Content: Question the source of information and consider the potential biases of the author.
Verify Information: Cross-reference information from multiple sources to ensure accuracy.
Avoid Emotional Responses: Don't let trolls provoke you into emotional reactions.
Report Abuse: Report any instances of harassment or abuse to the platform's moderators.
Promote Positive Online Communities: Encourage respectful and constructive dialogue.
By understanding these tactics and adopting a critical approach to online information, we can better protect ourselves from manipulation, disinformation, misinformation and most importantly the mutton crew.