@Finn dAbuzz,
Quote:Not appreciating someone's opinions is one thing, ascribing them to a deliberate attempt to confuse, misinform, and dismay a target audience as a third party agent is something entirely different and so obviously reeks of paranoia that I'm surprised anyone has made the charge once let alone repeatedly.
Let's get our thinking clear here.
First, trolls (and here I'm speaking specifically about those individuals posting under false pretenses) are active in social media. There's no debate about the reality of this. They operate on twitter, on facebook, in news sites comments sections. They are often organized. There's no reason to presume that A2K would not include such activity.
Second, the technique of posting, acting or speaking while pretending you are something you are not has a broad history in politics, in marketing and elsewhere. For example, "astro-turf" operations are pervasive in politics and marketing and that is a classic example of presentation of self as something different from or opposite to reality. Or take the "Brooks Brothers Riot" where Republican politicos and activists, seeking to shut down the Florida vote count while pretending they were just concerned citizens (Roger Stone was a key figure). Or, as I've noted numerous times before, the ClintonsForMcCain/PUMA operations was replete with Republican activists pretending to be Hillary supporters and there were hundreds of MySpace accounts dedicated to this deceit.
Everything I've just written is factual.
So the only remaining question is whether or not Lash is an example of the thing. Obviously, I don't "know" that she is. I think it is highly likely (for all the reasons I've previously stated). The reason I asked the question earlier regarding what the rest of you thought about this was not sneaky. I wanted your feedback as a check on my own thinking and conclusions. But there wasn't much in the way of feedback.
I've bolded one word in Finn's post. The reason I've done that is to point out that my presumption and statements about Lash
are unique. I've not made this charge about anyone else here either in the present or in the many years I posted on A2K. It's just where the evidence, in this individual case, leads.
