Posting on behalf of organisations.

Discodog

I understand that Shilling is the promotion of a business whilst pretending to be a "normal" poster. What's Boards view of those who do so representing organisations or governments ?

It very clear, from certain threads, that Posters are representing organisations/parties/governments etc. It is also well established that some organisations & countries pay people to post on social media. What is Boards view of this ?

Zaph

Discodog wrote: »

It very clear, from certain threads, that Posters are representing organisations/parties/governments etc.

If you suspect that a person is misrepresenting themselves then please report their posts and the admins or the guys in the office can take a closer look. However it should be noted that very often it may not be possible to make a definitive link between a poster and an organisation, and in such cases it may not be possible to take any action against them.

Discodog wrote: »

It is also well established that some organisations & countries pay people to post on social media. What is Boards view of this ?

How do you identify these posters though? Unless they out themselves it's not going to be apparent that they are being paid to post.

The fact of the matter is that it is very difficult to legislate for the types of posters you have mentioned simply because accurately identifying them can be difficult. At the same time we don't want to ban posters who may hold similar views to a given organisation but actually are legitimate and have no direct connection to them. However if someone is posting in a manner that is in breach of the site's Terms of Use, then they will be carded or banned just like any other poster.

Discodog

There are a couple of threads on AH right now where a small number of posters have posted huge amounts of off topic material. It's a standard technique use by the same people, over & over again.

If you refute their posts & they don't have a reply, they simply post about something else. So, for example, in the Russia & UK/NATO Relations Getting Hot Over Attempted Murder at Salisbury thread there are diversionary posts about Syria, Vietman etc.

It is obvious that these posts are linked. They use obtuse, often hard to find material, & clearly work as a pack. Other posters joke about them changing shifts

They aren't a problem in that their totally biased posting style makes them obvious but they totally dominate the thread & by quoting & agreeing with each other to give the repression that others agree, fill the pages.

I am sure that they also put others off posting as the poster's argument will be ignored & often derided in very familiar language to certain official sources. But if a posters suggests that these people are not just normal posters they run the risk of infractions whereas the all the off topic posting & soapboxing is ignored.

It may seem a minor issue but there is growing evidence of interference in the US election, UK referendum vote & possibly others. We have a very major vote ourselves shortly.

Discodog

Discodog wrote: »

There are a couple of threads on AH right now where a small number of posters have posted huge amounts of off topic material. It's a standard technique use by the same people, over & over again.

If you refute their posts & they don't have a reply, they simply post about something else. So, for example, in the Russia & UK/NATO Relations Getting Hot Over Attempted Murder at Salisbury thread there are diversionary posts about Syria, Vietman etc.

It is obvious that these posts are linked. They use obtuse, often hard to find material, & clearly work as a pack. Other posters joke about them changing shifts

They aren't a problem in that their totally biased posting style makes them obvious but they totally dominate the thread & by quoting & agreeing with each other to give the repression that others agree, fill the pages.

I am sure that they also put others off posting as the poster's argument will be ignored & often derided in very familiar language to certain official sources. But if a posters suggests that these people are not just normal posters they run the risk of infractions whereas the all the off topic posting & soapboxing is ignored.

It may seem a minor issue but there is growing evidence of interference in the US election, UK referendum vote & possibly others. We have a very major vote ourselves shortly.

Edit: This is getting so obvious that Mods are posting warning against accusing posters of being Shills or being paid.