This statement actually comes from Gandhi's grandson Arun and only goes back to 2001.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi

http://www.google.com/search?q=be+the+change+we+wish+to+see+...

(If anyone can find more, speak up - I only googled for a minute.)

Right next to the phrase is a "grandfather Gandhi said". Arun is quoting his grandfather.

That doesn't count as any record that Gandhi said it, especially if the phrase doesn't appear till 2001.

He's most likely paraphrasing his grandfather, which is fine, but also an example of how famous people get smarter and their words pithier as generations go by.

The grandson claims his grandfather said it. While I agree he was never recorded saying that, I am inclined to believe someone who was probably there when he said it.

I don't think this helps much with the problem outlined in the original post. All you need is one guy running this "persona management" software to offset lots of guys refusing to use it.

RyanMcGreal hit the nail on the head with his comment. I made a comment in a different thread about Apples subscription along the lines of how the Internet tends to route round things, which I think may apply here too.

Bear in mind the history of PGP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_in...) as a prime example of this. When Egypt had it's Internet cut off, the Egyptians routed around it. They became the change they wanted to see and Mubarak had to step down.

Given that semi-automated astroturfing is a popular pastime for corporations, having the government astroturfing offers relatively little by way of difference except in certain circumstances where resources become an issue for corporations (e.g. identification). Much of what's proposed already exists elsewhere in the blackhat market anyway.

So how do you fight it? If you care enough about it, any way you can. Disinformation is as old as the hills. Exposing it is one way, discrediting the source is another, counterdisinformation yet another still. Not participating in places where known or suspected personas exist is probably best. For the truly organised group of today (and for the casual group of tomorrow) there's darknets and offline means of communication.

I believe it does.

How? Let's say the change you want to see is a thoughtful, reasoning approach to communication. Your actions are posting on this website, or some like-minded friend's communication channels.

Your actions result in a thoughtful community that has spent a lot of time analyzing itself- which means people know each other and have meaningful interactions.

Now, when a jerk tries to artificially influence the group, he isn't playing the same game, because your personal actions have created a buffer to it.

Being the change you want to see goes beyond not doing something you find abhorrent. It also entails actively resisting what you find abhorrent - drawing attention to it, organizing against it, providing positive alternatives to it, and so on.

I try to adhere to that motto. I really do.

Sadly I had to learn that it very often conflicts with "making a living".