Buying Influence: How China manipulates Facebook and Twitter

Re:Buying Influence: How China manipulates Facebook and Twitter by freen on Wednesday December 22, 2021 @10:15PM (#29658263)

The most important thing a con artist must convince the mark of is this: everyone else is on the take. Once this is believed, the mark will follow the con down any corrupt rabbit hole.

Ask yourself this: who wants you to believe that everything is astroturfing? Who does that serve?

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Re:Buying Influence: How China manipulates Facebook and Twitter by coldtea on Thursday December 23, 2021 @08:47AM (#29661741)

Ask yourself this: who isn't astroturfing?

(For the US in fact social media astroturfing doesn't even have to be covert: as the social media belong to domestic companies, they by default promote the national party line and foreign interests - it's only bad when someone else does it).

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Re:Buying Influence: How China manipulates Facebook and Twitter by ethbr0 on Thursday December 23, 2021 @05:41AM (#29660552)

Two things can simultaneously be true: (1) there is substantial astroturfing in the infosphere & (2) everything is not astroturf.

Ironically, I think the accusations of astroturfing (whether true or not) more directly serve the meta goal of decreasing the public's ability and willingness to engage in debate, and accusations are much more amplification / outrage friendly.

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Re:Buying Influence: How China manipulates Facebook and Twitter by nopenopenopeno on Thursday December 23, 2021 @08:50AM (#29661772)

So it’s better to just never acknowledge it? As if there is no alternative?

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Re:Buying Influence: How China manipulates Facebook and Twitter by ethbr0 on Thursday December 23, 2021 @11:41AM (#29663535)

Best is probably acknowledging it out of band, as it is a pervasive issue, rather than a specific one.

So articles and discussion like this, but not "Chinese|American shill" in a thread about something else.

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