"From the comments: 'My theory is that a lot of the creepy freepers who post on lefty sites are just low-level right-out-of-college cubicle jockeys at right wing think-tanks. They're getting paid to skulk around and regurgitate winger talking points. Just a theory of course. Have you ever noticed that a lot of them tend to post a lot during business hours and then disappear on the weekends? I guess that's when their busy date-raping one another ...' I've noticed this a lot over at the HuffPo. There seem to be a couple of people whose job it is to just jump in and leave right-wing talking points at the top of every thread. It doesn't happen if you post at night, and then they won't show up until business hours the next day."
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/
Firedoglake provides a link to this poster comment at The Washington Monthly:
"Hey guys,
I interviewed for a guerilla marketing business that targeted web forums.
I was told that if I accepted the job, I was to have at LEAST 50 identities on as many forums as I could muster (they wanted 100 eventually), with a goal of 5 posts an hour. The posts had to be well thought out, and the idea was that I was to establish multiple identities with a history on the forums, so that when the timing was right a well written but subtly placed marketing post could be finessed in. And regular visitors would recognize the post as coming from a long time poster.
They had 12 people working there full time, and were hiring 10 more. You do the math. No wait, I'll do it for you: that's 880 posts a day (if minimum was met). However he said the better ones could do around 8 or 10 an hour. And they had different "verticals" so there was the sports guy, and the politics guy, the hentai, excuse me I mean anime guy, etc.
But the most critical point was this: develop and integrate the identity. No random "HEY SONY IS AWESOME BUY THIS" stuff.
Kinda spooky.
P.S. Five posts AN HOUR? Sound like anyone you know..."
Posted by: Phobos Deimos on January 29, 2006 at 5:22 PM | PERMALINK
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_01/008107.php#810427
To Christine and Zipporah and others who tried to explain all this to me: Boy, when you guys are right, you're really, really, right. I was skeptical, but no more!