What Psychopathic Internet Trolls Can Teach Us About Persuasion
By Susanne Posel
The personalities of the trolls, according to the study, fall under the labels of:
• Machiavellianism
• Psychopathy
• Sadism
In other words, internet trolls are willing to manipulate and deceive because of a grandiose ego and self-obsessive behaviors that showcase their lack of empathy toward others and highlights their pleasure derived from the suffering of others.
Time spent trolling the internet through comment threads was measurably connected to the level of the “dark tetrad” that individual played on.
Through a questionnaire, 5.6% of participants of the study were admitted to “enjoying” their trolling; while 41.3% of internet users are “non-commenters”.
This means that the internet troll community is quite small; yet has a quite significant impact of the temperament of the internet because of the relentlessness by which they engage their deterring activities.
One possible source of trolls is the National Security Agency (NSA) comprehensive program to search out our schools into scouting grounds for a team of American grown hacker community.
The NSA is focusing on colleges and universities within the US. Four schools have already been singled out as official Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations (CAE-COP).
The CAE-COP focuses on recruiting persons with “particular emphasis on technologies and techniques related to specialized cyber operations (e.g., collection, exploitation, and response), to enhance the national security posture of our Nation.”
Those chosen for this program become vital researchers expected to assist the NSA in:
• Global communications and computing networks
• Developing a digital strategic advantage
• Collaboration with the US government on cyber issues
• Carry out directives on designated targets at the discretion of the US government
These “cyber operators” are trained to become an elite team of “computer geniuses” that are experts in computer hacking, digital communications, cyber intelligence – for the purpose of spying on Americans; as well as conducting interactive digital psy-ops with users of the internet.
Another source for government-grade internet trolls could be supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
According to Lynnae Williams, former CIA clandestine service trainee and DIA analyst, the FBI and CIA use trolls to monitor social media and interact with users to discredit information disseminated on the web. Williams explains that the CIA provides training videos to new recruits on how to troll the internet. Once a target is locked-in, all open source information is obtained on the individual, and then any angle to discredit them in public forum is used on social media sites.
Software is used to sift through the “mountains” of users on social networking sites. At the Atlanta CIA branch where Williams was trained, she personally witnessed CIA-sponsored and sanctioned trolling of Americans on social networking sites.
In 2011, the CIA revealed its Open Source Center where recruited personnel are used as government trolls to “analyze” websites for information pertinent to the objective of the US government – meaning discrediting targets on certain websites.
Under the guise of conducting business intelligence (i.e. cyberespionage), the Open Source software gathers digital data on targets; including all Facebook posts, Twitter posts, comments on website threads.
Those assigned to monitor this data can interact with users online through anonymous portals.
Agents are designated to surveillance operations to message anyone, analyze political and religious speech, assess trends and conduct electronic eavesdropping through cell phones, satellites and other digital apparatus.
Agents not only survey the internet and interact as anonymous persons through directed postings, but also are deployed to wander through the streets domestically and in foreign nations to monitor newspaper and other printed media to extract useful information about the temperament of the general public.
Susanne Posel | Original Author | Original Copyright Holder
Source: http://OccupyCorporatism.com
