Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media

[The Northerner]

Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda

The US government's plan to use technology to create and manage fake identities for social interaction with terrorists is as appalling as it is amusing. It's appalling that in this era of greater transparency and accountability brought on by the internet, the US of all countries would try to systematise sock puppetry. It's appallingly stupid, for there's little doubt that the fakes will be unmasked. The net result of that will be the diminution, not the enhancement, of American credibility.

But the effort is amusing as well, for there is absolutely no need to spend millions of dollars to create fake identities online. Any child or troll can do it for free. Millions do. If the government insists on paying, it can use salesforce.com to monitor and join in chats. There is no shortage of social management tools marketers are using to find and mollify or drown out complainers. There's no shortage of social-media gurus, either.

Tools are quite unnecessary, though. Just get yourself a fake email account, Uncle Sam, and you can create and manage anonymous and pseudonymous identities across most any social service.

Hell, if the government wants to spread information around the world without being detected, why doesn't it just use WikiLeaks? Oh, that's right. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called WikiLeaks disclosures "not just an attack on America attack on the international community". The leaks, she said, "tear at the fabric" of government.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

[dkofos]

1. This is old news.

Not to mention a total waste of taxpayer money.

[Kurovski]

2. Is this where Sarah Palin came from?

[Jazzgirl]

3. And they come here.

n/t

[felix_numinous]

4. The sock puppet brigade.

I hope they're proud of themselves.