Monsanto and Others Caught Paying Internet ‘Trolls’ to Attack Activists
Companies desperate to fool public
Have you ever seen a post, comment, or reply that absolutely reeked
of behind-the-scenes compensation by corporations like Monsanto? In the
growing age of internet activism, and the expansion of social media as a
tool to spread the word on real issues, paid internet trolling is becoming a new career path.
Now, in case you’re not familiar with what ‘trolling’ really is, I think Wikipedia has a great definition. According to Wikipedia, an internet troll is:
“…a person who sows discord on the Internet by
starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting
inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community
(such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate
intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise
disrupting normal on-topic discussion.“
Does this sound like some posts you’ve seen before? Now, let’s be
clear: there are tons of internet trolls out there that are absolutely
not on the pay roll. Most of these people are genuinely just messing
with others to get a laugh, a reaction, or whatever. Not arguing on behalf of multi-billion dollar corporations for up to 8 hours per day.
