Does anyone ever notice that RW-nutjobs seem to post a lot of comments for online newspaper articles

[Crowman1979]

I've seen it alson on some the AP articles in Yahoo! lately. Or they sometimes leave a dispraportionate number of thumbs down whenever a liberal/progressive comment is posted. Most prominently when I read articles about the Oil rig accident in Louisiana. They kept parroting the oil corporations great safety and environmental record, along with the "Drill baby drill" BS.

Who or which group is paying these people?

[Turbineguy]

1. They have lots of spare time

as they are otherwise mostly unemployable.

[Richardo]

2. Why do you think they're being paid?

It's a hobby, and it's easy and anonymous.

[slampoet]

23. I think they are being paid because there are companies selling this exact service.....

...and they also list conservative groups among their customers

[Richardo]

24. I've got to get in on that action

Conservative groups pay companies for what wingnuts, foamers and teabaggers do for free?

Yeah, that's fiscally responsible. Think of all the lap dances that money could buy.

[SharonAnn]

3. Conservative lobbyists hire people to post these comments. To alter public opinion.

If they can not only "object" to every reality based or left of center posting, but also numerically overwhelm them, then peopole who read the comments may think the right-wing is correct

Seriously. It's a version of "astro-turf". There are several methods they use, pretending to be the "grass-roots".

[Bigmack]

11. Absolutely....

Advantage Consultants hires bloggers and pays them per posting. Here's their ad...

[SocialistLez]

15. Oh wow

I've always wondered if people were paid to spout some of their crap. Now I see it's true.

[Demstud]

22. Yeah, it's creepy.

I first remember becoming aware of this with video game and tech companies hiring people to stealth advertise their products through forums, article comments, and user reviews. The tactic has spread like wildfire though, through many industries and political parties.

[Walk away]

4. At the NYTs they try to get as many of the first comments as possible.

Apparently, they are waiting like vultures. The comments aren't very bright but they are "wing nut" in content. Since the earliest comments are read the most and are up the longest, they tend to get more votes. That isn't the case with the RWNJ posts but they manage to get some.

In general, the NYTs comments are liberal in their view point and I am guessing that these oddballs don't read the paper or live in New York.

[Moochy]

20. If you want freeper ground -zero for comments... Can't go wrong with SFGate

Everybody (in San Francisco) knows SFGate is not a liberal paper... but that never stops the legions of out-of-state morans who post in their comments section.

[janet118]

26. They seem to post immediately after article is up, at all hours

I stopped reading the comments section after online articles. Not only do they write ugly stuff - nearly 100% about Democrats, but they also recommend each other's posts so their comments have many recs.

[47of74]

5. The local paper where I live I've noticed that

Our local paper has comments - I rarely comment on the articles any more because it's devolved into a right wing hate fest. And our paper doesn't allow for anonymous comments - a user has to either be a subscriber to the paper or have verified themselves to the paper's management. They did this after some really nasty and racist things were done in their comments section, including in the wake of a white man being murdered by a black man the repeated posting of a black man being lynched. But still we've got the right wing local contingent that repeats every dumb ass GOP talking point they can on the articles. It's just not worth my time to argue with idiots any more.

[ShortnFiery]

6. The editors know that their masters in the ranks of the super-rich prefer right-wing rule.

Keep the little people in fear and constantly warmongering while they steal us blind. Next they're coming for our Social Security and higher taxes for the middle class. Woo! Hoo! But we'll be ultra-distracted due to fighting those TERRORISTS under our beds at night. ;)

[LiberalLoner]

7. So true. n/t

[LiberalLoner]

8. Most of them are retired, aren't they? Most rabid right-wingers I know are over 60 and retired.

[zazen]

9. these fora enable them to bully & bloviate without any accountability

I certainly have seen this with the Raleigh N&O. These are the (mostly) guys who listen to Rush and are full of hate. They want to spew their opinions in meatspace but know on some level they'll be shot down or excluded if they actually articulate their racist, sexist, classist, fascistic crap to live humans, face-to-face (which when they do, they typically only do through nudge-nudging with likeminded assholes).

They quickly shut down discourse on the N&O. I go in and stand up to them once but never return on that particular article, since I don't want to get hooked by the flaming. I think the N&O is considering making the comments section non-anonymous to tone this down.

They aren't the only anonymous bullies on the Internet, but they're the most prevalent.

[madamesilverspurs]

10. Wingers totally dominate

our newspaper's comment boards. There's about half a dozen who seem to work in tandem - posting, responding, reposting - they recommend each other's comments while reporting as abusive any comment that disagrees with them. One of their favorite tricks is to post one short sentence at a time and doing several in sequence. This has the effect of rolling the comments over to a 'new page' so that disagreeing comments aren't seen without flipping to previous pages.

They often quote directly from r-wing sources, and dissolve into petulant whineyness when effectively confronted. I gave up long ago trying to argue with them; when I post a comment I do so for the sake of other readers who are honestly seeking information.

Did I mention that one of these wingers is absolutely convinced that Obama wants to turn her into soylent green?


-

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I don't think they're being paid

They're angry and ignorant and anonymous blogs are a way for them to let off steam.

I argue with them all the time and no one's paying me:)

[janet118]

27. I think they are paid to argue with you

All of them might not be paid directly per post, but many are paid operatives for various organizations and politicians. Professional trolls, if you will.

[SocialistLez]

13. In the state paper

There are LOTS of right-wing letters published.

I've had three of them published, which I consider a miracle.

I have noticed a LOT of right-wing comments on Yahoo!. It's kind of scary. I hope it's just someone with multiple accounts and we don't actually have this many idiots with that much spare time to spout their drivel.

[lunatica]

14. As if teabaggers would read liberal articles

You don't have to pay most of these people. For example, if Rush or Beck merely suggest their followers spread hate they're more than happy to fall all over themselves doing it. They also flood telephone lines and email boxes with their hate at the behest of their overlords.

The more people actually read the better they are at spelling and putting thoughts together in coherent and individual ways. Teabaggers can't spell and all they parrot or the party of no's soundbites.

[Frances]

16. Several years ago someone discovered that local papers

all over the country were printing the same letter signed by different people. It seems the Repubs had sent out these letters to their members who copied it and attached their names.

I feel sure the right wing emails that my ditzy cousin sent me were written by professionals. The writing style was too sophisticated for the right wingers I know.

[doc03]

17. Our local papers print right wing LTE about 3 to 1

over Democrats. I don't know if they just write more or the papers are biased. Same goes for books I noticed at the book store Conservative books outnumber Liberals at least 10 to 1.

[ljm2002]

18. Absolutely!

Also in our local papers when there is a crime story, there are usually pictures of the defendant(s). If they are anything other than white, there are always several posters who make racist comments about the blacks/Latinos/what-have-you, while if (as in the majority of cases) they are white, it's crickets.

I actually commented on one of the stories about white criminals, asking where are all the racists with their comments? My comment was removed.

[doc03]

19. Want to have some fun go the Yahoo message board

for GE, for some reason the stock isn't discussed at all it is just right wingers calling Obama a terroist, a Muslim or insulting his race. I like to get on to rattle their chains sometimes.

[political_Dem]

21. You've got to think of this in this manner: right wingers are authoritarian. They follow orders.

As a result, the right wingers strive for repression and control in every issue that they take part in, paid or unpaid. They're also brainwashed easily and will follow everything their handlers will tell them to do without questioning why they are doing it. Bullying is the only thing they know how to do well. And they'll do it to make sure their opinion is heard.

They ugly thing about the RW sycophants who respond to forums and message boards is that they feel so self-centered concerning their own belief system. It is their way or the highway. Their message is the only information that is being transmitted in the conversation. They refuse to listen to any other piece of information except what they're fed. Or else, they get threatening or angry if put into a defensive spot.

What's so depressing is the fact that the right wing responder will do anything in their power to make people who have different opinions submissive to their Republican talking points. I think that's where other folks, when reading through these polemical exchanges, get the idea that the "conservative view" is the only acceptable view. If others are bullied into keeping silent, then that's the view everyone else accepts and responds to.

But then again, look around at the radio, television and cable stations across the country. The right wing media companies overwhelm these venues with conservatives talking points so much so that their views are the only message you hear anywhere there is a broadcasting medium. There are hardly any public places (especially after Sept. 11th), where you can listen to persons who question those ideas.

This results into a cowed and highly submissive society. If anyone wonders why we get these stupid laws passed that are rather draconian without anyone fighting back, well, there you go.

That's why it is important to reintroduce the FCC equal time laws into the national conversation once again so that America can hear both sides of the issue without being led by the nose by a demagogue.

[Froward69]

25. to "preserve" pur Republic!!!

asshats! they spew the most dumb vile crap claiming to be "the majority of the American people". yet lose elections.

[HughBeaumont]

28. Tell me about it.

The right wing snotrag Plain Dealer not only prints these fact-void sonnets of stupid by the dozens, but they seem to have one to three LTTE submits that, for some weird reason, seem to be getting in the paper quite a lot with their coal-shoveled bullshit-fests.

There's a letter writer named William Reale . . . I'm wondering when this nutbag is getting his own column. This guy's ALWAYS in there, and he's ALWAYS spouting lie-filled Faux Newsery garbage/anti-government/poor people are lazy crap. I looked him up online - rich, white, from a Repuke-laden suburb and owns a giant home. Figures.

[Release The Hounds]

29. Absolutely. And It's all the same crap over and over.