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Calling people shills does not enhance your argument.
by webkike 10y ago
Calling people shills does not enhance your argument.
- ptaipale 10y agoTrue. Particularly, "paid shills". Anti- or pro-Western, commenters seldom are paid for writing; even if you disagree strongly, remember that they probably write out of a personal conviction.
- marcoperaza 10y agoRussia and China have massive online propaganda operations that include manipulating English-language forums. It's something to be aware of. I'm especially suspect when three people rapid fire downvote but there's no response. I didn't accuse the poster I replied to of being a paid shill. I removed the sentence from my edit because it's just served to distract from the content. And it's just as likely, or more likely, to be a bunch of self-motivated idiots.
- ptaipale 10y agoYes, that is true, and the impact is visible in some discussions. The paid operators maintain web sites, twitter feeds etc that direct the attention of sympathetic activists (perhaps "fellow travellers"), but a vast majority of them surely are not paid. I doubt that HN has large enough following in Russia or its sphere of influence to attract people that would actually be paid to downvote. I do agree that it is sometimes frustrating that people downvote without commenting and offering any other views (which, if void of positive contribution, would expose them themselves to downvotes).
- golergka 10y agoHN is exactly the kind of strategic target for these guys. HN is not widely read in Russia, but it's widely read by power users, people who translate and re-print tech news on russian websites, etc. Hell, I'd say that half of decent articles from Habrahabr (one of most influencial russian collective blogs on tech) are translations from HN frontage. So, it's only natural to create a left-leaning, anti-US climate in a website like HN and others.