3 ms·

> Foreign gov't, certainly. Ours? As honestly as I can claim, I never knew of any Psyop folks conducting operations on those sites, nor did I ever hear of any d

> Foreign gov't, certainly. Ours? As honestly as I can claim, I never knew of any Psyop folks conducting operations on those sites, nor did I ever hear of any directives for Psyop folks to use those platforms as viable mediums. Wouldn't operating there also target a lot of non-US citizens? How would you actually go for non-US people that frequent English forums? Also, that the US completely leaves the field to the other guys seems unlikely to me, both from a tactical perspective and from the opinions I see. Not that I have any credentials, it just sounds very strange to me.

boston_clone 5y ago
Honestly, my hypothesis (as I have no discrete data) is that sites like reddit, twitter, HN, tumbler, etc. already have CIA / NSA / "DoD" people both on staff and as participatory users, likely volunteer moderators / admins as well. When you start to think about how many other foreign countries are doing the exact same thing, well, you start wanting to use social media a lot less.
- bckr 5y ago
  > you start wanting to use social media a lot less fidgets for a minute about whether HN is a social media site
  - runnerup 5y ago
    We are lucky that HN effectively only has one staff person. Sort of hard for the CIA/KGB/CCP to seed it while it stays at this stage. Especially with strict moderation of participants.
    - sva_ 5y ago
      > We are lucky that HN effectively only has one staff person. False: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235720 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235720
- mike_d 5y ago
  I know quite a few people who work at alphabet soup agencies and US based social media sites are strictly off limits. The exceptions are law enforcement (FBI, USSS, etc) actions where someone is dealing in child abuse material or terrorist recruiting. Also ask yourself... why? Foreign intelligence resources are much better spent on foreign networks like VK, WeChat, and TikTok.

boston_clone 5y ago

Honestly, my hypothesis (as I have no discrete data) is that sites like reddit, twitter, HN, tumbler, etc. already have CIA / NSA / "DoD" people both on staff and as participatory users, likely volunteer moderators / admins as well. When you start to think about how many other foreign countries are doing the exact same thing, well, you start wanting to use social media a lot less.

bckr 5y ago
> you start wanting to use social media a lot less fidgets for a minute about whether HN is a social media site
- runnerup 5y ago
  We are lucky that HN effectively only has one staff person. Sort of hard for the CIA/KGB/CCP to seed it while it stays at this stage. Especially with strict moderation of participants.
  - sva_ 5y ago
    > We are lucky that HN effectively only has one staff person. False: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235720 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235720
mike_d 5y ago
I know quite a few people who work at alphabet soup agencies and US based social media sites are strictly off limits. The exceptions are law enforcement (FBI, USSS, etc) actions where someone is dealing in child abuse material or terrorist recruiting. Also ask yourself... why? Foreign intelligence resources are much better spent on foreign networks like VK, WeChat, and TikTok.