Are the sock puppets that frequent HN simply much harder to detect? It often surprises me that HN is not a target for these kinds of people; I like to think that I have a good sense of when this kind of thing is going on, but probably I'm less sophisticated than I think I am.
HN is definitely a target for these kind of people. It has gone so far as high level contacts between the bosses of these kind of people and the stewards to sort things out. That doesn't mean that it has stopped nor does it mean there won't be repetitions. Astroturfing, burying, and derailing all happen. The scariest aspect to me is not those that are paid to do this sort of thing, because I can see their motivation but their little helpers in the form of the gullible public. From the above you could probably conclude I'm a cynical old bastard these days and you wouldn't be to far off.
I suspect that any forum with more than a few thousand participants has elements that are trying to actively shape the conversation to serve their goals on it.
> The scariest aspect to me...are their little helpers in the form of the gullible public
Well, given my rather naive comment above, I have to assume that I fall into this category to some extent. What would you suggest people do differently?
Be skeptical about everything you read online and offline (but moreso online), check up on sources rather than to use citations helpfully provided to underpin some bit of information and in general read until the cows come home to make sure you have a solid foundation from which to make your own judgment, especially when it comes to history and any attempts to re-write it.
It is widely claimed (in comment threads) that many tech. companies directly or indirectly operate this sort of targeting here. I'm not certain there's any evidence of this though.
There is plenty of evidence, including some very high level interventions to put a stop to some of the worst of it. No need to name names but it happened in the past it is happening in the present and it will most likely continue as long as HN has any sizeable (or perceived as influential) audience.
hn is without a doubt a target for these kinds of people. I'm honestly surprised that this thread hasn't been flag killed considering how it shows how blatantly idf are gaming this system.
edit: nothing against Israel and Jews in general, just that there was some pretty clear evidence specific to the IDF in the article
