What Was Once Speculation ....

... is now proven. over the last 3-4 years regular commenters at the eschaton and political animal often speculated that persistent, robotic trolls are paid to astroturf blogs. via commenter Interrobang at Orcinus, i learned that there is now proof that trolls are indeed paid to annoy and distract genuine participants. take a stroll through these blogs to learn more about the whole sordid affair:

Cybersoc has three posts.

Pandagon

Watch Me Sleep

Blanton's and Ashton's - Article. II. Section. 4.

Village Blog

deconsumption

Dr. Peter Rost

welcome to the wild wild world of stealth marketing.

UPDATE: i especially recommend you read the post at Dr. Peter Rost's blog. i also have noticed odd visitors to wFd from time to time, including many from IPs related to the US military. i can't imagine what we say here that would garner so much interest. with about 50 regular readers, most of whom are friends or friends of friends, wFd has no impact on public opinion whatsoever.