AIBU to think that there are a huge amount of paid political posters on this forum?

[deeedeee]

50p army indeed? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party

It's obvious, but remember to check the parties manifestos and make sure you are voting for the policies you agree with, and not just being influenced by the opinions of others and the politics of inevitability.

Lweji yes I remember claigand the infamous isitmebut and yes they've both disappeared. Obvious political posters who have both now gone

Yes, the elites vs the people.
Amusing and annoying at the same time.

Claig was a troll?! Had me convinced. I wondered where she was lately

Nigel Farrages Nana perhaps?

Claig was a polite troll.

There are loads and loads of paid posters on here, mostly Tory. It has shot up since Brexit. I wouldn't be surprised if Cambridge Analytica had something to do with it. Very murky indeed.

YokoReturns What do you think is their endgame here?

They are trying to influence the election.

isitmebut didn't seem like a paid poster to me. More like somebody who really really wanted to be a paid poster, and sent in a c.v. to CCHQ every few weeks with fourteen pages of MN thread printouts stapled to the back.

claig I have no idea. David Icke-level weirdness. I remember isitmebut yelling at her once about being paid by Putin. Seemed daft at the time, but a few years down the line who even knows any more?

Some people only post in FWR. Some people only post in the litter tray. I don't assume there's an evil Germaine Greer/Felix alliance at work.

you post about thes things you're passionate about. I posted non stop about Brexit during Brexit. It mattered to me hugely.

Claig was probably both a bot and a human.

They were polite (ish) except for politicians. It was weird, because they liked using depreciating monikers.

It was quite funny when they got rattled, though.
Such as when they insisted I told them my nationality. Such a well kept secret! But they had to be told. Weird.

Has Claige gone?? I'm sure they were real and completely bonkers

What do you think is their endgame here?

Astroturfing. Fake 'grassroots' support for something (idea, political party). You're more likely to vote for or agree with something if you think a bunch of normal people just like you are doing the same.

yeah, Ring, but you're still around. You didn't post every waking hour of every day using the same lines and same posting style as three or four other posters, then disappear like magic the day after the vote.

Oh yes. The Scottish referendum was rife with them. Aggressive particularly on the pro union side

There seem to have been loads and loads of really shady goings on in recent elections/referendum. The thing I can't work out is the motive though, apart from the obvious.

A little song for us all.

There are loads and loads of paid posters on here, mostly Tory. It has shot up since Brexit. I wouldn't be surprised if Cambridge Analytica had something to do with it. Very murky indeed

See I would have said there were definitely more Labour/Momentum that Tory. Funny how we all see things differently

wasonthelist I honestly don't know. Brexit, Trump - lots of uncertainty, hugely destabilising, which plays into Putin's hands.

Aggressive particularly on the pro union side

And again, my perception was entirely different as I felt the 'cybernats' were on in force and were very aggressive. Both sides were at it but the nationalists were worse for me, I have never felt so ridiculed in my life 😕

Labour/Momentum are utterly shit at this, though, because they lack focus. When I used to go on marches, the SWP would be handing out signs with an array of arbitrary slogans on the 'causes du jour' - it completely diluted their message.

Toties/UKIP are far more adept at being on-message, pathologically so.

Of course there isn't.

There are people here with different points of view and different ends of the political spectrum you know like in RL op.

Are you being paid? Don't be so silly it's a massive internet site so attracts the clever/stupid/labour/Tory and UKIP etc.

Not all mumsnetters support labour petal and I say that as a party member in despair over Corbyn

What about the ones who know nothing and post just to ask how the system works and who they should vote for? That's far more worrying

You're more likely to vote for or agree with something if you think a bunch of normal people just like you are doing the same.

Well maybe you are - personally I don't give a flying flip who is with me or against me.

What about the ones who know nothing and post just to ask how the system works and who they should vote for?
I have wondered if they are for real or part of some research (or someone's homework).

I said at the time, what made me very suspicious was the number of people pre-Brexit taking a very particular line. 'Have you seen this [link to Mail or Express] report about [migrants doing something awful to women]? I've always hated Nigel Farage but blow me if I'm not beginning to think he has a point. I'm a feminist and we must protect our daughters!'

Every time. Was weird. I definitely think some of them were working from a script. Not that people can't hold that view legitimately, of course they can, but it was so similar every time. Genuine accounts of people changing their minds are a lot messier and more various.