# Orchestrated Trolling? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 6, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356 "2004-09-06T17:19:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/21 "2004-09-08T08:03:26Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > Some of my best friends are Democrats. :eek: Yes, and no doubt the others are blacks. Mmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/22 "2004-09-08T08:25:41Z")
Are you aware, sir, that black Republicans are about as scarce as SDMB Republicans? So, yep, it’s true, I do have black friends, but like here, they are mostly Democrats. And like with my friends here, I don’t hold it against them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/23 "2004-09-08T12:42:35Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > Are you aware, sir, that black Republicans are about as scarce as SDMB Republicans? Gee, Abe would be turning in his grave. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/24 "2004-09-08T12:51:09Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Gee, Abe would be turning in his grave. Some zombie thing? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/25 "2004-09-09T07:35:16Z")
Sweet zombie Lincoln! Quick! Somebody make a zombie John Wilks Booth to stop him! ---
**Author:** ![sethness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@sethness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethness)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/26 "2009-10-06T08:57:15Z")
YES. Read “blinded by the right” and “The republican noise machine” by David Brock. Watch “Outfoxed”, a DVD movie about Faux (Fox) news / Rupert Murdoch and “talking points”. There are even false surveys, designed to plant suspicions in voters’ minds. A recent example would include a (white) senator and his adopted (black) daughter, in which surveyors asked “Would you vote differently if you knew that senator XYZ had had his daughter out of wedlock?” In the non-political realm, this type of advertising is also commonplace. For example, the movie “The Blair Witch Project” advertised itself by using advertisers posing as regular citizens on Online forums, asking “What do you think of that movie” or saying “I loved The Blair Witch Project. Go see it!” This type of fake oughta-be-illegal grassroots movement is called “astroturfing”. > **[Astroturfing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing)** > > Astroturfing is the practice of hiding the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from, and is supported by, grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial backers. The term astroturfing is derived from AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to resemble natural grass, as ... ---
**Author:** ![sethness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@sethness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethness)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/27 "2009-10-06T09:04:20Z")
For repugnicans, “misled sheep and abusive sheep-f\*\*kers” or "the folks who put the “con” in “neocon”. For democrats, “informed, independent moral electorate” comes to mind. 😃 Is my subjectivity showing? ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/28 "2009-10-06T09:16:09Z")
_ **Brains!** _ ---
**Author:** ![ajb867](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@ajb867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajb867)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/29 "2009-10-06T09:17:54Z")
Oh god, I’ve been infected! The rest of you, save your selves and head for colder climates! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/30 "2009-10-06T09:18:59Z")
**sethness** , dude - it’s considered bad form around here to dredge up an argument over a year or so old. After all, you could hardly ask people to defend a statement they made five years ago, right? Plus, many of the posters in this thread have no longer write here, which means they can’t respond. If you want to discuss the subject, open a new thread, maybe with a link to this one. Edit: guys - be easy on the new kid, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/31 "2009-10-06T11:11:54Z")
The usual procedure if you want to comment on the subject of an old thread is to make a new one, with your own take on it and a link to the old thread. As for the subject of this one? [Push polls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_poll) strike me as an example of “organized trolling”. Asking people “What do you think about the accusations that Candidate X raped a girl in Michigan?”, when in fact there IS no such allegation strikes me as very trollish. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/32 "2009-10-06T12:17:02Z")
**sethness** , the jokes refer to a |zombie thread" , a thread that has run its natural course, died peaceful of old age, and is then resurrected to haunt the living again. And welcome to the SDMB 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356/33 "2009-10-06T12:27:34Z")
Killing yet another **sethness** -resuscitated zombie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestrated-trolling/263356.md?page=1)