Now that we have all those Twitters and Facebooks, the Man can no longer tell us what to think.
We own the media, so we own the information…except when we don’t. And that happens more often than you’d think, as discussed in my latest Listverse article: 10 Underhanded Ways Governments Use The Modern Media.
Go read…but then close your browser and never open it again. You never know what’s out there.
Nest Expressed 
Fantastic article Daniel. Amazing how you snooped out all that stuff. I’m not at all surprised by the revealing but am dismayed at the energy put into this public swaying by political factions and governments.
Of course, businesses and celebrities have been doing this for years.
Getting paid 50 cents for every blog comment sounds interesting. Could be a whole new career path…. okay probably not.
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Hey, if you have some great comments prepared and then just cut-n-paste them, that could add up quickly!
And thanks, it’s good to be back to researching and writing a bit.
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Good list.
Governments have always been masterful trolls ( see for instance… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO ) , and it is scary how much the internet enables them to manipulate people more efficiently. The upside of that is that it also enables *us* to more efficiently detect, expose, and fight back against their tactics. For most of the twentieth century, whenever the ruling powers in Russia, China, or even the US leaned on news sources to report or not report what they wanted, there weren’t any bots to flag them down!
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That’s a very good point. It’s sort of a catch-up game, though, isn’t it? Will the majority learn to tell bots and propaganda apart from facts before “the Man” invents new tricks? Will the masses believe everything they read? Will a colonizing army of uber-intelligent space travelers from another galaxy land on Earth and enslave us all before we evolve?
Very likely!
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I for one welcome our uber-intelligent space traveler overlords!
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Fascinating article, and its implications are frightening. Can you imagine a group like ISIS getting control of your Twitter account and sending out tweets in your name? Some of these apps people download want an awful lot of our information. I’m always leery when I get the note that a new app wants to access certain things. I usually don’t allow it or delete the app altogether. Sometimes the same happens when you register your name somewhere online. I won’t bother registering if it’s asking permission to access my Twitter or Facebook account. I’m thinking, “Why? What’s in it for you?…”
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This message is from Daniel himself. He is…uh…I am in complete disagreement with your above statement. I believe we should give full access to any and all apps that request it. It is for our own good.
Yes, please download this very cool “US Government Totally Not Spying On You” app and install it. I have it, and it is good.
By “I,” I mean “Daniel,” not Agent “Purple Bot” of the US military. Do not be ridiculous. This is most definitely Daniel.
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Oh, good. I feel perfectly comfortable releasing all my information to you now.
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