It has become clear from some of the threads here that we need a new term to describe a certain behaviour, where someone engages in something resembling trolling ("sowing discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."), but with a specific intent to promote a belief system or commercial agenda. In that sense, it also resembles astroturfing ("the use of fake grassroots efforts that primarily focus on influencing public opinion"), sockpuppets ("misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a person or organization") and meatpuppets ("community members that have been recruited by an existing member to support their position").
The best terms I can think of are "astrotroll" for those with a commercial agenda, and "cosmotroll" for those with a purely ideological, non-commercial agenda, but I would love to hear suggestions for terms better describing these behaviours. "To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Julf's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=42050 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=103950 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles