Slashdot Mirror
The Ups and Downs of Being a Twitter Fraudster
Barence writes "PC Pro has a feature examining the psychology and motivation of people who create fake or parody Twitter accounts. The feature reveals how people behind some of the most popular parodies — such as @MrsStephenFry — have gone on to earn commercial success, while others are altogether more sinister. The man behind @Lord_Credo managed to convince many that he was a personal adviser to British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and wormed his way into political circles. He allegedly conned some out of money, took advantage of the hospitality of others, and left the professional reputation of at least one 'in tatters.' He even fabricated a malignant brain tumor, leaving one young member of the group 'utterly distraught.'"
...you don't sign each other's gpg keys!
Uhm, it doesn't seem very fair to lump actual fraudsters in the same group as relatively innocent parodists. Once you start making people part with their money, it's a completely different situation.
I plan to plan / Dutch course in The Hague
This is why you shouldn't believe everything you read on teh interwibbles.
Second thoughts, s/everything/anything/
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Why can't they behave like us on slashdot, where everyone is exactly who they say they are?
If you're sick of the verb "tweet".
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
You think you're above the "trash" but couldn't write a correct sentence if your life depended on it.
What a pity, he sounded like a guy you could believe in.
On a somewhat related topic: In the book The Big Short (about the derivatives crash), Lewis describes a fund manager that suffers from Asperger syndrome. A very smart guy, but not susceptible to the back-slapping and other bullshit typically used to push questionable investment products in the industry. He kept asking for numbers to back up the bankers' claims. When note were forthcoming, he did his own research and, as a result, shorted many of the derivative products on the market. He earned billions of dollars for his fund.
Sometimes, a touch of Asperger helps. Or at least one can step back and observe the social interactions*.
*I hang around with a group of behavioral psychologists. When we go out to a bar, its funny to sit and watch them observe and classify social interactions around themselves as if they were watching a cage with a bunch of chimpanzees in an experiment.
Have gnu, will travel.
yes, that is by default. but in my experience, the trash considers me garbage, so i can't see the problem...
u can not decieve a matematician, surgeon, musicist or any other who work in practical fields that require a rational head and vigorous study.
lol Whoever told you that, DEFINITELY deceived you. This is social engineering, not parametric equations.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
u can decieve the trash that live entirely in "people space": many politicians, psycologists, theatre people, generally "social sciences" kind of people... why?
Other people can. You couldn't. A minimum level of literacy is required.
as if they were watching a cage with a bunch of chimpanzees in an experiment.
Isn't this exactly what a behavioral psychologist is trained to do ?
Then it's a public service.
wery well then. let me see u "worm ur self" in to a a circle of educated people... yeah, like make me belive that u are a guru on combinatorial algorithms, hmm? make me believe that u are some big military tactician, can u? a botanist? fucking relativistic retard
No, I am one of that small, elite, circle of people who knows how to capitalize my sentences. Work hard, and someday you too may enter this elite group.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
There have been documented cases of impostors who've been able to pose as e.g. doctors/surgeons(!), airline pilots (etc.) for years and years.
Those are certainly fields which require "a rational head and vigorous study".
The easiest people to fool are those who think they cannot be fooled... such as yourself.
Give me access to your keyboard and I'll be able to capitalize your sentences too.
I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
*I hang around with a group of behavioral psychologists. When we go out to a bar, its funny to sit and watch them observe and classify social interactions around themselves as if they were watching a cage with a bunch of chimpanzees in an experiment.
Whoah dude. That's seriously meta, right there.
that u may not respect me is by my design, but if u care to answer please stay on topic.
Truly I don't respect you, but only because your words aren't respectable. If you chose to write in an unrespectable way, it's probably as a psychological cover for that fact that no one respected you in the first place. So now you can blame that on your method of writing, instead of on the actual words.
now, i am fucking imploring u with this task: pick a fucking field, and make me belive that u are som hotshot in it. this is tha topic, yes?
Maybe I can't, maybe you will choose to believe nothing. Which is sad. But I am in fact, easily in the top 5% of programmers. I can disassemble other programmer's binaries in cases when I can't get the source code, and I can write a compiler, if I chose to. I've worked on high profile projects which you've heard of, but I feel no compunction to brag about those to a person who can't even write a complete sentence.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Scene: a mathematical conference.
First Mathematician: Who's the spacker in the tin-foil hat over there?
Second Mathematician: Oh, that's just zugendneb, our tame lolcat. We keep him because he can sniff out social engineers and destroy them with his wit and repartee. He can't write English worth a shit, but his texting skills are a legend in his own lunchtime.
If you sign someones key you are actually revealing yours.
Wrong article, friend. Head here: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/11/1240258/google-deploys-ipv6-for-internal-network
I will then assume that you are indeed the respectable expert that you claim to be, and speak to you accordingly.
HA! I tricked you! I am not actually a programmer, I just play one on Slashdot.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
*I hang around with a group of behavioral psychologists. When we go out to a bar, its funny to sit and watch them observe and classify social interactions around themselves as if they were watching a cage with a bunch of chimpanzees in an experiment.
This is actually more common to people in general, rather than just behavioral psychologists. I love people watching. Go to the local mal or McDonalds early on Sunday, and you will see a bunch of older folk, planted at a bench/seat, doing just that. It also used to be a popular past time at the airports, back when you could do such a thing.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
This is actually more common to people in general, rather than just behavioral psychologists. I love people watching.
So, what do you consider to be a proxy for poo-flinging?
Have gnu, will travel.
This is actually more common to people in general, rather than just behavioral psychologists. I love people watching.
So, what do you consider to be a proxy for poo-flinging?
Tweeting
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
When we go out to a bar...cage with a bunch of chimpanzees in an experiment.
Whoah dude. That's seriously meta, right there.
Been a while since you've taken a real hard look at the humanity around you - if you've ever looked at all. Its really not so meta after all - if at all.
@MrsStephenFry is possibly not the best example, since it's quite possible that it is, in fact, the great Mr Fry himself. He'd never admit it of course, since that would spoil the fun.
Umm... I think that's exactly what they're doing.
One time a bunch of us software and hardware geeks were sitting in the company cafeteria, and some were rating the ladies going by. One of us remarked, "Hah - I just realized, this is a bunch of 3s and 4s, rating 6s and 7s!" :D
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
That's quite likely the reason they said 'u' (colloquial shorthand for 'you') instead of 'I.'
It is crazy, all these people posing as someone else. What is the point? I don't get it.
A Dockery
Robin Sage
Xavier Rabourdin for president 2012
Having seen no comments yet from anyone who's actually done this...
I run a fake twitter feed, lampooning a guy known in several wide social circles known for his... lets say "interesting" personality. He's not exactly widely loved or widely hated (maybe polarizing though), but he can be counted on to have an unexpected viewpoint on basically anything. (It might be Aspergers, we don't know.) The actual guy doesn't seem to mind, because I take care to not say anything mean.
The account has turned out to be a decent hit among the people that know him. The people that love him immensely and hate him immensely both like it similarly. Also, it gives me an outlet for some creativity and humor. Finally, there is a very small rush from "pleasing an audience," even if it is only 80 or so people, and only a small fraction of those 80 knowing it is me on the other end. ...And that's about the extent of it. No commercialization, no defrauding anyone of their money, not even 100 followers. But it makes 80 people's lives, and mine, an iota better.
He even fabricated a malignant brain tumor
Guess you'd have to have a brain first - else it would just be a scull cavity tumour.
Sorry, but that's incorrect. Here's a picture to clear it up for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Public_key_signing.svg
I8-D
You see, I come to this forum to read the posts of low UID users
Are you f'in crazy?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Whoosh. Also does semi-insulting random strangers on the Internet make you feel better about yourself?
For the win!
One more reason to keep an eye on your money.
It's been some time since I've actually laughed to tears, thank you :D
This is a UDP joke, I don't care if you get it or not...
Incidentally, with my last post, I didn't mean any offense. I really think you'll have a better time if you present yourself as competent on Slashdot. Yeah, you'll attract trolls, but you'll also attract people who are not trolls as well.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."