Apologies for the shortness of this diary. I'm just learning about this stuff myself and don't have much to write yet.
BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS CLEAR ENOUGH: Organized posters representing Republican candidates are taking over many online community fora with viral postings, and we need to combat them.
"Viral marketing" and "viral activism" are nothing new, of course. Just this week, it was revealed that the policy director for Republican Congressman Bass was concern trolling Hodes blogs.
The problem is that use of this activity on behalf of Republicans is picking up steam fast this campaign season, and we need to fight back.
This is 2006, and if we want Dems to win, part of what we have to do is venture into online communities and face down paid Republican posters on every single post--just like in MSM.
Here are a few places to start:
http://www.craigslist.org
http://www.myspace.com
http://www.facebook.com (not open to everyone)
Other online gathering places such as political and newspaper blogs -- ESPECIALLY the ones we disagree with
I'd welcome any information that you guys can provide about places in which you too have seen Republican online viral marketing picking up steam.
And I'd appreciate any suggestions that you might offer for how to combat it most effectively, that is, how best to post, what to focus on, etc.
As a Nashville native, I have seen posting in the Craigslist regional forums for Tennessee picking up dramatically in favor of Corker and against Ford. The posts are so constant and cookie-cutter that I can only imagine they're organized. And that is just one example.