NSA contractors, BOA and Chamber of Commerce caught in plan to smear critics in online forums!

[JDPriestly]

96. Thanks for the tip.

But if we don't respond to them, then their posts stand without refutation for newcomers.

I see DU as an opportunity to educate people about the breadth and openness of liberal thought. If we leave these disrupting posts without any opposition, then the disruption comes to represent DU and liberal thought.

I can see your point of view though.

I should add that when I respond to the disrupting posts, I try to focus on educating people who may be new to DU, people who may not yet have thought a problem or issue through. Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking of the bot or persona as a real person, but generally I use their posts as an opportunity to explain something.

I think that through my strategy, I can turn these annoyances into opportunities to discuss my point of view.

But sometimes they are beyond annoying.

Also, I find that often edit the posts I write in response to theirs. Sometimes my first reaction is rather rude, so I try to leave it a bit and then come back and write something gentle remembering that my real audience, my real readers are not the persona to whom I am responding, but someone that the persona is trying to influence by posting on DU.