ghost
commented
1 year ago I think this is already covered in the guide in the https://anonymousplanet.org/guide.html#creating-new-identities section
And specifically the "creating a legend" (lore) part?
Would you like something specific added there? Yes anonymous persistent identities need to have a lore, a legend, a story, a full load of fake but plausible information.
I'm not sure what we could add there but suggestions are welcome if you have something more "precise".
And this is the difference between a pseudonymous identity and an anonymous identity.
As long as you respect OPSEC advice carefully which we give at https://anonymousplanet.org/guide.html#some-last-opsec-thoughts
And also respecting as much as possible techniques to counter linguistic analysis at https://anonymousplanet.org/guide.html#appendix-a4-counteracting-forensic-linguistics
nopeitsnothing
Misinformation and disinformation in social media to protect identities
We could have a section or appendix for user identities and spreading misinformation to protect them.
For example, when creating anonymous identities, it's much more than just making up a name and pretending to be a certain age. Having accounts for that person is good. But how do you remember to use these accounts and make it look believable? It can include making fake user accounts on social media that resemble your own. It can also include scheduling posts on Twitter, Reddit, etc.
I propose a direct guide section be made for putting out mis-/disinformation regarding identities online.
How to generate believable names, nicknames, and how to maintain social media presence in a way that's straightforward without being a burden on the person trying to do so. This might include: making reminders to post on your fake accounts to keep up appearances; how and when you should put out misinformation and when it's a good idea to misdirect.
Having a fake name isn't enough. You have to keep up with the social media presence, including regularly posting but also maintaining the perspective of your fake identity, which can be much more difficult than just telling lies on the internet. We live in a society full of misinformation. Most of it, sadly, is intentional on behalf of governments to keep the peace or push a narrative.
This is something that main-stream media has done since the dawn of World War I - it was the first time that highly organized state propaganda institutions were developed. You should be doing the same in the realm of keeping up anonymous identities. It's about knowing not only how to misdirect, like a magician, but also when and where - as well as making it a natural behavior. In other words, you won't be so obvious and it will be more believable and more effective as a result.
Give any additional relevant context.
"...the most insidious and underrated problem in our information ecosystem is that we do not give the right kind of attention to the right things at the right time" - Tim Harford, What magic teaches us about misinformation
"We are living in a magical world where with the stroke of a wand the social media universe shifts either for the good or for the worst, and though misinformation on social media has been a problem for 15+ years it’s more prevalent now than ever." - Soteria Intelligence, Social Media Magicians: The Age of Misinformation
"Understanding how disinformation online has endangered democracy and democratic norms is incredibly nuanced." - How disinformation can hinder democracy
"...when a lie is repeated and seen multiple times, people unintentionally begin to accept it as truth..." - UCSUSA, We all have the power to counter and interrupt disinformation
"Misdirection—manipulating the spectator away from the cause of a magic effect—is widely considered a central element of the practice of magic: “[m]isdirection is a principle element in the art of deception" (Randal, 1976, p. 380)," - A psychologically-based taxonomy of misdirection
The primary resource I use to maintain all of the above - an excellent book by C. Silverman, Verification Handbook - For Disinformation And Media Manipulation - which is, for all intents and purposes, meant to detect media manipulation and misinformation, but we're going to use it to intentionally misdirect.