The following article is being posted here with permission by the author, Paul Myers of Talkbiz.com. The original article was published in his newsletter, TalkBiz News, and I highly recommend you consider signing up.
I felt this topic deserves lots of attention and welcome your feedback.
“From gossip to Gospel”
I saw a post on a discussion board recently complaining that
two of the larger autoresponder services in this part of the
market, Aweber and GetResponse, were both down.
The responses were… fascinating.
Several people suggested the sites were being targeted with a
DDoS. A few were sure they were being hacked. One said it was
probably just one service, with the second being secretly owned
by the first. Obviously some unspecified sneaky stuff going on.
Another fellow was sure that the lists hosted at both would
likely be stolen and spammed.
It went on like that for a while.
Turns out, it was a lot simpler than that. See, they’re both
colo’d at the same place. According to a gentleman who works
for one of the companies, the whole data center was down. A
simple, if serious, malfunction.
No spies, no conspiracies, and no evil geniuses working their
dark computer magic for nefarious purposes. Just… something’s
borked.
Whodathunkit?
….
That example is harmless, but it shows the tip of what can be a
very ugly – and dangerous – iceberg.
You see, a few people will have read the first few posts in
that thread, assumed they were correct, and left, taking those
wrong impressions with them. The next time something similar
comes up, especially if it involves either of those companies,
there’s a chance they’ll repeat that misinformation.
That can lead to others doing the same, and the notions
spreading. And it isn’t always this innocent in the beginning.
Whether deliberately engineered or just the result of idle
speculation by people who are prone to conspiracy theories, it
usually ends up with real damage being done.
Chinese whispers, in real life.
….
Here’s how this normal process can become a major problem…
* Someone says something shocking or surprising, usually
about an established and well-known person or company.
* People post speculation and/or possible explanations for
the thing. Momentum builds.
* The thing gets repeated, and more people add their
assumptions. They now have their own egos invested in
believing the lies.
* Anyone questioning the assertions is derided as a “sheep”
or accused of being involved in some conspiracy to hide
“The Truth.”
* People start posting links from one thread or post to
another, as “proof” of the Bad Stuff. Rumor is used as
evidence of the truth of gossip. “Everyone knows…”
* The original poster starts to believe their own press,
and becomes an evangelist. They have a following now,
after all. Gotta keep that going.
* The cycle repeats.
* A new mini-meme is established, through nothing more than
repetition and gullibility.
Simple, yes?
That’s how gossip turns to Gospel.
….
This can be nasty, even when it begins as idle speculation. It
often doesn’t.
Sometimes this will start with a competitor repeating the same
untruth a few times, and getting others into the discussion. Or
some angry person who feels they’ve been wronged and doesn’t
know how to resolve the situation. Or someone who’s just got
their ego in a twist over some perceived insult and is
determined to “Make that bastich pay!”
Or an angry ex or former employee.
Sometimes, when it’s just a few repetitions to seed the thing,
it doesn’t become a major issue. Just something that echoes
around for a while, but never takes on any life of its own.
Other times, it can become a serious issue, with lunatic
parrots determined to make sure everyone believes the same lies
they do.
Yes, most of these people do believe the lies. They convince
themselves, because they’ve repeated them, and they’re invested
in them. Looking too closely might make them aware they’re
being duped by their own gullibility or frustration.
Sometimes it’s much darker than that.
….
A common example is the problem of teens spreading lies on
Facebook or Twitter, or via text messages to all their friends.
We’ve all seen the news stories about how badly those things
can end.
Another example is a fellow in this industry, who has made
something of a crusade of bashing “The Gurus” in his
newsletter. He went so far as to email his subscribers once,
claiming these unspecified miscreants had sabotaged his webinar
to keep him from revealing The Truth.
Gimme a break, dude. Stuff happens.
Of course, in that case, it was all about positioning. He’s
setting himself up as the Good Guy’s alternative to those evil
creatures who are out to rip everyone off. It’s BS, but it
makes for good copy. And a lot of people buy into it.
The sad thing in that case is that the guy makes some
excellent points about certain aspects of the business. A lot
of the bad stuff he talks about really happens, and it hurts a
lot of people. His problem is that he’s killing his credibility
with tons of folks by adding in the “shadowy figure” nonsense.
If he stuck to the specifics, he’d have everyone but the actual
thieves cheering him on.
Smart dude. I think he’s made a bad positioning call this time.
This is where we see a whole other aspect of the hobby some
folks call “guru bashing.” The goal isn’t to solve a problem or
make people aware of something dangerous. It’s to replace those
unspecified gurus in the minds of your prospects.
Puh-lease. If the only way you can build a rep is to tear
someone else down unjustly, you need help.
See a shrink.
….
The process in the last section is called gunslinger syndrome.
The idea is to take down the Big Dogs, thus making yourself the
new top gun. When someone gets into that, it’s all about the
game. Even when they start out with the right motives, it can
become a matter of proving you’re able to displace the previous
top of the heap and set yourself up as the new sheriff in town.
If you disagree with someone with no influence, you’ll usually
just let it go. They don’t pose a threat, and beating up on the
little guy doesn’t do a lot for your street cred. But if you
can take down the guy with the heavy rep, that’s good for your
image.
Just be careful that you can win, and hold, the position.
Remember when Davey the Geek went up against Wyatt Earp?
Yeah. No-one else does, either.
The real problem with this sort of attack is that it comes with
its own built-in fall-back victory. If you fail to beat the Big
Dog(s), you can claim it’s only because they used their power
and influence to crush you. Even if they never knew you
existed.
This is why a lot of people are comfortable playing guru-
killer. They know, whether consciously or on an intuitive
level, that they really have no way to lose.
Gotta love a rigged game, eh?
….
If it’s an angry person, things can get weird. They’re not even
concerned with looking like they’ve got truth on their side. It
can often become an obsession, at which point they really do
need to see a shrink.
Obsession is an ugly thing. Don’t go there.
….
And then there’s the new growth industry: Reputation
assassins.
Seriously. I saw an ad on Craigslist the other day that
offered the services of a self-proclaimed “reputation hitman.”
He would, for a serious price, promise to post lies about
anyone you wanted. Claims of lawsuits and criminal activity, or
whatever else you wanted said. Press releases, social media
bombings, posts in relevant forums, the whole thing. Complete
with search engine optimization to make sure the lies were the
first things to show up when someone searched on the target’s
name.
He also offered to knock anyone’s website off the first page of
Google for whatever keywords you wanted. Within a week.
This stuff isn’t new, mind you. It’s been happening online
since there’s been an Internet. This is just the first person
I’ve seen blatantly offering it as a commercial service.
His target market? Competitors and ex-employers. I’m sure he’ll
be expanding into stalkers and ex-girlfriends soon enough.
Assuming, that is, that someone doesn’t find out who he is and
go postal on him. People have been badly hurt for less damage
than this sort of thing can do.
“Louis V. Slugger, meet Scumbag. Scumbag’s knees, Louis V.”
He’d be lucky if that were the worst that happened. Start
messing like this with someone who’s got a family to support,
you deserve what you get.
Same for anyone who hires this guy. Even ignoring the
potential legal hassles, which are significant, this can be a
very dangerous game to play.
….
Aside from making you aware of this process, if you weren’t
already, there is another purpose to detailing this. Several,
actually.
First, pay attention to what you say, with an eye to the
possibility that even your most innocent speculation could be
taken as Gospel by someone with less experience.
Second, look closely at any such speculation and ask yourself
if there might not be a more innocent cause for whatever’s
being discussed. If you don’t know enough about the situation,
reserve judgement until you do.
This is important for more than just avoiding damaging someone
else’s reputation. If you leap to tall conclusions in a single
bound on a subject with which you’re not familiar, you may find
that you’ve limited your ability to learn about it accurately.
That initial assumption can color everything you hear after it
if you accept it without proper questioning.
The third is always good advice, but especially so when this
sort of process is in play: Be very careful about believing
negative press online. A substantial chunk of it is invented
for various nasty purposes, and often has little, if any, basis
in fact.
Balance is the key to good decisions. Make sure you’re getting
balance in your information. Don’t give the reputation
assassins and casual gossips control over your thinking.
Paul
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