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Georgia Bard

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Alias Born 08/30/2000

Georgia Bard

Re: None

Tuesday, 10/31/2000 6:21:22 PM

Tuesday, October 31, 2000 6:21:22 PM

Post# of 484
Why is Spamming out of Control?

Spamming is basically someone who hits all the chat rooms, message boards and any other Internet site that has an audience, to post a URL to attract an audience. The key to the spam is to look for people who believe the words Internet. Not people that are critical thinkers that read the news releases or the SEC filings, call the company and investigate other outside sources, but the ones who are lazy and believe the written word of the Internet. Those that prefer to take the path of least resistance essentially.

People who are susceptible to impression management, which are the little catch phrases detailing the site. This anonymous spammer uses articulate techniques to support their image to inspire followers in pursuit of a common vision. Mainly, the visions of finding a good trade or investment. Once there, the articulation of the well-written word grows to instill “blind faith investing”. Thus the audience believes this site’s competence in performing the pain staking task of due diligence, which consequently increases subordinate compliance and blind faith in their written word.

Impression management is use in just about every form of public communication. Politicians use this art of interaction especially well and even hire people to be "Damage Control Specialists". Their job description is not the truth, but instead their charismatic ability to convey rhetoric impressions to influence and persuade individuals. If effective the result musters the behavior of other people to vote for them. Kind of like the saying, “How many times do I have to lie to you before you believe me.”

Character assassinations are also the other side of the coin to bolstering public image. This again is not as difficult to perform, especially on the Internet. Innuendo takes precedence here for the impression is based on guilt by association, conjecture and speculation. Again, the old saying, "How many times do I have to lie to you before you are going to believe me." The truth is typically not a part of this scheme either.

The stock market pumpers use impression management to paint a pretty story of potential on a stock to stimulate greed. The bottom line is to get buyers into the stock they are promoting. Typically, someone you have no clue who they are in real life or even an established rapport. The results soon become obvious as the following sit there wondering what happen after the dump. The written word fades away, hindsight 20/20 discovers the misleading and flat out false information in the written word. Thus laziness is again victim to "Buy, Lie and Sell High" because they "Didn’t Verify, Bought High, and now Cry".

The stock market shorters use effective impression management techniques as well to stimulate “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt” (FUD). However, because they are stimulating three emotions, they do not need a well-laid story, just simple one liners. Elementary manipulation of "Short High, Lie and Low Buy", which is the other side of the coin to the above P&D.

Spammers are on a quest for lazy investors who do not perform real Due Diligence (DD) but instead look for the DD of others. You see them everyday in the message boards asking all their DD questions. Of course these will be the witch-hunters of the future should the Internet written word to their question not come into fruition. This particular audience will tap on the URL link to see if this site is a short cut to taking the pain staking responsibility of doing their own research, verifications and confirmations.

People who ask questions on the Internet, I have notived, are of the opinion that Internet chat sites and message boards are meaningless if questions and the search for knowledge are not the primary reasons to come to the message board. Typically, they are mocked by those who do their own due diligence for coming to the message board in search for information. Of course, they respond to the mocking with a bit of their own impression rhetoric saying that being always in the know and never looking for answers is bad somehow.

Spammers are not looking for people that are in the know and never asking questions or looking for answers. They will do the verification and confirmation process, thus not succumbing to impression rhetoric. People who do their DD and can answer a question instead of asking the questions, typically do not fall for the spamming site nor are they future witch-hunters.

The SEC and every government agencies warns about believing the written word of the internet, especially rhetoric written by anonymous posters, newsletters and sites. http://www.sec.gov/consumer/cyberfr.htm is a must read where it clearly states "If you want to invest wisely and steer clear of frauds, you must get the facts. Never, ever, make an investment based solely on what you read in an online newsletter or bulletin board posting, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isn't well known. And don't even think about investing on your own in small companies that don't file regular reports with the SEC, unless you are willing to investigate each company thoroughly and to check the truth of every statement about the company."

Remember spammers are NOT looking for "Critical Thinkers!" So before you tap that URL, or ask a DD question, that someone is merely points you to the filings to answer it, are you a "Critical Thinker" or a sheep looking to be fleeced?

When you see someone asking a question on line ask yourself if this person can not answer their own question then why do they own the stock? Why are they asking questions of anonymous posters instead of contacting a market professional or financial advisor?

Nothing is a good substitution or replacement for your own DD.

Some online quotable quotes:

"A smart man knows how little he knows." RB’s monkeytaco

“Its truth to some, underlying basis for paranoia for others. The tone of the post is the give away." RB: Long&Lean

“When disappointment, and/or boredom exists, people usually change the subject." RB: Smouch1

Internet Humor:

Question by Janice Shell – “d'you think Nasdaq MMs have to wear jackets when they're in front of their monitors? “

Answer by Janice Shell – “They wear inside-out jackets, to indicate that they're Evil. The guys on the Pink Sheet Trading Floor (an old joke from the AZNT thread) naturally wear nothing at all; they're naked shorts.”

This is my opinion and hey, I could be wrong.

Gary Swancey

:=) Gary Swancey

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