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Unidentified Tweeting Objects: Is calgary62 the Area 51 of this election?

20. April 2011 18:47  by Sean O'Malley

CTV Election 2011

You know you are entering the home stretch of an election campaign when the parties start accusing each other of “dirty tricks.” The stealing or defacing of lawn signs has been part of the shenanigans for as long as their have been lawns. Same with fake phone calls.

Some of the variations are more clever than others -- this time the Liberals say they are getting calls from fake party supporters asking if they want Liberal lawn signs that never arrive. This, I suppose, for the slacker-dirty-trickster who feels stealing said signs is too much hassle.

Some are more mean-spirited. According to Toronto Liberal incumbent Joe Volpe (who tells the Toronto Star he even got fake calls at his office), some Jewish voters are getting late-night calls from fake Liberals on the Sabbath.

So it is natural to suspect the same sort of mischief is happening online. Internet strategist Jesse Hirsh said as much last night at a Canadian Journalism Foundation panel discussion on social media and the election at the University of Toronto. One Twitter dark art is called “astroturfing,” he said, a spamming technique meant to make a political party talking point seem like a real “grassroots” trend.

It has become a feature of American political campaigns. Indiana University has even set up a website (truthy.indiana.edu) to catch political astroturfers in the act. The site is called “Truthy” in honour of Stephen Colbert.

Is there any evidence of astroturfing in this election? Twitter has already been used to deliberately spread misinformation in at least one high-profile Canadian campaign. Last fall in the Toronto mayor’s race a Rob Ford campaign staffer was caught sending 150 messages from a fake Twitter account pretending to be a disillusioned supporter of rival George Smitherman.

One conspicuous astroturfer is the owner of the Twitter account @calgary62. An unabashed Harper supporter, the owner has a link to the Conservative Party website at the top of his or her Twitter feed. Using the #elxn41 hashtag, @calgary62 often sends out hundreds of tweets a day on anti-Ignatieff talking points that are either identical or have tiny variations in wording. Today it is a link to a Toronto Sun story alleging that Ignatieff was a key Pentagon planner of the Iraq war. Three days ago it was an apparent “Howard Dean” moment with video of Ignatieff looking goofy with a faux rapper at a campaign rally. On April 7 @calgary62 sent out a slew of tweets accusing Ignatieff of being a deadbeat dad.

The owner of @calgary62 remains anonymous despite several attempts by CTV.ca to establish contact. Conservative Party spokesperson Ryan Sparrow told CTV.ca via email it was not a CPC staffer.

The Liberal Party said they have no evidence any of the parties are astroturfing, and said it would be “a disservice to all Canadians” for any party to do so according to spokesperson Sarah Bain.

But according to Ottawa digital public affairs strategist Mark Blevis, who has been tracking twitter trends during the election, @calgary62 and its merry band of 77 followers seems to be trying to make up in decibels what it lacks in influence.

“It’s like someone who blurts out at a cocktail party,” says Blevis.

“The average person finds it irritating and ignores it.” It could also be a violation of Twitter’s terms of service, Blevis says.

Sean O'Malley ran the CTV election desk for the last two federal campaigns.  This time he is focusing on social media.  For the latest election news as it happens every day of the campaign, follow him at @seanomalleyctv. Or if you have any questions or comments about the election and/or CTV’s coverage, send Sean a reply or a direct message on Twitter and he promises he will get back to you.

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Comments

4/20/2011 7:29:54 PM #

What about the Liberal war room staffers who tweet anonymously?

Paul | Reply

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