Cyber-trolling: results
Monday, 1 September 2008
Right now, the Palin Wikipedia page has a whopping 108 references.
Prediction: cyveilliance will become a commonly used noun. Right now apparently it’s the name of a company* that:
normally trawls the Internet for data on behalf of clients seeking open source information in advance of a corporate acquisition, an important executive hire, or brand awareness. For example, an executive updating his Wikipedia page or resume on Monster.com may be an indication of that person’s plans to change jobs, or even that the company is in financial trouble.
I learned about it in this WashPost article by Brian Krebs (sorry, it’s dated Friday, but I just found it). Krebs begins:
In the days leading up to Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate announcement, political junkies glued to broadcasts and blogs for clues of McCain’s veep choice might have done better to keep a sharp eye on each candidate’s Wikipedia entry.
Just hours before McCain declared his veep choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, her Wiki page saw a flurry of activity, with editors adding details about her approval rating and husband’s employment. Perhaps more tellingly, some of the same users editing her page were almost simultaneously updating McCain’s Wiki entry, adding information dealing with accuracy, sources and footnotes to each.
While Palin was among the least well-known of the potential GOP vice presidential picks – and therefore perhaps the candidate whose Wikipedia page was most in need of updating – her entry saw far more activity than that of Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, probably the next most obscure potential choice.
On August 28, Palin’s entry was updated at least 68 times, with at least an additional 54 changes made to her entry over the preceding five days. In contrast, Pawlenty’s entry received 54 alterations on the 28th, and just 12 changes during the prior five days.
It probably won’t happen that way next time, though….
* Although a simple Google query reveals references to it, their web page doesn’t come up. Interesting….