I don't know how large this effect is but confidential memos such as this one https://ibb.co/7pKQCVk are an indicator of great forces at play to alter the relationships between people online by forcing certain types of discussion.
Go ahead and perform a TinEye or reverse Google search on that image of the so-called "confidental memo", check out it's origins. Lots of posts on 4Chan, /r/The_Donald, reposts on sites like "JewWorldOrder".
Zero attribution to which organization this is supposedly from. This poster, Solid_Applaud, uploaded this photo to ibb and created his HN account at the same time.
Funnily enough the commenter is guilty of the same thing I am accused of: creating a new account recently.
1. Say that if something is not reported in mainstream news, it didn't happen, or the claim isn't reliable. "Reading Activistpost.com? Get out >>"
2. Say that if a viewpoint disagrees with the government, it's unpatriotic "Yeah right, Russia-lover. Go >>"
3. Say that only 'experts' who are on your side are qualified to give opinions or facts. "Quoting Dr. Paul Craig Roberts? Opinion Discarded."
4. "Citation needed." It's a little known fact that when a [REDACTED] is hatched from its egg, "citation needed" are the first words out of its beak. "Citation needed" means either a) "I'm too lazy to check this" or b) "Your claim is supported by Encyclopedia Britannica, but I want to imply you're a lying sack of sht." [REDACTED] squawk "citation needed!" even when a citation is given.
5. Become incredulous and indignant, and claim a topic is off limits. "How dare OP say these things? This is going too far! Of course a [REDACTED] invented the pork casserole!"
6. Call your opponent's claim a rumor, conspiracy theory, or urban myth. "Too tinfoil for me! Loony detected! You are obviously crazy! And on drugs!"
7. Only bad people think like your opponent. "OP is a typical stormfag. No wonder he's a laughing stock. He probably lives in a ditch." ([REDACTED] post like this all the time, even though it is similar to holding a 20-foot tall neon sign that reads "I'M NOT ONE OF YOU AND I HATE EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR." They can't help but stand out: they're too arrogant.)
8. Claim your opponent was replaced by some mysterious computer hacker, and all posts after a certain point are obviously fake and not by OP. (It's laughable, but the shills really do this.)
9. Claim an opposing OP is a shill, and post links to your own (newly-created) thread inside OP's - trying to lure away anons. (A favorite tactic of American Spring shills.) 10. Claim your opponent is saying something he isn't. Totally misrepresent him. "So you're saying George Bush flew into the Twin Towers? Idiot." "So you're saying [REDACTED] is a [REDACTED]? And I suppose you want to kill him and lure us all to your own website, is that it?" (Both of these are genuine shill comments. [REDACTED] can be relied on to argue like hysterical teenage girls.)
11. Claim your opponent is exactly what you are: a shill. "NSA detected. Take your lies elsewhere!"
12. Tell anons not to bother reading your opponent's posts, threads, or infographics. "Already read it. Total junk. OP is wasting everyone's time." (Again: [REDACTED] arrogance gives them away.)
13. Call your opponent insulting names. "Nutjob", "idiot", "pathetic". "Everyone here is laughing at you." Timid or stupid people will think twice about supporting your opponent.
14. Ignore every good answer that your opponent gives. If you have to, lie and say it's a bad answer. Make up a fake reason. "Of course you would say that, you're a mudslime-lover!"
15. When your opponent raises facts and evidence, lie. Say he made them up. Most people won't check, even if it only takes 20 seconds to do a web search. "Total bullsht! You made that up! It's photoshopped! The link doesn't work! It's not true! It proves the opposite!" Etc.
16. Always claim your opponent is biased. Make up a reason. "You're obviously a Yurropoor/Amerifat/hom/nggr/etc." (My favorite: I'm regularly called an obvious les*an.)
17. Claim you are an expert, have personal knowledge, or personal experience. "I went to school with a victim at Sandy Hook and it was all real, I assure you. In fact she's my mom."
18. Claim that an important issue simply doesn't matter. Your opponent is talking about dull, unimportant things. "This isn't news. Nothing to see here. Who cares. So moot has been arrested for killing prostitutes and eating their livers, and he yelled at the police and TV camera crew 'I'm sacrificing these goy whores to Satan!' That doesn't prove anything. OP is boring me."
19. Claim that an important issue is 'old' and 'dated' - even if it isn't. Say that your opponent is wasting time on issues that have 'expired'. (As if the truth can ever expire.) "Old news, yawn."
20. When you get caught out in a lie, use fake identities to make posts backing up your claim. Most people place a high value on personal opinions, even those of complete strangers.
21. Claim no-one can ever know the truth: it's too complex Cloud the issue with minute details, even if it's clear cut. "We can't ever know for sure, so why are you asking? It's not worth checking your links, so don't check his links anyone. Seriously, especially not the first link. Because we just can't know. So don't check the links."
22. Claim an issue can never be solved. Claim things are the only way they possibly could be. "There's nothing we can do. Why bother, anon?" ([REDACTED] use this weak tactic when an issue has just been solved beyond any doubt, and the evidence is damning.)
23. Pretend your position is unarguably right. The "Everybody knows..." ploy. "Everybody knows only losers support Ron Paul". "Everybody knows you can trust the government." Etc.
24. 'Doing an Alex Jones'. Agree with the facts, but claim that they point to a conclusion that is the complete opposite of your opponent's (and reality). "So you see folks: it's Nazis!" 25. 'Doing a David Icke'. Take the thread down a crazy route. Illuminati, reptilians, aliens, etc. Sensible posters have their image tarnished by all the idiotic comments around them.
26. Encourage laziness and irresponsibility about important issues. "So who cares? Everyone knows already, it's not a big deal..." (Often used by [REDACTED] trying to excuse away incontrovertible evidence that [REDACTED] is a gay [REDACTED] who collaborates with the FBI and freely states that he hates [REDACTED]. Because, you know, that's Just how a genuine [REDACTED] would feel upon discovering that [REDACTED] is a gay [REDACTED] who collaborates with the FBI and freely states that he hates [REDACTED].)
27. When your opponent argues in favor of online privacy, call him or her a "coward". Try to make reckless stupidity seem brave. "Only cowards care what the government thinks! Only cowards hide their identity online! Only cowards would leave [REDACTED] when they realize it's run by [REDACTED] trying to manipulate them! Only cowards don't pss on the third rail!" Etc.
28. Trying to push a spectacularly bad idea (like American Spring) but anons aren't buying it? Try "We have nothing to lose". This 'desperation' gambit works best when the risks are astronomical, and the idea you're trying to sell is batshit insane. (Well, that's what [REDACTED] thinks. It's their favorite ploy for astronomically risky, batshit insane ideas.)
29. Say the facts mean something different. Most people don't understand logic, science, math or statistics very well. They have a patchy knowledge of history. "OP is innumerate. Those statistics clearly show that the economy has grown massively under Obama." "[REDACTED] is a valuable ally: it has never lost a war!" (Translation: "[REDACTED] barely won its wars - and that was only thanks to billions of dollars of cutting edge weapons the USA flew in for free, just before the Arabs overwhelmed them." Translation courtesy of Henry Kissinger. He really said this.)