HN Explorer

Ask HN: What kind of spam/SEO gaming is this?

30 points by drewcrawford ↗ HN
Link to the account (requires login): http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000838258266&sk=wall

Some screenshots (in case you don't want to log in): http://imgur.com/a/wGuVN

There's literally thousands and thousands of posts. They don't actually make any sense, but they're spot-on grammatically, and a lot of WWII-era jargon. Google turns up nothing except people wondering what she is saying.

So what's going on here? Spies communicating? Some type of spam/SEO gaming? Rabbit hole for an ARG? Testing some kind of FB bot software?

I can't work out who would be incentivized to create this and what sort of purpose it could serve.

20 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 56.5 ms ] thread
bendmorris
I have no idea, but how could this possibly be "SEO gaming?" There aren't even any links. What would they be promoting?
Anon84
Facebook based turing test?
zalew
wow, the posts are nothing compared to the comments! and there are thousands of them

I was betting on a fb test account for spam-bots, but I googled she also has a yt account http://www.youtube.com/user/refbatch which is even more creepy than her fb.

first for me it was obvious that's a bot, now I see the very short intervals in the conversation do not make the content impossible to be human generated, still OP's question is valid: what the hell is it???

zeeone
Wow! This is horrifying! It looks like the video from "The Ring"...
zalew
yeah, creepy as hell. if it was a facebook api gaming bot, why on earth they would make a wierd yt account?

unless it's some kind of viral.. a very creepy viral...

oh, and I like the 'spies communicating' theory

RealGeek
Those videos ar real creepy, it freaked me out.
drewcrawford
Are you sure that's the same person / entity? Grammar / writing style is way different.

Originally I ruled out a single person being behind it just due to the volume / frequency of the FB post. But that refbatch youtube account is hitting 1 video / ten minutes, and that pretty much has to be a real person, so maybe I'm mistaken.

zalew
I googled some quotes from the fb and came across forums where people were linking this yt as her/it's. TBH I didn't make any credibility checks on that.
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base
http://chanarchive.org/4chan/x/11079

"Look at this entry on May 23rd:

Francesca is now a leading figure in the art world and regularly participates in the major biennales by commissioning new works of contemporary art through her foundation called Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary which she founded in 2002 in Vienna Austria.[1] and has built up her own art collection with over four hundred pieces of contemporary video and digital art.[3] The website of the foundation is www.tba21.org. TBA21 has an exhibition space in a historical palace on Himmelpfortgasse 13, in Vienna. It exhibits works from the collection in thematic exhibitions twice a year. The Foundation also organises exhibitions of its collection world wide.

'Video and digital art' That's a bingo! Its an art piece."

cleverjake
She is a paranoid schizophrenic

http://chanarchive.org/content/1_b/331156470/1306721998799.p...

drewcrawford
Oh. I was hoping for an explanation quite a bit less sad.
zalew
when in doubt - 4chan to the rescue

but seriously - very sad. notice she must spend all days talking to herself on facebook.

cleverjake
if you dig through the various 4chan archives, youll see people actually found her home and went to verify its her. Legion really is everywhere.
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jfruh
The comments that "Karin" is leaving on her own status updates strike me (caveat: I am not a mental health professional, though my parents both are!) as fairly classic paranoid (like, actually diagnosably paranoid) talk. Delusions of persecution via secret networks operating within complicated bureaucracies, interspersed with violent imagery, is pretty much what paranoids spend their time thinking about. 500 years ago they probably would have given you an elaborate description about all the different kinds of demons in hell; now it's all about the CIA and the Bilderberg Group or (in this case) international academia.

Anyway, long story short, my guess is that this isn't spam/CEO gaming at all, but a mentally ill human being. I'm frankly surprised there aren't a lot more Facebook/Twitter accounts like this.

hellotoby
When I see stuff like this I immediately think of an ARG (Alternate Reality Gaming).

Check out http://www.argn.com/ for more info on ARGs.

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[dead] joppa
There needs to be a way of diagnosing and distributing free medications to those who need them but can't afford them. Many people suffer mental illnesses but can't afford to treat it (no need to bust out any stats, we all know this).

Myself, I have clinical depression but can't afford to keep up on my medication. There are times when I could use it but I don't have the money.

No doubt there are many complications and health considerations involved, but the people at HN are smart and thrifty. Problems like this CAN be solved.

Maybe instead of creating another personal productivity app, someone will tackle this very sad and important issue.

jhherren
Looks like a Markov chain text generator.