Israel's new PR focus: Internet 'talkbacks'

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Democracy in action, in my view, all comers welcome. I must say Jpost seems improved.

Talkbacks, those often annoying, sometimes entertaining, occasionally enlightening responses to articles that appear on Web news-sites and blogs, have an impact on shaping public opinion.

That, at least, is the opinion of Amir Gissin, director of the Foreign Ministry's Public Affairs Department, and the reason he has endorsed a World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) project aimed at getting the pro-Israel community to respond in real time to what appears on the Web.

Sarit Felder, a WUJS activist and recent Hebrew University graduate with a degree in political science and communications, said the initiative behind the project came about in the early days of the war in Lebanon as a way to get Israel's position on the Internet.

"Because it is so large, the Internet was a neglected battlefield," Felder said. "The idea was to encourage Jewish students to take part in various Middle East forums, to report about problematic articles and tell others to write talkbacks to these articles."

Jpost

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1. I say more power to 'em. I'm sick of the lack of outrage on a number...

...of topics with the Bush adminstration, primarily, and Israel on a secondary level. If Israel wants to mobilize posters to sway public opinion, more power to 'em. I think that shit like GIYUS is a little more "on tracks" and more akin to a very slow DDOS attack on thought but, whatever. This is the future. When I was 15, I picked up a copy of Cyberpunk, the role-playing game just about the week it was published. I remember thinking "Man, that's cool. My two wishes are to live in that crazy future and get the girl of my dreams, XXXXXX XXXXX."

  And for my sins, I got both wishes. About 17 years later for both, but I never expected wishes to be granted next-day.

  I fight for what side I think is right- if I can't get an equal or larger group of folks to counter those ideals put forward by an alternate ideology, that's just the breaks.

PB

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2. It works both ways.

Exposing airhead propagandists to all those different points of view can backfire. There is a reason authoritarian ideologues hate open discussion.

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3. Indeed. n/t

PB