Identifying Snitches In Online Interest Groups

The Social Media is awash with thousands of interest groups who fight for different causes covering economy, politics, health, ethnicity etc and these groups have somehow found a niche for themselves on social media due to its far reaching effect.

Because the social media is open to everyone and based on the goals and depth of the struggle , membership to these groups cannot really be authenticated.

I’ve heard cases where groups complain about aliens spying on their activities with the goal of undermining their efforts and still they find it difficult to identify these snitches.

A Snitch is someone who inserts himself into a group’s membership and activities on behalf of a government, rival interest groups or security agencies.

There are two types of snitches, An Infiltrator who is a professional inserted into a group for an active purpose like disrupting the group and distracts them from their set goals and an Informer who is a legitimate member but relays group information and activities to whoever sent him in exchange for monetary benefits or socio-political position.

How do you identify them?

• Statements they make about their background never add up.

• They join the group and are overly eager to be useful, try to initiate activities and sometimes even offer to fund group activities.

• Joins the group and starts stirring up trouble and creating division.

• Goes out of their way to gain people’s trust, tries to be buddy-buddy with some and when such persons resist, they lose interest because they are looking for an easier mark.

• They try to seek your opinion on delicate/controversial topics that may get you in trouble.

• Agitates for the group to do something outside the purposes the group was created for.

• An older and more experienced person joins the group and soon becomes an adviser of some sort to the younger, edgier, insecure and naïve members.

Does any of these sound familiar to you? Check your group membership, and ofcourse  some may have these traits and may not really be snitches so you all owe yourself the duty of acting in ways that wont make people question your motives.