Sumter County to track citizens’ online conversations

[G.R.I.T.S.]

A rather alarming pronouncement in Wednesday’s Daily Sun without detailing what this entails. Information gathering from Facebook? Twitter? TOTV? Does this relate only to online communication with county officials?

[JMintzer]

Care to share a link with those of us who don't subscribe?

[Kenswing]

Care to share a link with those of us who don't subscribe?
You don't need to subscribe to go to The Daily Sun's website.

Sumter commissioners set to begin monitoring online conversations | News | The Villages Daily Sun | thevillagesdailysun.com (https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/villages/sumter-commissioners-set-to-begin-monitoring-online-conversations/article_1e6a268c-41ea-11ec-bbbd-8bbff1985397.html)

Sumter County will spend $24,000 to track citizens’ online conversations, commissioners voted Tuesday in an effort to improve their public relations image.

The 12-month subscription to the Zencity Core software platform comes in addition to about $122,000 approved to create a public information officer, a move championed by newly elected commissioners Craig Estep, Oren Miller and Gary Search.

The trio has become known for declining interview requests on several controversial issues this year, and Miller and Search have repeatedly complained about not receiving more favorable media coverage.

Zencity, an Israeli startup, uses artificial intelligence to aggregate comments from sources such as social networks, news websites, and municipal hotlines - then reports its findings to government officials.

[biker1]

...

[golfing eagles]

You don't need to subscribe to go to The Daily Sun's website.

Sumter commissioners set to begin monitoring online conversations | News | The Villages Daily Sun | thevillagesdailysun.com (https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/villages/sumter-commissioners-set-to-begin-monitoring-online-conversations/article_1e6a268c-41ea-11ec-bbbd-8bbff1985397.html)

Sumter County will spend $24,000 to track citizens’ online conversations, commissioners voted Tuesday in an effort to improve their public relations image.

The 12-month subscription to the Zencity Core software platform comes in addition to about $122,000 approved to create a public information officer, a move championed by newly elected commissioners Craig Estep, Oren Miller and Gary Search.

The trio has become known for declining interview requests on several controversial issues this year, and Miller and Search have repeatedly complained about not receiving more favorable media coverage.

Zencity, an Israeli startup, uses artificial intelligence to aggregate comments from sources such as social networks, news websites, and municipal hotlines - then reports its findings to government officials.

Yep, instituting an Orwellian Big Brother program should do wonders for their "public image":1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[PugMom]

they are probably watching ed's posts. i don't think it has to do with conversations on palm fertilization. lets see how long this goes on

[Stu from NYC]

The so called paper did not go into any details as to how this would work and if all of our conversations will be monitored.

I suspect they just put it this way to frighten us. Will wait for facts to see what is going on.

[Bill14564]

The so called paper did not go into any details as to how this would work and if all of our conversations will be monitored.

I suspect they just put it this way to frighten us. Will wait for facts to see what is going on.

This is true - the paper seems to have an agenda and often phrases things in ways that promote it.

It's easy enough to look at the Zencity site to get a feel for what the software does. No one's private conversations will be monitored - that is illegal. But the software can monitor public forums and get a sense for whether a topic is popular or unpopular. Kind of like taking a poll.

[billethkid]

No different than Alexa, facebook, et al.

Just make it a point to provide what the want/don't want to hear.

Watch for black SUV circling your house.
And the chopper is not the Morse family flying in.
:1rotfl:

[NotGolfer]

Speculation and rumors will abound........

[ThirdOfFive]

This is true - the paper seems to have an agenda and often phrases things in ways that promote it.

It's easy enough to look at the Zencity site to get a feel for what the software does. No one's private conversations will be monitored - that is illegal. But the software can monitor public forums and get a sense for whether a topic is popular or unpopular. Kind of like taking a poll.
Let's hope you are correct. This is pretty much what happens with our emails now: how many of us have sent a casual email to someone mentioning insurance, funeral arrangements, Baba ghanoush recipes, etc. etc. and have received the emails promoting a product relating to what we were talking about within a matter of hours?

Nevertheless, whenever a government entity decides to engage in surveillance of a group of people, no matter what the reason, my hackles go up. It may not legally be an invasion of privacy per se but it is certainly an improper use of Joe Taxpayer's dollar, and "an effort to improve their public relations image" seems to be a rather clumsy rationalization to say the least. If Sumter County wants the citizens to see them anymore favorable light, then ACT in a way that induces the citizens to see you that way.

[Taltarzac725]

Sounds like much ado about NOTHING.

[tophcfa]

This is true - the paper seems to have an agenda and often phrases things in ways that promote it.

Ya think. Talk about stating the obvious!

[Davonu]

It appears to me they're just starting to mine what is already public information. Nothing wrong with that. You post somewhere public, your post is public.

[golfing eagles]

Sounds like much ado about NOTHING.

Let's hope so. History has taught us how totalitarian states begin, let's just hope this current trend of nonsense ends in time.

Orwell knew it. Goebbels knew it. Control public opinion through the media. Give the people an enemy to hate, real or imaginary. Make people dependent on the government to survive. Eliminate all belief in anything except the government and its leaders. Destroy the core values of the people. Rewrite their history. And tell the biggest lies possible.

Any of that sound familiar?????

[Papa_lecki]

Suggest to your wife you want to go to Olive Garden for dinner, with your phone in the same room. See what ads pop up when you’re surfing the web

[Two Bills]

Suggest to your wife you want to go to Olive Garden for dinner, with your phone in the same room. See what ads pop up when you’re surfing the web

Tried that regarding tomorrows racing results.
Just a rumor.
Doesn't work!:icon_wink:

[JoMar]

Ya think. Talk about stating the obvious!

Which is why folks read The Washington Post, The NY times etc.....they have no agenda :)

[Two Bills]

Another key word bot.
Intelligence Services, Government, businesses etc. have been using different versions of them for years.
Keeps us safe in bed when the spooks use it.

[Stu from NYC]

Which is why folks read The Washington Post, The NY times etc.....they have no agenda :)

Sorry to disappoint you but both papers have an agenda.

[Bjeanj]

It’d be cheaper and less invasive for them to conduct a satisfaction survey of the Villagers, wouldn’t it?

[Bill14564]

It’d be cheaper and less invasive for them to conduct a satisfaction survey of the Villagers, wouldn’t it?

Cheaper, yes. Less invasive? The software only sees public posts so there is no invasion at all.

A satisfaction survey only works if people return it and are honest in their answers which generally does not happen. Analyzing what people post on forums and social media should provide a better idea of how the public really feels.

[Davonu]

Which is why folks read The Washington Post, The NY times etc.....they have no agenda :)
The Washington Post??!!?? LOL!!

Good one.

[Babubhat]

Google voice

[CWGUY]

Sorry to disappoint you but both papers have an agenda.

:1rotfl: Sorry to disappoint you...... I think that was sarcasm! :rolleyes:

[JMintzer]

Which is why folks read The Washington Post, The NY times etc.....they have no agenda :)

Sarcasm?

[asianthree]

Suggest to your wife you want to go to Olive Garden for dinner, with your phone in the same room. See what ads pop up when you’re surfing the web

You must have a special phone that it can invade your conversation. :a040: My phone doesn’t give me any crap ads, with locations turned off.:coolsmiley:

[Bogie Shooter]

It’d be cheaper and less invasive for them to conduct a satisfaction survey of the Villagers, wouldn’t it?

More like Sumter county…..not just TV.

[Bjeanj]

More like Sumter county…..not just TV.

Oops. You’re right.

[Bjeanj]

A satisfaction survey only works if people return it and are honest in their answers which generally does not happen. Analyzing what people post on forums and social media should provide a better idea of how the public really feels.

You may be right, but from reading all the posts on TOTV over the past few years, I’d find it hard to believe that giving people an opportunity to voice their opinions would be hard for most people to turn down.

[fdpaq0580]

Which is why folks read The Washington Post, The NY times etc.....they have no agenda :)

A lot of folks missed the smiley face at the end of your post.

[Dond1959]

Whether it is a big deal or not is not the question. The question is do you want them spending this kind of money on this system and a public relations officer? My vote is no, a waste of tax dollars.

[Stu from NYC]

Sorry to disappoint you but both papers have an agenda.

oops missed that smiley face

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Zencity, an Israeli startup, uses artificial intelligence to aggregate comments from sources such as social networks, news websites, and municipal hotlines - then reports its findings to government officials.

The last paragraph explains exactly what happens. It's a little geeky, but in layman's terms:

It's an automatic "reverse search" engine. Basically it is a 100% automated computer program that scans incoming data from individual sources, and categorizes each source. Then, this automated computer program analyzes the collected data in each category, and spits out the computerized analysis.

As an example, using the paragraph I just posted above:

"Each word containing fewer than 5 letters is composed of at least one vowel. The most common is the letter a, at 2:3 frequency.

Each word containing 5-8 letters is composed of at least two vowels. The most frequently-occurring vowel in these words is o. The most frequent consonant is the letter s.

The most frequent occurrence of any letter overall is the letter e, which coincides with typical American English writing and grammar structure."


That's the kind of thing that's happening. It's not checking to see WHO is writing things. It's checking to see WHAT's being written, and the overall structure of the data.

If you want to know what people really think, check Social Media. Don't ask people personally, don't create polls. In Social Media, people take down their civility filters and are more likely to express themselves truthfully.

And so, that's what Zencity will be doing for Sumter County.

It's not some rare unique or new method of acquiring information, it's been around for decades.

[JMintzer]

A lot of folks missed the smiley face at the end of your post.

That typically doesn't indicate sarcasm. Usually it's a "wink"

[ThirdOfFive]

Let's hope so. History has taught us how totalitarian states begin, let's just hope this current trend of nonsense ends in time.

Orwell knew it. Goebbels knew it. Control public opinion through the media. Give the people an enemy to hate, real or imaginary. Make people dependent on the government to survive. Eliminate all belief in anything except the government and its leaders. Destroy the core values of the people. Rewrite their history. And tell the biggest lies possible.

Any of that sound familiar?????
Bingo!

"A lie, repeated often enough, becomes the truth". Joe Goebbels certainly had the ticket when it comes to controlling the gullible.