Real reporters managed to infiltrate the group and capture these startling images.
The cover came off London Ontario’s seedy social media underworld last weekend as key players met openly in what appears to be a brazen attempt to gain legitimacy and leverage into more lucrative rackets.
Most interesting to authorities is the degree of collusion between these ambitious underground up-and-comers (whom some people have argued are utterly without morals) with more established, “legitimate” players in the mainstream media.
Representatives from local newspaper and radio organizations attended meetings and even led the discussion at one point (in menacing fashion).
This photograph all but confirms suspicions that have been swirling for months: Dan Brown, of the London Free Press, in a snake-pit full ruthless bloggers and podcasters, is “one of them.”
How deep does this conspiracy go?
Not that Brown was hiding anything. He disclosed his role to readers of his own blog on Monday. In fact, he is the first to go on record admitting there is an active “blogger mafia” operating in London Ontario.
Clearly this has been developing out of sight for some time.
In the video below you can watch a surveillance team document the proceedings, unbeknownst to the goddamned filthy bloggers, in one of those “secret hallways” normally used by hotel employees to make unauthorized celebrity sex tapes. Note the narc at the end looking at a chart of the organization’s hierarchy:
So how much do we know about London’s social media mafia?
It’s difficult to get a true sense of its composition and proportions. LoSoMeMa operates as a very open, “flat” organization with fuzzy, dynamic boundaries. Making matters worse, LoSoMeMa is constantly evolving and adopting to new practices and technologies.
We do know the most public face of the group: the blogfather, Bill Deys. However, some observers wonder exactly how much control is wielded by this man, the group’s reining elder, Greg Fowler, aka fowgre operating at arms-length under the banner of From My Bottom Step.
Many members openly use their real names; some use aliases. Since the weekend authorities have pored over hours of surveillance footage to attempt to identify “No-Pants Kevin,” “Erica Loudshoes” (aka “Erica Blonde”), “PluggedIn Nick” (aka “Headphonesonly”), “Phronk,” “Karolijn,” and “Titus Ferguson.”
There are still a lot of big question marks. Of foremost concern is the cast of characters who travelled from neighbouring environs along with a handful of higher-profile social media mavens from Toronto. What’s their role? Is LoSoMeMa run locally, or does it take its marching orders from higher-up — from William Spaetzel perhaps — or even as far up as Silicon Valley?
And more vexingly, why all the interest in the East Village? Are they behind the drug- and sex-trade in the area — intentionally driving-down property values for a half-century so they can buy up all the land at deflated prices and develop it into a massive hotel-casino? Or are they simply going to strip-mine it for its wealth of heritage artifacts, copper wire, and gravel?
Most of it remains to be seen.
As pieces of the puzzle come together one-by-one (e.g. the identity of this shadowy figure), the public will slowly get to know this group and what they represent — for better or worse.
One thing is absolutely certain: they aren’t going away — not anytime soon.
