We hear a lot of talk about political spin. Whether you call it propaganda or public relations one thing remains certain: it is elusive and often misunderstood by those who practice it. Spin in its true sense is a lost art yet one that is increasingly adopted in name by self-appointed partisan hacks across the Internet. This phenomenon has extended to the general populace further distorting a landscape dominated by agenda-driven politicians, media outlets and corporate interest groups.

There are many definitions for the term "spin". Perhaps the most accurate from a political perspective is the one that defines "spin" as the act of interpreting an event in a manner that advances a specific political agenda or limits political liability from a negative event. In essence, 'spin' can be used as a form of offensive strategy, which might be defined as "guerilla marketing" or from a defensive position as a tool for damage control. In either case, the success of a spin operation requires certain abilities as well as clear objectives.

Regardless of whether a spin story is based on fact or pure fiction, a hack must have the ability to persuade the targeted audience. In order to do this, the product as well as the delivery system must be carefully planned and executed. The product in this case is the interpretation or slant given to the information.

It is crucial that the introduced distortion is both believable and directly related to the basic "facts" that are being spun. Essentially, the information accepted as irrefutable by the audience acts as a springboard for the interpretation or slant that the spinner would like to perpetuate. If this is done skillfully, the audience will also regard the spin as fact.

The second ingredient to the success of the spin is the delivery method. This encompasses both the audience selection and the medium of delivery. As a general rule, the former is usually dependent on the latter. In other words, if a news item is going to be spun on a television show or in a publication, the question of audience selection becomes tied to the type of viewers available to various stations, shows and publications. In the case of the Internet, the question of delivery method becomes increasingly more complex.

Indeed, the world of smoke and mirrors takes on a completely new dimension online for both the professional spin artist and the average Joe. The medium itself is more powerful than other outlets due to a more diversified audience combined with a cloak of anonymity and the capability to interact with the target audience directly.

In order to understand the process of spin delivery, one must first grasp the full range of options in cyberspace available for disseminating the information. The choice of platforms on the receiving end plays an equally important role in determining the shelf life and scope of the spin. In many cases, the process with which the data is mined and archived, and its accessibility to the audience over time, determines whether the doctored propaganda is successfully integrated as fact in the historical perceptions of the audience.