What is the difference between saying:
Additionally, those who are in power can monitor communications specifically for opinions, particularly political attitudes, and track down opponents.
and
Additionally, those who are in power can monitor communications for specific opinions, particularly political attitudes, and track down opponents.
I know that the meaning changes, but I'm not really sure how? Thanks for the help!
Best Answer
The first sentence uses an adverb, which modifies the verb "monitor" - so the sentence means that those who are in power can focus their monitoring on opinions, political attitudes and tracking down opponents.
For example, if I developed a new monitoring tool for the government, I could say that now they can monitor the Internet specifically for dissent, instead of having to monitor everything and sift through it manually.
Your other sentence uses an adjective, which modifies the noun "opinions" - so the sentence means that those who are in power can search for opinions, but not just any opinions - only the ones that interest them.