this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023

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What the hell is going on with Reddit astroturfing? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by moohahaha@lemm.ee to c/snoocalypse@lemmy.ml

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Honestly I'm not sure where best to discuss this but I've been seeing a crazy rise in astroturfing lately.

A couple examples I've found that are boggling my mind: Antivirus https://old.reddit.com/r/GettingOverItGame/comments/165kgw7/best_antivirus_reddit_recommends_in_2023_for/ Here is a niche gaming subreddit crosspost of a post on a user whose posts are kinda... sus? They all seem like shit copy written by AI.

I mean who says

Reddit, with its vast user-driven content and unfiltered opinions, is a goldmine for genuine reviews. If you're searching for the best antivirus Reddit users vouch for in 2023, you're in the right place.

Hella questionable.

And the links? 1: removed post. 2: Links thru some redirecter that are all to the two VPNs being advertised by the post.

I mean it's obviously an advertisement just from the fact that only the two shilled services are linked to.

Another example: https://old.reddit.com/r/Spyware/comments/159e2te/what_is_the_best_antivirus_of_2023/

Same products. Same links to only the shilled products. There's also links to trustpilot but I did a bit of digging and it seems that they're like yelp in that you can get reviews removed? sigh.

What I find interesting here is the fact that this spyware subreddit is new and tiny, and one of the moderators made this veryyyyy similar AI post.

I mean it even has almost the exact same "Other Subreddits to _____ Antivirus Software" section.

Frankly I'm wondering if I should break the links just so they don't get extra weight on search engines.

I've also seen tons of sock puppet accounts for crappy dating apps, but honestly I'm more of a lurker and I've ran out of energy to write anything else here 😌

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[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 104 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I think I found the cause of the issue.

You are still visiting reddit.com

Stop that and this will all be sorted.

[–] moohahaha@lemm.ee 21 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Pretty much the only reason I still visit reddit is because there was in the past been such a wealth of genuine discussion. Like if I wanted to get the inside facts of "what's the best mayonaise" I could find it on r/mayo posted 4 years ago.

Lemmy is still a bit lacking in that regard, though I'm sure it will come soon enough.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Like if I wanted to get the inside facts of “what’s the best mayonaise” I could find it on r/mayo posted 4 years ago.

The best mayo is the one that you whisk at home, using one raw yolk and one cooked yolk (yup). Mash them well together, add a bit of veg oil (just a bit! 1tbsp each time), whisk furiously, repeat until you have the desired amount (~~2 girls for 1 cup~~ 2 yolks for 1 cup of oil seems sensible for me). Then finish off with some salt and a healthy amount of vinegar (it's important to avoid bacteria).

Done. Now you can find "what's the best mayonnaise" in Lemmy too!

I'm half-joking with the above (you mentioned mayo as an example, not the point). I agree with your point - Lemmy will miss that sort of knowledge for some time, while Reddit is drowning itself in a sea of noise.

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[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I still visit reddit is because there was in the past been such a wealth of genuine discussion.

I think I found the cause of the issue.

You are confusing the present with the past.

That link is from 8 days ago... (Seriously, who has given a shit about AV in the last decade?)

Personally, reddit has been a shithole of disinformation since the run up to the 2016 US election.

I gave up on the place then, except for very specific small subs.

[–] moohahaha@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're not wrong, but the habit still persists a bit :(

Just have to accept that the thing I loved no longer exists.

[–] Haui@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago

Well, the people who made it lovable are partly here, you can recreate that place here. Take up a community that you enjoyed on reddit and learn to mod. I modded subreddits for over a year. Let me know if you need help. :) we need more people to take up responsibility imo.

[–] GroteStreet@aussie.zone 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

See, now I'm curious about the best mayo 4 years ago. Are you sure you're not just astroturfing for Big Mayo?

[–] moohahaha@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Hahah... that'd be ridiculous.

Pay no attention to the mayo bursting from my pockets..

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

It's almost as if there's been some level of coordinated effort to disperse people away from public forums where discussion was made, preventing that discussion leading to mass organisation.

[–] GreenMario@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Neat joke, often repeated, but it is useful to discuss what's happening on one of the biggest websites on the Internet, despite the mass amount of PTSD Reddit has generated to Lemmy users.

Such as, the rise of AI posts on the internet is a big issue.

[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

but it is useful to discuss what’s happening on one of the biggest websites on the Internet

To who?

Anyone here is already well aware.

Those still on reddit? They are not me so I don't care. Personal choice and all that. I am not my brother's keeper.

Those that never went on reddit? It already has a hive of scum and villainy reputation across a lot of other social media and with good reason in most cases.

the rise of AI posts on the internet is a big issue.

Meh. Again that will happen no matter what serious words you want to post here.

We are all along for the ride, none of us is driving.

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[–] rynzcycle@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Reddit?? Never heard of it. Is it like Kbin?

[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, tis a silly place. Best not go there.

[–] Klear 7 points 1 year ago

It's only a model...

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[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Usually, when there were blatant signs of astroturfing in an active sub, its users would report it to the mods, and the mods would remove it. And, when this would happen in an otherwise inactive community, more engaged users would report it to the admins, who clearly do not want people advertising in their platform without paying Reddit some cash.

Except that Reddit showed a middle finger to both groups. A bunch of them left, and the ones behind will certainly not lift a single finger to help the platform. And that's the result, you'll get spam and shilling and users going rogue.

[–] moohahaha@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I honestly can't blame the mods after all the API bullshit. I can't imagine moderating was particularly enjoyable beforehand, and without the tools to make things more convenient I'd definitely give up.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't blame them, either.

At the end of the day, moderation on its own is not enjoyable - it's at the best repetitive chores, and at the worst dealing with nasty shit. Usually decent mods still do it because they want to contribute with something or some people. And yet Reddit has been consistently ruining that will to contribute for years, specially during/after the API bullshit.

I’d definitely give up.

I would, too. I gave up for far less than that.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

How many tools and apps have actually had their API access revoked though? I know several apps have either shut down or moved to a subscription model, but I haven't yet read about anyone being invoiced or paying reddit, and I haven't used nor heard of any apps that have actually been blocked by reddit rather than just inhibited by an update.

Two examples, Stealth continues to work just fine, and I just tried an older version of Relay and that had no issues.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, Reddit got to keep a lot of the people that were just mindlessly scrolling through. Active commentors would tend to file reports more often, and I do find that people over on Kbin/Lemmy are on average more engaged in keeping the site relatively clean from spam because of reporting.

[–] spez@lemmus.org 1 points 1 year ago

AI = money