I was really surprised recently when I was searching for some help with a mod for a videogame and a result popped up on my duckduckgo search page for a thread on reddit about it, so I clicked it and BAM: “error, this subreddit has not been reviewed, so it is not possible to view it. Either use the app or go to home page” … wtf? I mean, this basically destroys the entire site right? I was 100% unable to view whatever content had been posted in that subreddit. So I just closed it and went somewhere else. I don’t see how reddit can even continue to exist if they don’t allow people to view the site. How did this happen?
New Study: At Least 15% of All Reddit Content is Corporate Trolls Trying to Manipulate Public Opinion
Submitted 11 months ago by silverbax@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
Jarmer@slrpnk.net 11 months ago
numberfour002@lemmy.world 11 months ago
There’s a theory that certain emails scams are so obvious and easy to spot because that acts as a self-selection mechanism. A person who sees the obvious scam and immediately recognizes it as such was probably never going to fall for it. The ones that respond in spite of all the signs tend to be easier or more lucrative targets.
I could see forcing people to download an app just to see the content as operating on a similar (but not 100% analogous) principle. The type of person who willingly installs the app to see the content (without knowing if it was worthwhile/relevant beforehand) may be exactly the type of person that they prefer to join their site. Perhaps they are easier targets for marketing, less likely to understand /complain about the ramifications of changes to the site that are user adverse, care less about privacy, etc and that makes them more lucrative?
Jarmer@slrpnk.net 11 months ago
I mean I guess that could be right, but in the end this scenario also spells doom for the company. There is no way that reddit continues to stay relevant as a meaningful place in the future. It’ll be relegated to the garbage dump where yahoo and digg and tumblr somehow still exist in zombie fashion. Sad.
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 11 months ago
No need to read the article, and check my comment history if you doubt it…
I want to add that this is only part of it. The secret “secret” arent the bots in the system coming from the outside. Its how the content is manipulated from the inside.
The entire modern Marvel and Starwars franchises owe themselves to reddit.
KevonLooney@lemm.ee 11 months ago
The entire modern Marvel and Starwars franchises owe themselves to reddit.
Yeah, Star Wars was a complete unknown before Reddit. And Disney is not a marketing behemoth that put their full weight behind the new movies. Reddit neckbeards and bots are the real taste makers.
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Star wars had driven itself into a corner until Disney picked it up and the Marvel franchise was questionable at best before the Ironman movie.
Its easy to do as you are doing and pretend these things were inevitable. Ignore what I’m saying to your own ignorance and peril.
SCB@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Social media sites hurt marvel and Star Wars, they didn’t help. The groupthink and popularity of meme-tier criticism directly costs Disney money.
_xDEADBEEF@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Isn’t that just astroturfing and they’ve been doing it forever there?
NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Crazy thing I’ve been noticing more and more. When I search “[thing I want to know] reddit” there are always one or two comments in the top results from reddit, usually much more recent than the others, very clearly shilling a product. Sometimes it’s an edit purely to include a product the user just thinks is really great that sends you to an affiliate link-ridden site.
GutsBerserk@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Only 15%? More like 99%! The most recent Gaza genocide was truly an eye opener for me.
CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 11 months ago
From the article…
The study’s demographic analysis further highlighted the targeted nature of corporate trolling. Younger users, particularly those aged 18–29, were significantly more likely to be contacted by corporate trolls, with 17% of them reporting such experiences, compared to only 7% of users aged 65 and over. This age-based discrepancy underscores the strategic approach of corporate trolls in engaging with a demographic that is often more susceptible to their influence.
Wow. Corporations are tagging younger generations as dumb shits. That is not cool.
linearchaos@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Inexperience leads to easier marks. Someone who is otherwise markedly intelligent will fall for the silliest things on impulse.
SCB@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Wow. Corporations are tagging younger generations as dumb shits.
I mean, I wouldn’t use that language, but yeah of course. They don’t have firm beliefs yet, in most cases, and their worldviews are more likely to be shaped by memes, whereas the older generations adopt the memes that appeal to their worldview.
If you want to shape people, you want to ideally target young adults.
CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I mean, I wouldn’t use that language, but yeah of course. They don’t have firm beliefs yet, in most cases, and their worldviews are more likely to be shaped by memes, whereas the older generations adopt the memes that appeal to their worldview.
I don’t think it’s just about how memes are processed. I think they really consider them less aware, less intelligent, than older generations.
And I was pointing that out is a ‘rallying cry’ to the younger generations, that this is the level respect they’re getting, and that they should do something about it, hence the stronger language.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The percentage is that low?
theodewere@kbin.social 11 months ago
the impact those accounts have is much higher than a normal 15% slice of the population.. what they produce is generally non-random, so it's all going toward whatever set of ideas they need to bombard with bullshit..
fossilesque@mander.xyz 11 months ago
I still have a few subreddits I passively maintain and every three days on the most popular one I’m banning some new app someone is shilling to a vulnerable group. It’s absolutely disgusting and makes me so incredibly angry/jaded how much they’re targeted.
AVincentInSpace@pawb.social 11 months ago
say more about that. what sort of apps are being peddled?
fossilesque@mander.xyz 11 months ago
ADHD “helper” apps, productivity apps, etc. Good UX should be for everyone and be accommodating. ADHD folks don’t need something special 99/100 times.
CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That number has got to be higher than 15%. Everywhere.
NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I thought it must be way more.
Tattorack@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Oof… This makes the dystopian, highly censored, antithetical Star Trek subreddit make more sense…
hakunawazo@lemmy.world 11 months ago
modifier@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
Feels low.
Yoz@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Facebook trolls are here so beware
Sirico@lemmy.world 11 months ago
DoNT TeLl ME Wut 2 dO!
DeepGradientAscent@programming.dev 11 months ago
I would’ve thought that number would be higher. Surprised at only 15%!
prole@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Key words: “at least”
roguetrick@kbin.social 11 months ago
When I stopped over there, it looked like reddit is running some sort of suggestion algorhtim like youtube for posts. It mostly seems to be promoting right wing outrage bait. We might not have videos but I'm very happy not being subjected to that shit anymore from some of the more popular video/gif subs. It's strange they'd want to lean into it further.
Mwa@thelemmy.club 4 months ago
Tbh happy I deleted reddit
ieightpi@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I always thought there were corporate trolls on there just not so many
FontMasterFlex@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That’s all? woulda guessed higher
kent_eh@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
I’m surprised it’s that low.
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Reddit is run by the same cabal of mods across thousands of subreddits. Of course they’re open to manipulation.
HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 11 months ago
A lot of those mods quit. It turns out it is really hard to moderate Reddit with the tools Reddit gives you
TheDeepState@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Reddit sucks!
Kid_Thunder@kbin.social 11 months ago
I just want to point at that although this is a believable number, the article states that 13% of survey respondents merely indicated that they witnessed companies manipulating opinion on a public forum. Not Reddit and it seems to be the opinion of the respondent with no clear evidence required -- meaning a respondent only needs to believe someone is acting as a shill or see a company's apology tweet to suffice.
11% of respondents also indicated that they were asked to promote a product from a bot - be it just a spambot or otherwise. Does that also count for the previous metric?
We could see but the author doesn't actually state which or link to the Pew Research study to check. It probably exists. The author also mentions the "Computers in Human Behavior study published in 2020" but doesn't actually refer to the study by name nor do they link it. They only link the journal itself under the heading "Manipulate Public Opinion" but that will just show all articles under the journal. Perhaps this is the link to Reddit or some sort of non-anecdotal evidence? Who knows?
So while I wouldn't doubt the 15% number, this article does nothing to back it up.
TheDeepState@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I wish Reddit hadn’t banned me. Doomscrolling was so much fun. I’d easily take a month ban and go to “Reddit Jail”. I don’t care that it’s all bots and dead internet. But, now I’m here.
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
In the 2000s we thought user-generated content would lead to a utopian future where we got our opinions from each other rather than from big companies.
Turns out: big companies, governments and other institutions with money are perfectly capable of paying people to be “users” who are “generating content”. Now we get (at least some of) our opinions from them and don’t even know it.
LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Self reported garbage. Asking a user to self identify manipulation is ripe for abuse.
jordanlund@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I have 2 accounts in the top 1% of reddit and neither was contacted for manipulation. Spammed? Oh, sure, ALL the time! But never the whole “Hey… can I buy your account?” kind of way.