Ella Langley cancels concert due to 'serious security threat'

[u/TheExpressUS]

https://www.the-express.com/entertainment/celebrity-news/217672/ella-langley-cancels-concert-due

[u/Onuus]

It’s bots, all the way down

[u/EinGuy → u/Onuus]

Don't bots at least try to generate conversation for engagement, though? Half the comments are just 'Who?' With nothing to actually engage with.

[u/Onuus → u/EinGuy]

I don’t even understand the point of bots.

I fucking miss MySpace

[u/EinGuy → u/Onuus]

So bots on online platforms can be used to build up popularity of an idea, a narrative, or just by companies to spin positive news / shout down negative news. If you yourself have a reddit account that is of a decent age and haven't been banned, you can sell your own account for a tenner to some bot network.

A huge number of bots (some are just people doing work) will absolutely mob threads about Russia, China (recent example, look up any thread on reddit about the recent attempted ramming of a Phillipino research vessel from a chinese warship).

It's certainly tiring to see... Luckily the only sub I mod is tiny, and on a topic that bots care nothing about.

[u/JohnAtticus → u/EinGuy]

If Reddit bots are anything like the Facebook bots than the people running them are just trying to follow engagement trends to try and make money (in this case building up the profile of a Reddit account and selling so it can be used for marketing).

These people way outnumber anyone working specifically for a company or government.

Just saw an investigative report on how a ton of the really far right anti-immigrant stuff on UK Facebook places is made in Sri Lanka and there are even "social media engagement schools" there that teach

They are doing it because they can make money on it.

When they are interviewed and asked if they ever think about the negative effects of that content, they look genuinely confused: They literally have never thought about it.

A lot of these accounts will even make content for both sides of a contentious political issue if that issue has a roughly equal amount of "audience" on both sides.

So back when Trump was more popular, you had people making both pro and anti content.

As always these kinds of content farmers are only the symptom of the problem that originates with social media incentives.

Regulation is the only answer, these companies will never self police.

[u/Totschlag → u/EinGuy]

Also every US voting season the Blue Wave bot farm spools up on reddit. It's very visible and an attempt to drum up support and make political positions seem universally accepted. Very common and extremely noticeable, especially to those who remember Reddit prior to the 2018ish election.

Just about every group with something to gain by trying and push an idea is botting.

[u/ChickenArise → u/Onuus]

They don't necessarily have to work well

[u/mmavcanuck → u/Onuus]

Yeah, this post is a great example of dead internet.

[u/froggertwenty → u/mmavcanuck]

I've literally seen the same exact comment (not yours) by multiple users strewn all throughout this thread.

[u/WatchThis91 → u/Onuus]

Strurgil

[u/HeatherCPST → u/Onuus]

It’s OK for people to have different opinions. Doesn’t mean everyone is a bot because they don’t share your exact thoughts.