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Does Reddit have an astroturfing problem? What the data suggests

312 points · 408 comments · p-s-v

  1. neilv · · focus · HN ↗
    > REDCmts sells one Reddit comment for $9.99 and 100 for $699.99, from what it calls "real, aged accounts", and shows a gallery of brand mentions it says it delivered. Soar says its accounts are "aged and manually warmed" for weeks before a single brand mention. Bazzly advertises automated replies to every post that looks like someone shopping.

    Why doesn't Reddit make sure that shilling is disallowed by their ToS, and then sue these companies and all their customers?

    1. kube-system · · focus · HN ↗
      Because it would be a monumental waste of time and money. Even if you could track down the overseas operators doing this, there's not much damages you could sue for, and alternatives would just pop up in their place.
      1. literalAardvark · · focus · HN ↗
        Overseas operators? Nonsense.

        I know US people who do this for a living

        1. cogman10 · · focus · HN ↗
          Technically this is something the FTC could get involved in as it's illegal to advertise without making it clear you are.

          A few years back a bunch of influencers were fined for doing just that.

        2. kube-system · · focus · HN ↗
          Literally the example in the comment I replied to was an overseas operator. But my point is even if you did go after spam operators, alternatives will simply pop up in other jurisdictions, as has happened with literally every other form of spam.
        3. tayo42 · · focus · HN ↗
          Humans get paid to make astroturfing comments on old Reddit accounts? And make enough for a living?Where do I sign up ?
          1. literalAardvark · · focus · HN ↗
            It's a padding.

            Their main activities were click botting and general social media marketing (day job was in SMM analytics).

            But if you're already there with the automation for thousands of accounts and the knowledge of what an account looks like why not also put some to ripen for 9 bucks a comment :)

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