Thread

Does Reddit have an astroturfing problem? What the data suggests

312 points · 408 comments · p-s-v

nomel · 1790637663 · focus · HN ↗
> Thin accounts: few comments, low scores, no real standing in the subreddit.
> Young accounts, or accounts with histories that are hidden or wiped.
Nope, this is no longer an indicator of a bot account. Many that I've looked into will have active posts to local town/region subreddits (often times multiple!) and different sports subreddits, sometimes getting unusually high amounts of karma in them (which suggests a network).
Turing test is looong dead, so no reason to assume the small fractions of a cent to make comments, to get a reasonable history, isn't being taken advantage of.
1. drop_star · 1790638357 · focus · HN ↗
  Ya this is me. I used to use the web version now im 'required' to have an account. I just create and delete accounts every couple weeks. I use the generic Word-Word-#### and keep my history private.
  1. irishcoffee · 1790638723 · focus · HN ↗
    Out of curiosity, why? The amount of times I’ve banged out a Reddit or hn response and deleted it is almost uncountable. Why do you bother replying to Reddit comments?
    mhitza · 1790639202 · focus · HN ↗
    Unless you have a reliable social network with reach, reddit is still the reliable way to get some answers for one niche or another.
    jjulius · 1790640414 · focus · HN ↗
    "A", not "the".
    fluoridation · 1790640751 · focus · HN ↗
    Your behavior is even stranger than that which you are questioning. The fact you take the time to type out the response means you also feel the urge to respond, and that urge is strong enough that you don't stop yourself before starting, even though you know you are likely to just delete before sending. It's odd that you would ask why someone would reply to a comment when you should already understand why someone would do that: because they feel the same urge you do, and don't have the compulsion to stop themselves before sending.
    irishcoffee · 1790728079 · focus · HN ↗
    It’s therapeutic. Try it sometime
    fluoridation · 1790809588 · focus · HN ↗
    I've done it. I don't agree that it's therapeutic.
    lazyasciiart · 1790641397 · focus · HN ↗
    They didn't even say they reply to anything. Perhaps they use it entirely to post local news stories.
    benoau · 1790641687 · focus · HN ↗
    You need an account just to browse old.reddit.com now, there's some extensions that do an okay job of emulating it but it's not quite the same.
    gib444 · 1790643687 · focus · HN ↗
    Working proxies (though probably the emulation you're referring to):
    <a href="https://github.com/redlib-org/redlib-instances/blob/main/instances.md" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/redlib-org/redlib-instances/blob/main/ins...
    Akronymus · 1790671555 · focus · HN ↗
    set the cookie "redesign_optout" to true
    _g0xr · 1790651220 · focus · HN ↗
    Deleting a comment doesn't delete it from reddit's backend, only from public view, so reddit still retains and can track and sell your data. Making multiple accounts (assuming one also takes other steps like using a VPN and clearing cookies and local storage) would make it harder for reddit to connect all your comments and build a profile on you.
    someonebaggy · 1790683118 · focus · HN ↗
    That's why people were using extensions to edit their comments to random words instead. Apparently Reddit had no way to un-edit a comment. It's probably been fixed by now though.
  2. x______________ · 1790644232 · focus · HN ↗
    > Ya this is me. I used to use the web version now im 'required' to have an account.
    Save yourself some trouble, forcing you to sign in is your browsing data stored in cookies. Incognito/private should allow you to browse without being logged in..

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