4 ms·

Some subjects touched anywhere on Reddit are huge instant bot/PR magnet. On top of my head I can think of: Fracking, Glyphosate (or anything related to Monsanto

by Algent 9y ago

Some subjects touched anywhere on Reddit are huge instant bot/PR magnet. On top of my head I can think of: Fracking, Glyphosate (or anything related to Monsanto/Endocrine Disruptor), Turkish Politics.

3pt14159 9y ago
How easy is it to detect? Because it seems like a great place for a academic studying propaganda to evaluate real techniques in the wild.
43224gg252 9y ago
Definitely fracking and Monsanto. I've also noticed some software and hardware products seem to have a shill presence. I think we all remember that 6 month period where Microsoft decided to shove VSCode down every ones throat. It was impossible to get away from. New vim released? "Yeah vim is good but now I use VSCode TM". New sublime? New Atom? Same thing. They were aggressive with that one.
- TheRealDunkirk 9y ago
  I once implied that Microsoft was targeting HN as part of that astroturfing campaign, and was threatened with banination.
  - hellbanner 9y ago
    On Reddit?
- ascorbic 9y ago
  I saw loads of accusations of that, but very little evidence to suggest that these were shills, rather than real people who like VS Code. We all get very passionate about our editors, and lots of people use and like VS Code so it's not surprising people comment about it when the discussion is about editors. I like VS Code. I can't remember if I've ever commented to this effect. I'm not a MS shill.
- philh 9y ago
  > I think we all remember that 6 month period where Microsoft decided to shove VSCode down every ones throat. Not me. I don't remember hearing about VSCode until a few months back. I had no idea it was first released two years ago. Maybe I just wasn't reading the right places. But I subscribe to /r/programming, and I think I would expect that to get hit, if they're going to be astroturfing on reddit? I'm not saying this definitely didn't happen, but I'm skeptical.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
e40 9y ago
Yes, Fracking! The number of shills that were in many subs was off the charts, a few years ago. I'll add to the list: Windows 8 shills. I remember right after it came out, I had lots of issues and posted in some sub. Wow, the negative responses to my post were amazing.

by Algent 9y ago

3pt14159 9y ago

How easy is it to detect? Because it seems like a great place for a academic studying propaganda to evaluate real techniques in the wild.

43224gg252 9y ago

Definitely fracking and Monsanto. I've also noticed some software and hardware products seem to have a shill presence. I think we all remember that 6 month period where Microsoft decided to shove VSCode down every ones throat. It was impossible to get away from. New vim released? "Yeah vim is good but now I use VSCode TM". New sublime? New Atom? Same thing. They were aggressive with that one.

TheRealDunkirk 9y ago
I once implied that Microsoft was targeting HN as part of that astroturfing campaign, and was threatened with banination.
- hellbanner 9y ago
  On Reddit?
ascorbic 9y ago
I saw loads of accusations of that, but very little evidence to suggest that these were shills, rather than real people who like VS Code. We all get very passionate about our editors, and lots of people use and like VS Code so it's not surprising people comment about it when the discussion is about editors. I like VS Code. I can't remember if I've ever commented to this effect. I'm not a MS shill.
philh 9y ago
> I think we all remember that 6 month period where Microsoft decided to shove VSCode down every ones throat. Not me. I don't remember hearing about VSCode until a few months back. I had no idea it was first released two years ago. Maybe I just wasn't reading the right places. But I subscribe to /r/programming, and I think I would expect that to get hit, if they're going to be astroturfing on reddit? I'm not saying this definitely didn't happen, but I'm skeptical.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

e40 9y ago

Yes, Fracking! The number of shills that were in many subs was off the charts, a few years ago. I'll add to the list: Windows 8 shills. I remember right after it came out, I had lots of issues and posted in some sub. Wow, the negative responses to my post were amazing.