Apologies. I did not directly reference a comment or user; just suggested that I have seen activity that appears to be trollbot-like, so did not believe that ki

Apologies. I did not directly reference a comment or user; just suggested that I have seen activity that appears to be trollbot-like, so did not believe that kind of generalization to be a violation. Further, it was relevant to the thread discussing a high rate of COVID-related trollbot activity elsewhere. It's a little difficult to believe that HN is immune from this activity, but I certainly take you at your word that you don't believe it's an issue. I tend towards engaging people with whom I disagree, as I don't find it very interesting to stand around nodding heads. That to say that I have had plenty of vigorous debates on HN, yet there have been less than a handful of times that I suspected trollbots or shillage. It's not something I just hurl at folks when I disagree. The most recent case was a person who engaged me on a COVID thread. First, he hid his motives. Then, he proceeded to parrot lockstep talking points from a certain point of view. He generally represented an ethos that I hadn't encountered on HN (intimating violence, etc.) Overall, it was an odd experience, but there's no more evidence than those observations and the feeling of something amiss in a style I have seen elsewhere. Hence, I did not accuse or report him. In any event, I appreciate the pointer to the astroturfing search results and am frankly blown away by your patience. Appreciate the job you do. Obviously, I don't always agree with your conclusions, but there's no denying your good faith and efforts to be fair in maintaining quality. Even as I disagree, I am aware that I am a beneficiary of those efforts. EDITS: near-immediate and mainly for clarity.