4 ms·

I'm convinced the political subs are run by people employed by the two large US political groups

josephwegner 5y ago
Just as an anecdote, I used to moderate one of the more popular political subreddits. It was a difficult task and burnout on the team was common. I can say that the mod team was not just shills for a particular party (unless they were undercover even to me). The entire mod team, even to this day, is there for altruistic reasons - we felt we were doing a service to our fellow Americans by fostering healthy political discussion. I moderated that sub through election season and then stepped down in January. At the end of the day the death threats and constant insults aren't what drove me away, but the organizational chaos. No one could figure out how to lead that team, and leaning on practiced organizational structures was apparently too hard for a group of redditors.
- im3w1l 5y ago
  > unless they were undercover even to me Yes I would expect undercovers to be undercover to other mods. Like imgaine some random guy starts some subreddit adds a few friends as moderators right. Then it blows up, so some influence group decides they need to get in on it. They would certainly not be open about their strategy of gradual take over.
  - foodjinn 5y ago
    This literally has happened to multiple subreddits too, it's not like this tactic hasn't been effective in the past. /r/punchablefaces comes to mind.
thinkingemote 5y ago
A more pychonesque* idea would be that the political subs of whatever colour are run by only one US government agency to give the illusion of freedom and dissention. "The party is over". *E.g. Inherent Vice. A more believable idea as it's based on fact is that Reddit is the playground of paid PR and marketing firms. Makes sense for a PR firm to have moderation powers too. (I suppose this might also be later Pychonesque or more like William Gibson?)
- teddyh 5y ago
  *Pynchon
- djhn 5y ago
  Having been on the PR and PA agency side of things, comments like yours are vastly overestimating the agencies' capabilities and incentives. Are you, as a senior consultant, going to sell your team's time to a client at £750 an hour per person to astroturf on reddit? How do you plan on quantifying the benefits, vs the same budget going to the same team to influence traditional media and lobbying? Heck I'd love to know any half-decent agencies that offer these services.
zibzab 5y ago
I am convinced that r/conspiracy is also run by the same folks...
- user764743 5y ago
  Although not officially proven, it was ran by either trump's team or people very close to them for a while: https://thisinterestsme.com/r-conspiracy-reddit/ https://thisinterestsme.com/r-conspiracy-reddit/

Just as an anecdote, I used to moderate one of the more popular political subreddits. It was a difficult task and burnout on the team was common. I can say that the mod team was not just shills for a particular party (unless they were undercover even to me). The entire mod team, even to this day, is there for altruistic reasons - we felt we were doing a service to our fellow Americans by fostering healthy political discussion. I moderated that sub through election season and then stepped down in January. At the end of the day the death threats and constant insults aren't what drove me away, but the organizational chaos. No one could figure out how to lead that team, and leaning on practiced organizational structures was apparently too hard for a group of redditors.

im3w1l 5y ago
> unless they were undercover even to me Yes I would expect undercovers to be undercover to other mods. Like imgaine some random guy starts some subreddit adds a few friends as moderators right. Then it blows up, so some influence group decides they need to get in on it. They would certainly not be open about their strategy of gradual take over.
- foodjinn 5y ago
  This literally has happened to multiple subreddits too, it's not like this tactic hasn't been effective in the past. /r/punchablefaces comes to mind.

thinkingemote 5y ago

A more pychonesque* idea would be that the political subs of whatever colour are run by only one US government agency to give the illusion of freedom and dissention. "The party is over". *E.g. Inherent Vice. A more believable idea as it's based on fact is that Reddit is the playground of paid PR and marketing firms. Makes sense for a PR firm to have moderation powers too. (I suppose this might also be later Pychonesque or more like William Gibson?)

teddyh 5y ago
*Pynchon
djhn 5y ago
Having been on the PR and PA agency side of things, comments like yours are vastly overestimating the agencies' capabilities and incentives. Are you, as a senior consultant, going to sell your team's time to a client at £750 an hour per person to astroturf on reddit? How do you plan on quantifying the benefits, vs the same budget going to the same team to influence traditional media and lobbying? Heck I'd love to know any half-decent agencies that offer these services.

zibzab 5y ago

I am convinced that r/conspiracy is also run by the same folks...

user764743 5y ago
Although not officially proven, it was ran by either trump's team or people very close to them for a while: https://thisinterestsme.com/r-conspiracy-reddit/ https://thisinterestsme.com/r-conspiracy-reddit/