I've had a suspicion, and it's only a suspicion, that since sometime around the pandemic there's been an effort to astroturf HN. There was such a dramatic shift

I've had a suspicion, and it's only a suspicion, that since sometime around the pandemic there's been an effort to astroturf HN. There was such a dramatic shift in what content bubbled to the top - I recall that arguing and dissonance used to be down here, in the footer, but now it seems like not only are there way more political posts on the front page, they all seem to have the most vitriol at the top. All the evidence I have for this is anecdotal. To put on the tinfoil hat, knowing that there are firms for hire dedicated to pushing agendas, and that they use tactics like astroturfing, and seeing the monumental shift of HN away from primarily tech-focused stuff all adds up to... something. It's likely that my choice of a potential bad actor is rooted in my own biases - but it's hard to ignore outright that what was once a fairly fertile ground for legitimate and reasonable debate / discussion, has been so beleaguered with whataboutism and conversational tactics that are obviously meant to stifle actual discourse. To wit, something this plain and factual might be just the kind of thing that focuses a conversation and allows talk about the details in a way that a PR firm might want to avoid. if I were a social media manager with no morals I might point my handful of accounts at downvoting stuff like this. Can't think of any other reason to do it, really.