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If you read the conversation threads, you can pretty easily pick out astroturfing. Plus, do your own research of course. I don't exclusively use reddit for thi

by Alupis 4y ago

If you read the conversation threads, you can pretty easily pick out astroturfing. Plus, do your own research of course. I don't exclusively use reddit for this sort of research... if I'm looking for outdoor gear I will browse outdoor gear forums for people's thoughts. Cycling, same thing... etc. You look for a consensus to be formed before making your own opinion. My point was default google search results are now unreliable because they are almost always affiliate links.

thfuran 4y ago
>If you read the conversation threads, you can pretty easily pick out astroturfing. How do you know that?
- Alupis 4y ago
  We're humans, not computers. We don't have the same problem of discerning intent like AI would. It's pretty obvious when someone is communicating nothing but positive things about a product, or nothing but negative things about another competing product. Sometimes it's more subtle... but seriously, if you read enough comments you will locate the ones that are obviously shilling or astroturfing. They won't talk about many topics (or no other topic) except the item or company they're promoting. It's really hard to make a bot or corporate account appear, sound and feel like a genuine human writing about their experiences. Particularly on a platform like reddit where people speak rather freely about products and ruthlessly call out astroturfing accounts. With all that said - perhaps some people have better BS detectors than others. I like to think mine is rather accurate most of the time.
  - thfuran 4y ago
    >We don't have the same problem of discerning intent like AI would. The same problems? No. But humans pretty notoriously don't always communicate effectively. >It's pretty obvious when someone is communicating nothing but positive things about a product, or nothing but negative things about another competing product. Sometimes it's more subtle... but seriously, if you read enough comments you will locate the ones that are obviously shilling or astroturfing. Yeah, you'll notice the ones that are obvious, but that doesn't really tell you much about your overall accuracy, since you don't know how many non-obvious ones you're missing.
    - Alupis 4y ago
      I don't know what you're driving at. Is it perfect? Of course not... what alternative do you suggest?

by Alupis 4y ago

thfuran 4y ago

>If you read the conversation threads, you can pretty easily pick out astroturfing. How do you know that?

Alupis 4y ago
We're humans, not computers. We don't have the same problem of discerning intent like AI would. It's pretty obvious when someone is communicating nothing but positive things about a product, or nothing but negative things about another competing product. Sometimes it's more subtle... but seriously, if you read enough comments you will locate the ones that are obviously shilling or astroturfing. They won't talk about many topics (or no other topic) except the item or company they're promoting. It's really hard to make a bot or corporate account appear, sound and feel like a genuine human writing about their experiences. Particularly on a platform like reddit where people speak rather freely about products and ruthlessly call out astroturfing accounts. With all that said - perhaps some people have better BS detectors than others. I like to think mine is rather accurate most of the time.
- thfuran 4y ago
  >We don't have the same problem of discerning intent like AI would. The same problems? No. But humans pretty notoriously don't always communicate effectively. >It's pretty obvious when someone is communicating nothing but positive things about a product, or nothing but negative things about another competing product. Sometimes it's more subtle... but seriously, if you read enough comments you will locate the ones that are obviously shilling or astroturfing. Yeah, you'll notice the ones that are obvious, but that doesn't really tell you much about your overall accuracy, since you don't know how many non-obvious ones you're missing.
  - Alupis 4y ago
    I don't know what you're driving at. Is it perfect? Of course not... what alternative do you suggest?