I lived under totalitarian rule, this is almost starting to feel like that

submitted by Hellothereawesome from (self.RulingClass)

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[–]magnora7 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I agree, and I feel the same. I seriously think about 70% of reddit posts and comments are bots now. Not joking one bit.

The donald people mostly went to thedonald.win (which itself is full of shills and bots). Then everyone else is just kind of split between saidit, voat, ruqqus, gab, and a few others. And some are still holding on at reddit. But the more I'm there, the less it feels like real humans are there. Everyone once in a while I have a real conversation and it stands out like a sore thumb. I don't know where everyone else has gone either. I think a lot of people left the internet (or stopped commenting) as it became too abrasive (which is what the trolls intended to have happen by being so abrasive).

There's this weird feeling now, like there's only 1000 people on the internet or something. It feels oddly small and inactive across the whole internet, all websites combined. There's just so much bot and shill traffic, now that that is a "thing" that basically all big corporations and governments do.

And all the antiwar discussion is effectively silenced via information warfare techniques that destroyed or diluted forums, except at a few places like saidit.

[–]jet199 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

The thing is because of the culture on reddit even if you're not a bot you end up typing like one. They not only have their approved set of ideas which everyone repeats to get upvotes but all the in jokes which everyone trots out on cue. It sounds awful but the truth is it's highly seductive to act that way. You feel you are part of something, some tribe who all know the same rituals and stories. You are one of the gang. When many people are social isolated (well before covid) it's a really powerful thing. People aren't looking for conversations or debate, they are looking to replace the social support system they've lost.

[–]Jesus 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Nah, bots are everywhere and outnumber users on reddit. Stop trying to demoralize your opposition. I remeber reddit many many years ago and I know that is is basically a perception management site filled with behavioral modification bots. Because that is orecisely what these bots try to do, if not, then distract and waste your time.

Inknow the difference from arguing with users who have diametrically opposed viewpoints on reddit. Some even post fallacies like it is their job, but they write different in many ways from a bot, and the more you converse with an intricately programmed bot, the more you can see through its Facade

There are millioms of bots using algorithms. I have experienced first hand and they are quite good at arguing and conversing with fallacies but certain data and signs give them away. The intricate ones are harder to spot, however.