The Impact of Corporate Trolls on Reddit: A Growing Problem

The rise of social media has brought about a new battleground for the spread of misinformation, manipulation of public opinion, and promotion of products and services. Reddit, one of the most popular social media platforms, has not been immune to this phenomenon.

Two significant studies, the Pew Research Center study conducted in 2018 and the Computers in Human Behavior study published in 2020, have shed light on the prevalence and impact of corporate trolls on Reddit.

  • MaoTheLawn [any, any]
    ·
    2 months ago

    Why do we call it trolls? Trolls are chill. Trolls do a little trolling. Hang out under their own bridge without bothering people. Steal a goat from time to time. No biggie.

    Calling them trolls just feels like when mainstream media would report on the hacker named '4chan', or how libs of all kinds go 'uhhh russian china troll much??'

    Trolls isn't accurate. These people are engaging in covert psychological warfare. They're mindflaying warlocks. They're not corporate trolls. They're just corporate. They're just another piece of the private media system.

    I suppose the point that differentiates them from regular PR and advertising is that they're not who they say they are, but PR and advertising aren't who they say they are either. Their motives are hidden. Their operations, the places they generate superprofits from cheap labour, and so on. That's all hidden.

    I do get the differentiation, but trolls are a shit name. It's far more sinister than trolling. I don't know what it should be called. But it should be far more severe.

    • CarbonScored [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      "Troll" originally had a very specific meaning, it was a person who was deliberately acting obtuse and contrarian for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of others.

      When news media started reporting on the internet, the word "troll" started being used as "online entity who does thing I don't like". Much like how "viral" now means "has >100 views" instead of "every person on the internet knows this".