- cross-posted to:
- snoocalypse@lemmy.ml
- noticias@lemmy.eco.br
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.
"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".