Dec 20, 2023 20:00:00

Some of the content posted on the online bulletin board site Reddit is posted by traders and bots trying to manipulate public opinion.

An IT newsletter says that some of the content posted on the online bulletin board site Reddit is posted by unscrupulous businesses and bots that seek to overly promote products and services or manipulate public opinion.

Homeless Romantic discusses.

New Study: At Least 15% of All Reddit Content is Corporate Trolls Trying to Manipulate Public Opinion | by Homeless Romantic | Collapse News | Dec, 2023 | Medium
https://medium.com/collapsenews/new-study-at-least-15-of-all-reddit-content-is-corporate-trolls-trying-to-manipulate-public-b249bd42ab42

In 2017, the research firm Pew Research Center conducted a survey of 2,505 American adults who use Reddit. As a result, it became clear that the majority of Reddit users were influenced by unscrupulous traders.

In the survey, 11% of respondents said they had been messaged by a bot or unscrupulous vendor promoting a product or service. Additionally, 13% of respondents said they had seen companies manipulate public opinion on the platform.

Younger users in particular are significantly more likely to be contacted by unscrupulous businesses, with 17% of users aged 18-29 saying they have been messaged by unscrupulous businesses, compared to 17% of users aged 65 and over. It was said that it was only 7%. In other words, the unscrupulous merchants were not randomly sending messages, but were targeting users by age group.

Additionally, a 2020

study by the academic journal Computers in Human Behavior focused on the top 100 most popular subreddits and analyzed the content posted there. It was found that 15% of the subreddits surveyed included ``content intended to promote a specific company or organization'' that may have been posted by unscrupulous agents or bots.

In this study, Computers in Human Behavior expressed concern that unscrupulous companies are strategically using positive news stories to influence public opinion, as well as promote their products and services. .

Homeless Romantic is rampant on Reddit, where unscrupulous businesses spread false information, create discord, and manipulate public opinion, which can have a serious impact not only on individuals but on society as a whole. ``Awareness-raising and proactive measures are needed to identify and reduce this impact,'' it said. He also argued that a concerted effort is needed to protect the integrity of the platform and protect users from falling victim to propaganda by merchants and bots.