2d ago

Interesting. What is really causing the rapid decline

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Reddit is pretty useless for getting any kind of advanced information on any topic. The impression I had of the US election based on it was completely out of line with reality, so in that case it couldn't be trusted as an accurate source of information on current affairs.
People are addicted to it, but you'd have to be pretty sad to pay for it.
Blocking ads on it is a trivial matter. It never made any money.
The question is why did anyone think it would ever be worth much at all.
- The impression I had of the US election based on it was completely out of line with reality
  I've largely switched to Lemmy for the past two years, but this was really the last nail in the coffin for reddit for me too. It's an enforced echo-chamber and no longer a reliable source of information. It's hard to notice how bad things are when the politics are leaning in your direction, but once you see it, you can't unsee it, and it feels gross.
  Lemmy is obviously pretty politically homogeneous too, but the difference is that I don't feel like someone is trying to trick me. Topics and and sources are clearly influenced by the individual posters' opinions, but it doesn't feel like there's a coordinated behind-the-scenes effort to push an agenda, which makes for a better vibe.
  
  Yep, its got pretty extreme. So many comments seem to be bots, and it really feels like you're being pushed in a certain direction. I can't fathom how it got so bad
  
  There are bots on here too. I've noticed a lot of handled accounts that will reply consistently with pro Russian propaganda. Some may be bots, but others are handled. Either way, the goals are the same.
  You sadly can't escape it these days.
  No matter where you go, it's best to be aware and double check sources.
  
  I’ve noticed a lot of handled accounts that will reply consistently with pro Russian propaganda.
  without evidence, you are just spreading fud
  
  I said "I've noticed" which is anecdotal, but others have shared similar experiences with me. That along with the well documented interference campaigns, it's not a stretch to draw the same conclusion here on Lemmy.
  Did you read the article I shared by chance?
  
  this is just more fud.
  
  I wish I didn't have to be skeptical, but sadly I do. If you read the article I shared, it outlined how insidious foreign influence campaigns can be.
  For example, in 2019, 19 of Facebook’s top 20 pages for American Christians were run by Eastern European troll farms.
  That's just one example of many. We all need to be hyper vigilant.
  
  instead of seeing a spook behind every post, just engage (or don't) with the comment on its merits. to do otherwise is a form of ad hominem, wher you are attacking teh speaker instead of the content of their speech.
  
  I'm advocating for awareness and critical thinking, not paranoia. The New York Times article I shared outlines how influence operations have grown more sophisticated, with bots and handled accounts leveraging LLMs to mimic real engagement while derailing or inflaming discussions. Recognizing these tactics isn’t about dismissing individuals—it’s about understanding patterns of manipulation that have been well-documented. Identifying bad-faith engagement isn’t an ad hominem attack; it’s a necessary part of critical discourse. If you disagree, that’s fine, but ignoring the issue doesn’t make it disappear.
  
  an accusation of bad faith is almost always itself bad faith. you can explain the problems with someone's claims or reasoning without accusing them of intentionally being dishonest.
  
  For me, it was the massive uptick in bans that proved the manipulation was real
  
  Are you an Apollo exile?
  
  I was a "Reddit is Fun" user for at least a decade
  
  I literally just uninstalled both rif and rif premium 1 minute ago. Their last update was June 2023. I can't believe it's been that long.
  
  So this place isn't overrun by bots. Awesome. As someone new here, are there fewer bots bc it's a smaller audience, or are there actually protections against bots?
  
  Welcome welcome! The few bots that try to spam have been found out and disconnected relatively quickly (there have been a number of Fediverse-wide intentional efforts to spam that were dealt with).
  The comment quality tends to be higher on average and braindead meme chains that bots can copy for karma farming are far less common.
  That said, the Lemmy experience is yours to craft. Subscribe and block as needed, don't feed the trolls, don't sweat getting a few downvoted comments here and there, report bad behaviour and have fun.
  
  So, it's all down to federation, essentially. If an instance allows its users to act in bad faith (lemmygrad, exploding heads, etc), then typically people will ask their instance admin to defederate from them or else move to a server that will. And if you can't find a server you like? Great news! Just pull down the source code and start your own!
  
  Worth noting that lemm.ee pretty much does not defederate with anyone so is great if you are going to be moderating any communities because you can actually see nearly everyone that is posting.
  
  Yeah, I also have a strong [left] libertarian bent, and I appreciate that .ee admins trust me to block servers I don't want to see for myself. I think the only two that .ee has defederated from are lemmygrad and exploding heads (Nazis).
  
  https://lemm.ee/instances
  Unless I am wrong I don't even think that those ones are blocked.
  
  Oh shit, maybe I'm just banned lmao
  
  lesser bots, i think because reddit bots are mostly political propaganda ones from RU and US.