Timestamps of all the top-level comments on this post:
Original post, Jan 8 6:38 PM
Flurry of new-post replies, ending with:
Jan 8, 7:43 PM
Jan 8, 8:55 PM
Jan 8, 9:02 PM (last comment before things die down)
Jan 9, 9:51 AM
Jan 9, 10:14 AM (this is surph_ninja’s comment with a massive replies section which over the last couple of hours started going poorly for him)
Jan 9, 12:52 PM
Jan 9, 12:43 PM
Jan 9, 1:00 PM
Jan 9, 1:13 PM
Jan 9, 1:18 PM
Why just now did it become active again, and all with top-level replies, not people responding to anything in the conversation below?
This is actually the first time I’ve seen some real confirmation for my theory about specific activity to bury conversations that people don’t want to have at the top of the comments. Before this, it was just a feeling, but this seems pretty hard to explain any other way.
That’s actually, in all seriousness, a really good point. I think it’s “Active” that works that way, not “Hot,” but I get your point. It still doesn’t explain why they’re all top-level comments, or why there was a sudden rush of new ones all with similar totally bizarre lazy takes, like “Trump loves expanding the US empire and doing the bidding of the US foreign-policy establishment.”
To be fair, there’s definitely astroturf and propaganda accounts/bots on here. They don’t set those propaganda budgets up for nothing.
But accusing every single criticism of US foreign policy of being a foreign bot just makes me think that account is a domestic bot. Or a deeply propagandized individual.
And now there are three more top-level comments.
Timestamps of all the top-level comments on this post:
Why just now did it become active again, and all with top-level replies, not people responding to anything in the conversation below?
This is actually the first time I’ve seen some real confirmation for my theory about specific activity to bury conversations that people don’t want to have at the top of the comments. Before this, it was just a feeling, but this seems pretty hard to explain any other way.
Sure about that one kiddo?
^ Beware of confirmation bias.
Dude figured out how the ‘Hot’ sorting algorithm works, and thinks he’s uncovered a conspiracy. LoL.
That’s actually, in all seriousness, a really good point. I think it’s “Active” that works that way, not “Hot,” but I get your point. It still doesn’t explain why they’re all top-level comments, or why there was a sudden rush of new ones all with similar totally bizarre lazy takes, like “Trump loves expanding the US empire and doing the bidding of the US foreign-policy establishment.”
It’s so cool watching conspiratorial thinking consume every level of society.
The russians are highly invested in swaying the tens of people on lemmy, theyre watching this post like a hawk.
To be fair, there’s definitely astroturf and propaganda accounts/bots on here. They don’t set those propaganda budgets up for nothing.
But accusing every single criticism of US foreign policy of being a foreign bot just makes me think that account is a domestic bot. Or a deeply propagandized individual.