HACKER Q&A
📣 jollofricepeas

How are you coping with the deluge of political bot traffic?


Is it just me or doesn’t it feel like theres a huge amount of bot traffic on Instagram and Twitter pushing Trump/anti-Obama/anti-Biden content in the comments sections of large US celebrity, media and meme accounts?


  👤 burfog Accepted Answer ✓
Heh. Exactly why do you feel these people are bots? Might it be that you live in an area where it is unacceptable to express opinions like that? There are real humans like that, some nervously hiding in your neighborhood or workplace.

I happen to live in a different area, where those opinions are held by 100% of the people I know. I have never seen a pro-Biden sign. I know lots of real humans who are very angry that they always get flagged as being bots. No, they aren't bots.

I wonder if you will dismiss me as a bot. :-) Denial of the existence of Trump supporters is a really strange phenomena. What drives it? Of course these people exist! Denial is how people thought Hillary would win. If anything, Trump has more support in 2020 than he did in 2016. Among republicans, the doubt and mistrust is gone.

Note that you can't even see much of the Trump/anti-Obama/anti-Biden content. Both https://kamalaharris.info and https://joebiden.info have been blocked on Instagram, even in private messages. The sender sees it as sent, but the receiver never gets it. Those aren't malware or scams or anything like that. Those are well-researched opposition sites that even have references, put together by a really dedicated Trump fan.

So the true extent of Trump support is just hidden. You can't see it. You may find yourself having a really big surprise on election night.


👤 forgotmypw17
Whenever someone posts something about mainstream news, I unfollow the account, with few exceptions.