1. Someone (Reddit administrators?) was caught using chatGPT bots to flood the site with pro-admin comments.

  2. After /r/Programming exposed this, the subReddit was closed down.

  3. Rumor: the admins were the ones who close down the sub. Regardless, the astroturfing is evident.

SOURCES

  1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36361247

  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20230611210834/https://old.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/146wn9s/meta_who_is_astroturfing_rprogramming_and_why/

  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20230612080526/https://i.imgur.com/4e9jO7P.jpg

  • cecilkorikEnglish
    17·
    1 year ago

    Yeah I speculated this was the case when the prevailing opinion of comments on the site made a sudden and drastic change in attitude. IIRC it stated shortly after spez made his infamous comments about how the blackout didn’t matter and they didn’t see any impact.

    • garamasala@lemmy.mlEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      I thought the same and it seemed quite obvious to me. It’s absolutely pathetic. But it seems they can’t even do that correctly.

    • garamasala@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      I thought the same and it seemed quite obvious to me. It’s absolutely pathetic. But it seems they can’t even do that correctly.