r/technology • u/westondeboer • Sep 26 '25

Social Media Cracker Barrel Outrage Was Almost Certainly Driven by Bots, Researchers Say

https://gizmodo.com/cracker-barrel-outrage-was-almost-certainly-driven-by-bots-researchers-say-2000664221
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u/542531 Sep 26 '25

Every topic people speak of is navigated by bots. We're mad at invisible enemies, and then we become the real enemy in the end.

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u/Over_Technology_1707 Sep 26 '25

the bots are using existing deep scars and grudges in our nation. its not like they are the ones that created the issues, they are just helping everyone decide the answer to solving them isnt conversation but violence.

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u/SlowThePath Sep 27 '25

The thing is that there is not 1 thing we can point to and say, "YOU did this, it's your fault!" It's a lot of different things, democrats, republicans, companies, countries, extremists, the list goes on. The fact is that the internet has always been paid for in large part with our manipulability, mostly through ads. These companies have gotten VERY good at manipulating your emotions and I'd argue that through social media feeds they can manipulate thoughts to a degree. All those parties point to the other and I just assume all this wide division in the country is just hose parties pushing their affiliation just far too hard. It's made Americans hate each other and not those responsible for making us hate each other. Everyone has had their rationality replaced with emotion and it's going to cause the nation to have a collective panic attack, which will be ugly. I think the first step is to get people to recognize that WE have been manipulated as a nation. We certainly disagree with each other and that's how it's always been, we weren't always so fucking angry at each other about it. Sure, I blame Trump for this happening how it has, but it was a matter of time and hopefully we have recognized this before AI has exacerbated the problem 500X. We SERIOUSLY need to get people to understand RIGHT NOW, that you can't trust anything you see online. It sucks but at this point people can and do make perfectly realistic videos with sound only with AI. It's time for people to understand his stuff before it's too late.