#bot campaigns

[guccifloralsuits]

This article really opened my eyes to the kind of online discussion culture we have rn. I think we all know bot activity has risen but the journalist’s depth in discussion particularly about the campaign for Justin around Coachella really astounded me and made me realise I’m more susceptible than I thought because I thought his rise was genuinely organic. Reading how common these kinds of campaigns are now I don’t think it’s all that conspiratorial to think some of the conversations around Harry recently has been amplified by bots in certain contexts, like the ticket situation was definitely organic upset but 100% boosted by bots given the coverage it got compared to other artists. I wouldn’t be shocked if the DNM video got the same treatment. The question is more who’s paying for it.

https://archive.is/nf3U8

(Re my last anon - here’s the one I mentioned!!)

WOAH. I have heard about bot campaigns being paid for in the entertainment industry to drum up hype or smears against popular artists, but this is another level. What the actual fuck.

everyone should go read the article linked—regardless of if you’re a part of fandom or not.

This section pointing to the artists who use it, and the part about Justin Bieber’s Coachella campaign are….. illuminating. This is fucking insane. It gives a LOT of perspective on what’s breaking through in current pop culture and why

[guccifloralsuits]

Rolling Stone did that article about Taylor being targeted by bots, so his team could do that perhaps? Once the idea that negativity is largely manufactured gains credence, that can undermine the campaign? It could be that it needs to reach a point—as it appears to be doing—where it’s so overt that even people who don’t like him are finding it weird and noticing that it’s inorganic.

Yeah @ Harry plz call Rob Sheffield king we’re begging!!!!

That’s a really good idea; it did do at least some damage control for Taylor. Some of the difficulty for him is that the campaign is not as overt, because for Taylor…. those AI-generated photos of her with a nazi flag was floooooding comments, and was so obviously fake. But the thing is—and I say this as someone who genuinely did not like TLOAS—I suspect a portion of bots also added to hate in different ways, with the 100000 “she’s a greedy billionaire” and “hangs out with MAGA all the time now” and etc comments similar in phrasing that were a lot harder to pinpoint/combat because real people and non-bots also do think + post this. Makes it almost impossible to pinpoint where genuine criticism/dislike ends and where a smear begins

Harry’s comments are mostly “he’s low energy/not in it/not singing” (which on one hand is funny because you can’t dig up any actual dirt on him, and he’s made his positions too clear for an maga accusations to break through) or “he’s greedy/sold-out” …and I’m sure some people really do think this, so a smear isn’t making everything up, but they are generating disproportionate traction for something almost no one else feels, and then are influencing more people towards the hateful cause

[guccifloralsuits]

if they’re not going to fight the bot narrative with their own then there’s not much else they can do about it which is pretty worrying. I think it’s morally right that they don’t want to but if it’s a sustained effort to target him then like when does this end? I guess they could try and lower the stage (is that possible with the current configuration though) and cut out that part of the botting comments but everything else idk.

I’m with you—I’m also very worried about this and if it’s even possible to combat. But I will say: I’ve also never seen so many fans start to push back by making their own videos & comments combating the hate, and I’m so proud of the girlies for this, because for the countless hate comments, I’ve also seen countless videos from real fans standing up for him, and defending him, and saying you know what—I’m not hosting a space for this hate. I’m going to stay joyful even when you font want me to! Thank god for that.

For his team….i genuinely don’t know what they can do. The together, together tour TikTok account is a small but solid thing, they’re probably monitoring & getting major players, but it’s kind of like a hydra—when you cut off one head, two more replace it. In hindsight…some of his speech on opening night kinda nods to this too, the “hey—maybe put the phone down for a second. The internet isn’t real; what you see in your actual life is, and is what matters.”

As for fans: we can take steps to combat it by engaging with and supporting positive content in response, making an active effort and to engage with positive stuff by posting, liking, watching through, and commenting on genuinely happy posts from other fans and from his own promo. General education about bots too is good, but will be harder to spread

[guccifloralsuits]

It's definitely bots. All the comments about his energy are worded the same, and the first comment on every video, no matter what it is.

No you’re totally right. But it fucking pisses me off that people are falling and getting influenced by this shit—like HOW do we stop this????

Obviously on a personal level we can create a counter perspective and positive content for people to consume instead, and delete bots in our own comments when we see them, but. God that’s so fucking frustrating