Have bots taken over news page comment sections?

[Ken Fresno]

I'm not sure if this has been posted, or even if it's been discussed and generally accepted, or "debunked"..

But does anyone else think bots have taken over the comments sections on the big news sites like Yahoo and MSN? The ones people use as homepages and average folks go to for their headlines?

I noticed a month or 2 ago that MSN completely disabled comments, and the top 50+ comments on every article are from the guy who sits front row at Trump rallies(still, like not even just pre-election).

Take this article for example: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/theyre-saying-nfl-players-speak-044703911.html

Just a bullshit article about Marshawn running onto the field to protect his cousin (not necessary, I know, obviously), and getting handsy with a ref. Dumb thing to do. He apologized. He'll be suspended. Nobody cares.

Except for the 3500? people who had to leave comments like this, and "like" all similar comments:

"The NFL is full of criminals. Why do we even bother with rules in the game? These felons are already having problems following the rules of a peaceful society."

"Black players don’t think the rules should apply to them."

"So now the ghetto thugs are allowed to attack referees. Football needs to be dissolved."

"These morons just dont get it. They have no respect for rule or law.Yet they are the ones being held down by the man. Friggin idiots......thats a lesson they tell you in pee wee football....DONT LEAVE THE SIDELINES. He was going to try to stop it.....yea just like the other idiots that resisted arrest. Totally unfair world they live in."

"What do you expect to see from the N1qq3r Felony League?"

"This is just another example of the ignorance of blacks in this country. He broke rules (the law) and these self serving THUGS support him. When he gets suspended they will take a knee to boycott harassment and discrimination. Didnt watch or will never again watch this #$%$ again."


And on and on and on and on.... Are there really this many of these maniacs out there? I mean I know it's easy to just say "yes, of course..", but this doesn't seem a little exaggerated to anyone else?

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Human garbage has been greatly emboldened over the last year or two so I wouldn't be surprised if those were all actual people.

Internet + anonymity = fuckery

I wouldn't be surprised if it were bots, either.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Why bring in bots to spew that kind of shit?

Don't bots usually try to sell shampoo or something?

 

[Ling Ling]

There are definitely bots as well as professional posters being paid to create narratives, but I doubt in this case that was at work. In the article you cite, probably just real people raging.

 

[freaky]

lol what makes you think Sherdog is not full of bot shill. You're basically talking with 1 or 2 people. The rest are bots.

Dominating bots, hnnng, benny, bunz, susie, are all bots.

There are no more human on the internet. It's like nobody goes to school or work anymore. How can we have thousands of 24/7 Mayberry residents instantly liking or replying to every thread of every minute of everyday? Not just Mayberry, the heavy, the reddit, the interwebz. C'mon really?

 

[Execute]

Looks like standard WR posts to me.

 

[Ken Fresno]

Why bring in bots to spew that kind of shit?

Don't bots usually try to sell shampoo or something?

I'd think it would be to create narratives and push the minds of impressionable people in a given direction.

Human garbage has been greatly emboldened over the last year or two so I wouldn't be surprised if those were all actual people.

Internet + anonymity = fuckery

I wouldn't be surprised if it were bots, either.

Or it could just be this. But I'm not someone who likes to believe everyone who votes Republican, or conservative, is Trump rally/Richard Spencer speech guy. But these comment sections would lead you to believe that, if you're someone who's all wrapped up in this shit.

There are definitely bots as well as professional posters being paid to create narratives, but I doubt in this case that was at work. In the article you cite, probably just real people raging.

This is where I'm at. Some combination of bots, professional posters, and really diligent maniacs. It feels pretty alarming no matter what the combination really. I mean 3,500 people pull out tiki torches in about an hour over a random Marshawn Lynch incident?

And I know how the world is, this country is, the internet is, etc.. i just used to always go to the comments to see what people in general are feeling about different things. And there's really nothing to be gained anymore because it's a pile of the same shit, with different smells.

 

[Kassitus]

The far right are focused on the NFL because of Kapernick. 4000 comments isnt actually that many people. All it takes is someone on 4chan to post a link to the article and you will get thousands of people like that in the comment section. In a logical world they would just watch rugby instead.

 

[ShinkanPo]

Internet is so politically dirty these days more and more people are into political mockery. Right vs left does not matter its also like that in other countries.

It has become sort of a passtime I my self gets drag into these mess I even mock hard core supporters of the political party I support at times because they rage too.

 

[Ceez]

Why bring in bots to spew that kind of shit?

Don't bots usually try to sell shampoo or something?

Ask Soros

 

[marioh]

nah, vast majority of them are legit people.
they've all come crawling out of the woodwork once trumpie was elected. which isn't such a bad thing as it's exposing them to the light now.

 

[xcvbn]

Yes. Reddit is full of them too.

 

[Loiosh]

Why bring in bots to spew that kind of shit?

Don't bots usually try to sell shampoo or something?

Shampoo sells itself.

 

[M3t4tr0n]

Government paid trolls from Russia are already confirmed.