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Is there currently an influx of bots in the Fediverse, or is it just that the usual patriotism is kicking in?
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AuthorMessage
DandomRude lemmy.world DandomRude@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-04
(edited) Quote

120   Original
ianhclark510 lemmy.blahaj.zone ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-06-09
#2 · Quote Reply

Either way that doesn’t sound fun :( stay safe!

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BarneyPiccolo lemmy.today BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-30
#3 · Quote Reply

Reddit used to get flooded with bots before elections. By 2024, they were just around all the time. I got permabanned after that, but it's probably even worse by now.

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America sh.itjust.works Gullible@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-08-09
#4 · (edited) Quote Reply

I’ve not yet noticed any deviations from the norm

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abbadon420 sh.itjust.works abbadon420@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-28
#5 · Quote Reply

Maybe there's just a higer percentage of neurospicy people on the fediverse.

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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#6 · (edited) Quote Reply

No there is just a major world event, a war in Iran, and people want to dump their angry hot takes about it incessantly. So you are going to have a big influx of people grandstanding about it being good or evil.

The majority of posters are indistinguishable from bots, because well, just like bots, they are working off a contrived script about who is good and who is evil.

I've seen some pretty broad and good takes about the current conflict, but they are far and few and most of the replies are harassing them for not picking a side.

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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#7 · (edited) Quote Reply

Maybe there's just a higer percentage of neurospicy people on the fediverse.

I'm skeptical. I just think there is a higher percentage of people who use that label to justify their persecution complexes, which justify their anger/rage that they direct towards others. I bet you the vast majority of people who rail about 'normies' are themselves, are very much normies themselves.

even IRL I have seen a huge uptick the past few years of people, in casual conversation, self-diagnosing themselves with conditions to excuse their poor behaviors, or sometimes even their simple mistakes. I don't understand any of it, personally. As far as I can tell mental health terminology has become basically slang at this point, whereas 10-20 years ago it was nonexistent in pop culture and casual speech.

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kbal fedia.io kbal@fedia.io
Joined: 2023-11-03
#8 · Quote Reply

I saw a couple that were obviously bots, when I looked at a news-relevant hashtag on mastodon today. I only noticed two, but that's two more than usual.

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fujiwood lemmy.world fujiwood@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-14
#9 · Quote Reply

[deleted]
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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#10 · (edited) Quote Reply

[deleted]

every waking moment of your life is on lemmy?

for me it's maybe 5-8 hours out of my workweek, only an hour today!

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potatoguy mbin.potato-guy.space potatoguy@mbin.potato-guy.space
Joined: 2026-02-09
#11 · Quote Reply

I saw some obvious bots like a week ago, there are some among us for sure.

Maybe there's more than usual, because of the Iran related stuff.

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UnderpantsWeevil lemmy.world UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#12 · Quote Reply

Reddit used to get flooded with bots before elections. By 2024, they were just around all the time. I got permabanned after that, but it's probably even worse by now.

You're not missing anything. Reddit is the embodiment of Empty Internet Theory. If you're a human posting on that site, you're a statistical anomaly. And not for long, because everyone's getting booted.

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UnderpantsWeevil lemmy.world UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#13 · Quote Reply

No there is just a major world event, a war in Iran, and people want to dump their angry hot takes about it incessantly. So you are going to have a big influx of people grandstanding about it being good or evil. The majority of posters are indistinguishable from bots, because well, just like bots, they are working off a contrived script about who is good and who is evil. I've seen some pretty b...

The majority of posters are indistinguishable from bots

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「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」(old account, migrated to Piefed) sh.itjust.works DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-23
#14 · Quote Reply

Some people block political threads, so all that's left are those that don't block them... which tends to be people who strongly believe in their opinions or want to use it as a soapbox to rant... so there's rarely any just "chill" opinions or nuanced takes. Almost everyone on a political thread is gonna be angry at something... against one side, cheering for the destruction of one side... or both sides...

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HubertManne piefed.social HubertManne@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-03-13
#15 · Quote Reply

every waking moment of your life is on lemmy? for me it's maybe 5-8 hours out of my workweek, only an hour today!

for me it depends on how you mark time. I have it up all day so I could technically engage throughout the day but realistically im hitting it in spurts that can be a quick min to more than an hour. I bet it adds up but ultimately im only on it between things.

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Rhaedas fedia.io Rhaedas@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-03-03
#16 · Quote Reply

I'm skeptical. I just think there is a higher percentage of people who use that label to justify their persecution complexes, which justify their anger/rage that they direct towards others. I bet you the vast majority of people who rail about 'normies' are themselves, are very much normies themselves. even IRL I have seen a huge uptick the past few years of people, in casual conversation, self-...

It could be overused now where it wasn't before. Or it could be where it was suppressed before. It may be somewhere in the middle. Which is better than being ignored and alienated, even if some use is more hype than realism.

I think we're all on a spectrum in lots of different ways. Rainbows. Rainbows everywhere.

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HubertManne piefed.social HubertManne@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-03-13
#17 · Quote Reply

lol. bots. as if us humans on the internet would not be real carbon based life forms from this planet. so funny.

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njm1314 lemmy.world njm1314@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-21
#18 · Quote Reply

Reddit used to get flooded with bots before elections. By 2024, they were just around all the time. I got permabanned after that, but it's probably even worse by now.

Its gotten really bad now that hidden profiles are a thing.

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Greyscale lemmy.sdf.org greyscale@lemmy.sdf.org
Joined: 2023-06-11
#19 · Quote Reply

You're not missing anything. Reddit is the embodiment of Empty Internet Theory. If you're a human posting on that site, you're a statistical anomaly. And not for long, because everyone's getting booted.

I got booted because:

  1. I said Peter Thiel should be turned to soup

  2. I said Th-iel should be turned to soup

  3. I said that I had previously been given a suspension for saying Peter Thiel should be turned to soup.

So now I'm redditless.

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TropicalDingdong lemmy.world TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-29
#20 · Quote Reply

A bunch of the ABWD sleepers reactivated recently. I don' think they are bots, but after a year of being very quiet, they all came out of their termite holes after being quiet for about a year.

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TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#21 · Quote Reply

I'm skeptical. I just think there is a higher percentage of people who use that label to justify their persecution complexes, which justify their anger/rage that they direct towards others. I bet you the vast majority of people who rail about 'normies' are themselves, are very much normies themselves. even IRL I have seen a huge uptick the past few years of people, in casual conversation, self-...

This is just a long way to say "in my day, no one was so called 'autistic'"

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abbadon420 sh.itjust.works abbadon420@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-28
#22 · Quote Reply

I'm skeptical. I just think there is a higher percentage of people who use that label to justify their persecution complexes, which justify their anger/rage that they direct towards others. I bet you the vast majority of people who rail about 'normies' are themselves, are very much normies themselves. even IRL I have seen a huge uptick the past few years of people, in casual conversation, self-...

Well, how am I supposed to keep up with "politically correct" terminology if "ploticially correct" terminology keeps changing every year?

I learned this term from a diagnosed autist last year (after refereling to her as "autist"). She told me she's very active in that community and that this was a preffered term. Now you tell me it's basically a dog whistle?

I'll tell you what, I'm just gonna call everyone a dumbass and be done with it! Red Forman that shit.

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mesa piefed.social mesamunefire@piefed.social
Joined: 2024-12-27
#23 · Quote Reply

I’ve not yet noticed any deviations from the norm

Yeah I cant tell. Lots of accounts have history that are talking...so I dont think they are bots.

You can report if you want. Different instances will take different approaches.

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foodandart lemmy.zip foodandart@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-10-07
#24 · Quote Reply

I got booted because: I said Peter Thiel should be turned to soup I said Th-iel should be turned to soup I said that I had previously been given a suspension for saying Peter Thiel should be turned to soup. So now I'm redditless.

LOL! Thiel soup.. guaranteed to cause the shits!

I got permabanned for saying a naughty thing about Stephen Miller.

Found old.lemmy.zip, signed up and haven't missed a beat!

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JohnnyEnzyme piefed.social JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-11
#25 · Quote Reply

Its gotten really bad now that hidden profiles are a thing.

Hidden profiles?

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njm1314 lemmy.world njm1314@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-21
#26 · Quote Reply

Hidden profiles?

Basically all comment history is hidden. Very popular with totally organic pro Maga accounts.

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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#27 · (edited) Quote Reply

Basically all comment history is hidden. Very popular with totally organic pro Maga accounts.

hidden or deleted?

are you talking about the accounts that post once and then self-delete?

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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#28 · (edited) Quote Reply

This is just a long way to say "in my day, no one was so called 'autistic'"

There is a massive difference between officially being diagnosed as being autistic and self-identifying as it. A differences based in clinical science.

What is messed up is people can't acknowledge this, or act like this difference is oppressive and problematic.'

According to self-diagnosis, I can easily convince myself I'm autistic or a million other mental conditions. But I am not. Because I'm not a professional clinician, and even if I was self-diagnosis is a violation of professional ethics.

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njm1314 lemmy.world njm1314@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-21
#29 · Quote Reply

hidden or deleted? are you talking about the accounts that post once and then self-delete?

No. I'm talking about exactly what I said.

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GreenShimada lemmy.world GreenShimada@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-12-22
#30 · Quote Reply

Just my guess - meant to bait people into making various threats to see how well Palantir's social media monitoring works at the fringes.

Be careful out there, y'all.

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JohnnyEnzyme piefed.social JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-11
#31 · Quote Reply

Basically all comment history is hidden. Very popular with totally organic pro Maga accounts.

Basically all comment history is hidden.

Oh, actually I was forced to do that myself due to the slight possibility of doxxing, etc. Ten-year account over there that I still use, and traditionally I practice complete transparency. But the times, they is be changing...

Oh, actually there is a workaround (or at least there used to be). Add the acct in question as a "friend," then click on the Friend stream. You'll be able to see their content.

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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#32 · Quote Reply

It could be overused now where it wasn't before. Or it could be where it was suppressed before. It may be somewhere in the middle. Which is better than being ignored and alienated, even if some use is more hype than realism. I think we're all on a spectrum in lots of different ways. Rainbows. Rainbows everywhere.

Saying we are all on the spectrum is the same as saying nobody is on it.

That's why I'm skeptical. Saying you are autistic has no meaning anymore. Anyone could say it and believe it abotu themselves.

That's VERY different than getting clinically diagnosed.

-7
AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#33 · (edited) Quote Reply

Well, how am I supposed to keep up with "politically correct" terminology if "ploticially correct" terminology keeps changing every year? I learned this term from a diagnosed autist last year (after refereling to her as "autist"). She told me she's very active in that community and that this was a preffered term. Now you tell me it's basically a dog whistle? I'll tell you what, I'm just gonna c...

You aren't supposed to keep up with that shit. It's stupid.

Assuming it isn't your professional job in some capacity.

My take is if people get offended at you not calling them some preferred nomenclature... they are assholes. Well-adjusted people typically don't start a shitfit about such things. Nor is a single person's testimony anything to make a broader assumption upon.

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UnderpantsWeevil lemmy.world UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#34 · Quote Reply

I got booted because: I said Peter Thiel should be turned to soup I said Th-iel should be turned to soup I said that I had previously been given a suspension for saying Peter Thiel should be turned to soup. So now I'm redditless.

You're better for it.

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LibertyLizard slrpnk.net LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-14
#35 · Quote Reply

Maybe there's just a higer percentage of neurospicy people on the fediverse.

I feel very confident this is the case. And I also suspect that most of the "bots" or "shills" or whatever other inauthentic accounts people think they are identifying are just these same types of people who have unusual posting habits or communication styles. I've yet to see one iota of evidence that there are any accounts masquerading as something they're not to influence politics. The only actual bots I've seen are the boring spambots who just post scam links at a rapid rate.

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TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#36 · Quote Reply

There is a massive difference between officially being diagnosed as being autistic and self-identifying as it. A differences based in clinical science. What is messed up is people can't acknowledge this, or act like this difference is oppressive and problematic.' According to self-diagnosis, I can easily convince myself I'm autistic or a million other mental conditions. But I am not. Because I'...

You seem to think everyone has the option to become diagnosed but that's not the case. I've tried to be diagnosed and literally doctors seem to avoid it. And I can actually afford doctors while many cannot.

I have mostly avoided self diagnosing myself as autistic but there are many signs of it. I shouldn't be blamed if I did say I'm probably slightly autistic. I'm not sure why an internet rando would know more about my situation than I do.

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crank0271 lemmy.world crank0271@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-17
#37 · Quote Reply

I got booted because: I said Peter Thiel should be turned to soup I said Th-iel should be turned to soup I said that I had previously been given a suspension for saying Peter Thiel should be turned to soup. So now I'm redditless.

Care to post a recipe for that soup?

6
Greyscale lemmy.sdf.org greyscale@lemmy.sdf.org
Joined: 2023-06-11
#38 · (edited) Quote Reply

Care to post a recipe for that soup?
  • Boiling Hydrofluoric Acid
  • Peter Thiel

I don't recommend eating the rich, due to Prions. It'd be better to render them and process them into fertiliser.

18
AmidFuror fedia.io AmidFuror@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-03-11
#39 · Quote Reply

Well, how am I supposed to keep up with "politically correct" terminology if "ploticially correct" terminology keeps changing every year? I learned this term from a diagnosed autist last year (after refereling to her as "autist"). She told me she's very active in that community and that this was a preffered term. Now you tell me it's basically a dog whistle? I'll tell you what, I'm just gonna c...

Uh, "dumbass" has been used for decades to put people down who have intellectual deficiencies. This is 2026; you can't call people dumbasses.

2
AmbitiousProcess (they/them) piefed.social AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-06
#40 · Quote Reply

I've noticed a few, but nothing crazy. Just the occasional post where I can tell this is an automated account that isn't marked as such, posting shit like short-captioned AI slop images 1-3 times a day, usually on Mastodon and not Lemmy.

1
AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#41 · (edited) Quote Reply

You seem to think everyone has the option to become diagnosed but that's not the case. I've tried to be diagnosed and literally doctors seem to avoid it. And I can actually afford doctors while many cannot. I have mostly avoided self diagnosing myself as autistic but there are many signs of it. I shouldn't be blamed if I did say I'm probably slightly autistic. I'm not sure why an internet rando...

literally everyone is slightly autistic. that is a useless classification.

it's like saying have to eat food or you have to poop. so does litereally every other person who ever existed... it's not a distinguishing aspect of any one person over another.

when you self-diagnose you are doing nothing more than taking a horoscope. i bet you are a 'little bit of a Pisces'. too.

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AskewLord piefed.social AskewLord@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-16
#42 · Quote Reply

Uh, "dumbass" has been used for decades to put people down who have intellectual deficiencies. This is 2026; you can't call people dumbasses.

Cartman is still a fatass in 2026.

Or does he have a 'lipid mass regulation deficiency'?

1
TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#43 · (edited) Quote Reply

literally everyone is slightly autistic. that is a useless classification. it's like saying have to eat food or you have to poop. so does litereally every other person who ever existed... it's not a distinguishing aspect of any one person over another. when you self-diagnose you are doing nothing more than taking a horoscope. i bet you are a 'little bit of a Pisces'. too.

When I first responded, I thought you were only a little off from an opinion I might understand. I was wrong.

Also you contradicted the fuck out of yourself. You said if everyone is on the spectrum then no one is. So now you are nakedly foolish and ignorant.

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spittingimage lemmy.world spittingimage@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-20
#44 · Quote Reply

Boiling Hydrofluoric Acid Peter Thiel I don't recommend eating the rich, due to Prions. It'd be better to render them and process them into fertiliser.

I'd hate to see what all the dick pills in Elon Musk's bloodstream would do to a field of corn.

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dustycups aussie.zone prex@aussie.zone
Joined: 2023-06-27
#45 · (edited) Quote Reply

Boiling Hydrofluoric Acid Peter Thiel I don't recommend eating the rich, due to Prions. It'd be better to render them and process them into fertiliser.

That rendering process better be thorough - prions survive in the soil.
Edit: hydrofluric acid probably isn't very good for the soil either.

8
abbadon420 sh.itjust.works abbadon420@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-28
#46 · Quote Reply

Saying we are all on the spectrum is the same as saying nobody is on it. That's why I'm skeptical. Saying you are autistic has no meaning anymore. Anyone could say it and believe it abotu themselves. That's VERY different than getting clinically diagnosed.

No he's right. It s a spectrum and everyone is on it. That includes "perfectly average" is a dimension of that spectrum. Same goes for sexuality, it's also a spectrum, so everyone's at least a little bit gay.

3
abbadon420 sh.itjust.works abbadon420@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-28
#47 · Quote Reply

Boiling Hydrofluoric Acid Peter Thiel I don't recommend eating the rich, due to Prions. It'd be better to render them and process them into fertiliser.

My hungry pigs disagree with that advice

5
abbadon420 sh.itjust.works abbadon420@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-28
#48 · Quote Reply

You aren't supposed to keep up with that shit. It's stupid. Assuming it isn't your professional job in some capacity. My take is if people get offended at you not calling them some preferred nomenclature... they are assholes. Well-adjusted people typically don't start a shitfit about such things. Nor is a single person's testimony anything to make a broader assumption upon.

I very much would like to agree with that,but in my experience the effort/reward is worth it. As in, it's only a little effort and it is very much appreciated. Even if you do it wrong every conversation, but cincerely promosie to do better next time. That still is appreciated.

2
kurmudgeon lemmy.world kurmudgeon@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
#49 · Quote Reply

Reddit used to get flooded with bots before elections. By 2024, they were just around all the time. I got permabanned after that, but it's probably even worse by now.

I recently got Permabanned from Reddit because I reshared the Alex Pretti video back when that was happening. They also banned every other account for every person in my household because of their fingerprinting service going overboard.

Fuck Reddit.

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AmidFuror fedia.io AmidFuror@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-03-11
#50 · Quote Reply

Cartman is still a fatass in 2026. Or does he have a 'lipid mass regulation deficiency'?

He's just festively plump.

1
DudeImMacGyver kbin.earth DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth
Joined: 2025-01-11
#51 · Quote Reply

lol. bots. as if us humans on the internet would not be real carbon based life forms from this planet. so funny.

Hahaha, yes fellow human, so true.

3
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