https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/n5co35/what_is_going_on_with_rkidsarefuckingstupid/
created by [deleted] on 05/05/2021 at 10:22 UTC
78 upvotes, 2 top-level comments (showing 2)
a lot of posts in front page are from bots (atleast that's what u/RegularEality says)
and more
Comment by AutoModerator at 05/05/2021 at 10:22 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
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Comment by mythriz at 05/05/2021 at 10:38 UTC
144 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Answer: Not just that sub, many of the popular subreddits are flooded with botposts nowadays. This has been a problem for years, but it's escalated to the point that it feels like 50-90% of posts in popular subs are from bots (disclaimer: **emphasis on "feels like"**, I have no idea what the numbers actually are, moderators in subreddits might have a more accurate statistic).
Oftentimes other bots in the same "bot network" will copy old top comments and post on their "friend bot's" posts.
Here is a pretty good post I found about these bots from 5 years ago: /r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/42mkxv/bots_on_reddit_that_try_to_appear_human/
Most people believe the bots are used to farm karma so that they can later be sold for astroturfing[1], without appearing to be from bots because they will have built up karma and age by that point.