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Politically-engaged Redditors tend to be more toxic -- even in non-political subreddits (www.psypost.org)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

171 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Politically-engaged Redditors tend to be more toxic -- even in non-political subreddits::A new study links partisan activity on the Internet to widespread online toxicity, revealing that politically-engaged users exhibit uncivil behavior even in non-political discussions. The findings are based on an analysis of hundreds of millions of comments from over 6.3 million Reddit users.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (2 children)

100% agree with you. The worst part is the bots are getting better and better. I have a policy that you respond once to clarify and then walk away. These are for obvious bad actors, but now they're seeming more and more like decent people with a flawed idea until you keep talking and realize it's a bot. I don't know how to counteract that.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't know how to counteract that.

Simple. You don't. When I'm debating, I'm usually not trying to convince the person I'm debating with. I'm trying to convince a disinterested third party who reads the exchange later.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

I completely agree that it's for the later people, it's just a waste of time for me when it's become a lengthy thread that nobody is going to read anyway.

The other thing they do is a bot attack of taking what people are saying, changing it, and then posting a lot of them to bury comments that they don't want others to see. Not sure how to counteract that either.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

How do you know they're actually bots? 90% of the time, when I'm debating with someone who is passionately defending their position, they'll at some point accuse me of being a bot or a shill. I also can't recall any time I've debated someone and have been convinced they are a bot.

I'm just skeptical as it's a convenient ad hominem.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

To be totally honest with you, I wouldn't for one second be surprised if the bots are programmed to accuse humans of being bots.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have the same question. How do you distinguish an advanced enough bot from a genuinely dumb person?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Or "smart" person. There are almost certainly bots who espouse beliefs that align with yours too.