this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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Everyone thinks they're above it, that they can detect the bots or remain unmoved. That's why it won't change. The only solution on a personal level is to stop using social media. But that won't stop society from imploding.
I'd say the bigger problem is that there's nothing "to be done" at an individualist level. Bot swarms are going to exist and you're going to be exposed to them either directly (via your social media diet) or indirectly (via traditional news, casual conversation with people who consume social media, and the public policies that inevitably emerge from these trends). Simply "being aware" isn't a defense. You're still going to have your priors chipped away by these tidal shifts in public discourse.
Look at the impact the High Protein diet fetish has had on every fucking food retailer. Seems like every product has to include a sticker telling you how many grams of protein is in it. We went through the same diet fad exposure with GMOs and saturated fats and fiber. We got deluged with crime statistics in news, entertainment, and politics at every angle to justify the War on Crime. We're still eating tons of shit from the anti-vax trends of the Bush Era.
Society isn't ending. It's always doing this shit. When you were young, the baseline felt normal because its all you knew. Now its changing under your feet and you're struggling to rectify your childhood awareness with an evolved landscape as an adult.
You're the one imploding, as you try to reconcile the contradictions of your past and present.
Yes, good comment. But in the past it at least took some effort. You had to write a book that got popular or something along those lines.
Also, bots aren't really threatening to undermine democracy, at least in my country, as it was undermined a long time ago.
We've further mechanized the process of sales and marketing in an industry that we've been at the forefront of since the turn of the 20th century.
Modern anti-AI guys would have been eating up Adbusters 'zines 30 years ago.
Well yeah, adbusters was based
It’s always been the case that propaganda only works on the target audience. Thats why it’s so interesting to look through historical propaganda - it seems unreal and is easy to see through. Bots are just personalized propaganda machines.
Everyone is the target audience. All humans easily slip into bias and system 1 thinking. Read up on dual processing model. Nobody is entirely above propaganda.
I think there's another solution, be very vocal in person about "Don't believe everything people write on the internet" Repeatedly, again and again, because people might forget. I've made that mistake myself many times before. Younger generations need to sharpen their critical thinking skills, so let us remind each other.