something_went_wrong

That is a clear example of topic dilution whether or not commenters were even aware they were voluntarily playing the part of shills. The post topic centered around their business associations and a call to boycott, not their product quality compared to competitors which half the commenters seem to be fixated on.

oneposteach

Reddit is basically the world of "They Live".

rspix000

Jay Gould: I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jay_Gould

Mylon

Yes. The methods for manipulating reddit also work on voat, so there's no magical "TPTB don't know how to work it yet" phase for voat.

Gorillion

Most of those cucks will do it for free.

Fact_Checking_Alien

It probably happens everywhere any company views as profitable to their cause. We're quickly approaching the scenario hinted at by Neil Stephenson in the book "Anathem", where information has to be filtered by paid-for services screening out fake comments. It's just an off-hand remark made in the book, I don't know of a book devoted to the topic, but it's becoming reality. You can't know if anyone you talk to is actually in earnest, which is why I predict interpersonal conversation is going to make a big comeback. Why bother wasting your time trying to have a conversation on a forum if you can't be certain you're talking to a real person whose real opinions can be changed?