[txsh]

This only applies to overt ads which are hardly the problem. It does nothing to mitigate the armies of astroturfers influencing public opinion.

[larkeith]

Still, it's certainly a welcome change, and a step in the right direction.

I wonder what the best way to combat large-scale astroturfing on a platform like twitter would be; My first thought would be a rep system akin to those of StackOverflow or HN, but I'm not sure how you would implement it such that there's not a large impact on legitimate new users - there's no system like upvotes Twitter could use to stratify.

[geofft]

I believe Reddit does have a problem with advertisers purchasing (or renting) accounts from established users who have enough karma/longevity to post in the various subreddits that block new users to avoid spam.

[zitterbewegung]

I think that is still an ongoing problem but you can use reddit sort of like a company forum where you don't have to pay reddit a dime by having a community manager and learning the platform.

[isostatic]

> where you don't have to pay reddit a dime

So you, and your company's data, are the product that reddit monetizes.

[darpa_escapee]

> I wonder what the best way to combat large-scale astroturfing on a platform like twitter would be

Report them to the FTC because paid endorsements/reviews/etc are subject to disclosure [1].

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc...

[downandout]

astroturfers influencing public opinion.

For the most part, people don’t look to social media to find content that helps them form their opinions; they look to it to reinforce already held opinions. It's an echo chamber.

That means astroturfing may lead to more divisiveness, as people seek out content that makes them more sure than ever that their opinion is the one and only correct one. But it does not “influence public opinion” since nobody is jumping to the other side of an issue based on astroturfing. It just makes the world a more hostile place.

[mkl]

That seems unlikely. For anything new or unfamiliar, people will not have established opinions yet. Their opinions will form under the influence of their experiences, including astroturfers on social media.

[downandout]

Sure, for something new or unfamiliar. But most astroturfing campaigns are not directed at such issues.

[moate]

Everything is new and unfamiliar to someone.

Also, pushing things further to the extremes/reinforcing the belief that "Everyone I speak to agrees with me on <topic> so I should therefor stand up for it because it's right" isn't less bad than fooling someone who hasn't yet formed their opinion.

[jacksproit]

For a lot of people it’ll be their first time being exposed to a concept.