Bot posts - how do you spot them?

[estrogone]

I see lots of references to bot posts - are these literally posted by bots or does this expression mean AI content posted by a person?

How do you spot a bot?

Sorry for a dumb question. Genuinely curious (I am not a bot btw).

There must be some tactics. Anybody?

Following!

reads like a dictionary entry
or like a page from a cheap novel
or uses 'me (f26) and partner (m31)'
or uses american spelling

There's lots of 3 word names (bots) posting in AIBU - To think that <insert controversial opinion here> , they always have next to no posting history.

MN usually delete them though.

Ooh thanks! (f26) (m24) - I just thought this was a variant on DH/DS etc.

I am autistic and I think some of my posts are quite dictionary like (explains why I am a killer thread killer 😆)

I think a lot of the ones with a political agenda are created by bad actors, not genuine posters.

Anything about baby names, places to go on holiday, school recommendations etc are fine (though dull) but anything designed to provoke a feminist reaction, or to get people talking negatively about the country or world affairs, is potentially someone trying to whip up negativity and therefore I avoid it.

It’s such a shame as there’s lots of it about on here now so I use the site much less than I did 15 years ago. I used to feel it was one huge, safe conversation with interesting strangers.

I haven't really noticed these. Will keep an eye. Thanks

Any post that immediately triggers a strong emotional response - anger, sadness, fear, helplessness - is a red flag that should make you evaluate it more critically.

Some will be genuine but sadly plenty will be bait.

I’m usually sceptical about any OP ending with “I’d love to hear your tales / experiences / tips!”

So is this bots signing up for an account and propagating stuff without human intervention? What is the purpose? Why would a bot care?

I understand trolls - they feed off reaction. Feel a but silly that I just don't understand the mechanics.

I agree about the posts that are heavily political.
I avoid those too as I don't like how much negativity they are able to whip up.
There's enough negativity in media, and I don't come on here for that, I come on here to read people's advice to others, something that is of interest to me, I particularly love how supportive everyone can be toward others who are in need of it.
I find it encouraging that there are still very many kind people out there.
I too have cut back on posting and I'm more of a lurker now.
I find MN has changed in the last year quite a bit, and I'm not sure why that is.

I have been on MN since 2001 and saw so many things that were genuine - this is so sad. I am quite clued up on evaluating news and sources critically but never considered that posts are not genuine/human.

Lol. How to spot a bot - tell me your experience.

So they don’t make sense. I’ve seen both replies as well.

That thread with the lady whose children are playing in the garden and her neighbours are complaining.

There was a reply saying take them to the beach with this lovely weather we are having. It was a genuine reply.

If you read any post and immediately think "OMG!! It's astonishing / outrageous / appalling that X could happen!!" then chances are that it's dodgy.

The other thing to watch out for are posts from long-standing members saying things like 'I can't believe this has happened to you' or 'it's unbelievable that someone could do that'. It is MN code for 'I don't believe a word of it'.

There are different motivations. It's the person(s) behind the bot you need to think about.

For instance, creating bot accounts posting a bunch of stuff to create a normal-looking posting history so that others are more likely to trust them when they then start a begging thread, or some other scam, or generally start being manipulative.

Another example would be posting political content to try and manipulate public opinions, especially in the lead up to elections.

Another example would be posting advertising spam.

Sometimes bots are real people employed to post like this. Other times they are literal robots created to automate and scale up the operation, which has been made easier with AI to generate the post content.

Thanks for explaining. I find the thought so depressing- puts me off posting at all.

Wonder what MNHQ are doing to combat the 'slop' (learned that is what heaos of YouTube video are)

This would be a great post for someone looking to craft bot writing software so it goes undetected.

If it starts to read like a newspaper article or political propaganda, it probably is.

If it asks for your opinion on anything resembling a controversial topic where people are likely to have opposing views, it is probably a journalist fishing for content for their next newspaper article.

If several hours have gone by, dozens (or indeed hundreds) of replies are on the thread and the OP still hasn't been back, chances are they never intended to come back anyway.

If it mentions something jaw-dropping that's happened in leisure centre changing rooms, anything to do with an unexpected requirement for the products of Tena Lady, or the need for adolescents to share a bedroom, chances are it is a pervert.

Oh god let's not be teaching more people how to supposedly be a troll/bot hunter.

Apparently if you have a name (ie Lisa) with three numbers after it and not much posting history you're bound to be a bot - well that was me with all sorts of different names (frequent name changer as often talk about son/exDH) and I'm not a bot. Not currently got the name/number combo obviously but have many times in the past.

People often think things are ridiculous/unbelievable/couldn't possibly be true because they couldn't imagine it happening in their small, dull life. The OP can be there saying they swear it's true and they'll still be arguing with them. If you think it's fake just stay off it, you have no right to decide if someone else 'must' by lying because you can't imagine it happening in your life.

Unless people are posting spam just leave it alone. Some of the funniest posts have been pulled down for being posted by suspected trolls/bots. You have no idea who you're replying to any of the time or whether any of it is true, so who cares?

Troll/bothunters are always smug and always think they're really clever when really they just need to bore off.

Yes, I did realise this and point it out.

The point of my post was for me to better understand what's rubbish, so I dont spend ages responding to posts that are fake.

I also want to avoid the cynicism - vote with my feet.

There are often posts asking for personal information. Someone or some people are probably putting it in a database.

There has been a series of threads in AIBU started by threewordname posters, all having a pop at women, in the last three months or so. The faux-naif style is often employed. As an aside this style was rampant during lockdown.

They've been quiet for a couple of weeks.

There was one (yesterday?) asking people how old they were if their child was currently 10 and how old their mother was when they were 10. And so many people giving out that information.

Ahhh feck, yes, we are helping them. The thread was probably started by a bad actor/bot.