As technology advances and computers become increasingly capable, the line between human and bot activity on social media platforms like Lemmy is becoming blurred.
What are your thoughts on this matter? How do you think social media platforms, particularly Lemmy, should handle advanced bots in the future?
In general I believe all online communities are toxic when it comes to political discussion and just enable cult behavior. I think both Facebook and the fediverse have the ability to sway options, but at different capacities.
Facebook is simple and easy to use, and because of that it’s widely adopted and you make connections through people you (kinda sorta) know irl. This leads to a false sense of security and can poison your bubble of connections.
With vote manipulation, whitewash communities, brigading, bots, and general anonymity, the fediverse is not any better equipped to deal with “alternative facts.” It being more niche and less user friendly weeds out some people, and you are left with a user base that has slightly more education and decision making skills…but no one is completely immune to manipulative tactics. Bots with agendas are not always easy to identify and continue getting more refined. It’s easy to lose track of the push & pull if you are chronically online…which many fediverse users are.
I don’t have any solutions other than attempting to educate on how to spot misinformation and approach ideas critically. Even with doing that it’s far for 100% and that number keeps declining with age.