The word 'bot' is increasingly being used as an insult on social media

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2434742-the-word-bot-is-increasingly-being-used-as-an-insult-on-social-media/

by isaacfrond • 2 years ago

19 12 2 years ago

Yeah, in my experience it's typically used by people who can't counter your argument and people who seem likely to be fooled by actual bots. They're the same people, as it happens.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos• 2 years ago

NPC is the more appropriate term to insult people with. The NPCs are misprogrammed if they're using bot like that.

082349872349872• 2 years ago

If non-metabolic bots are using 'bot' with each other they should go ahead — it's their word, after all.

richbell• 2 years ago

"NPC" and "bot" used to have different meanings. It'd be interesting if the terms converged.

I believe that "bot" gained popularity around 2012, specifically in reference to influence campaigns on Twitter. If you accused someone of being a Russian bot, you were saying that they a) were a shill, and b) possibly not even human, in the literal sense.

herculity275• 2 years ago

Noticed this in Georgian politics - paid shills and people whose behavior is indistinguishable from paid shills are increasingly referred to as "bots" with no presumption of being non-human.

kbos87• 2 years ago

I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon in the comments section on TikTok, and it gives me a tiny morsel of hope. It’s increasingly common to see people pointing out commenters that are likely either bots or users that are simply rage baiting. Yes it gets thrown around as an insult sometimes, but it’s often applied in situations where I think it’s correct too. It’s a tiny sign to me that discourse does shift and people are becoming more social media literate over time.

lazide• 2 years ago

I got called a bot once here on HN when I wrote a very detailed and informative post on what I think almost anyone could only call an insanely esoteric topic.

I took it as a compliment, though I don’t think the poster intended it that way. I think they thought I was cheating/using chatGPT/literally a bot.

Nope, just that kind of nerd.

elpocko• 2 years ago

Repost from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40635010

blitzar• 2 years ago

Some bot keeps resubmitting it.

Phrenzy• 2 years ago

cronbot, mostly likely.

tmnvix• 2 years ago

I do get a bit of a kick out of the idea that there are bots out there accusing each other of being bots.

ChrisArchitect• 2 years ago

[dupe]

More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40635010

The word 'bot' is increasingly being used as an insult on social media

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