There are traditional ways of marketing entertainment and products… and then there are the new ways that seem to skirt around the need for real people.
Social media analyst and commentator, Master of the TDS, has been revealing a consistent phenomenon on š that seems to use paid, “verified” blue check accounts to bypass Elon Musk’s defenses. The accounts post similar statements about targeted products and/or entertainment in a way that 1) probably costs a ton of money and 2) raises visibility of the product / entertainment via engagement of these upper-tier accounts.
Where these accounts are coming from and who is controlling them is unknown. But their overwhelming system of messaging similar statements in tandem is obviously a concerted effort. And though surely there are some that are real humans caught up in so many artificial accounts (or accounts provided at a cost), it’s clear they’re now a significant part of how some entities wish to move the needle when it comes to social media.
MaeĀ (Amandla Stenberg) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. Ā©.
Though some might suggest this is just routing “bot accounts” doing the spam we’ve seen them do on the internet for decades, the reality is different.
If these bots are using $15 per month accounts in the numbers Master of the TDS has discovered, this is a tremendous financial effort crafted quickly in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in order to manipulate the topics, conversations, visibility, etc, of so many productions and entertainment options.
Proving once again that I have something here with these blue checkmark Twitter bots promoting Disney's movies and shows, I have discovered their latest effort:
A combination of blue check and non-blue checkmark bot accounts promoting the latest offering in Disney Star Wars, Theā¦ pic.twitter.com/xFgWHFaFPE
— MasteroftheTDS (@MasteroftheTDS) March 21, 2024
As can be seen in the š post above, Master of the TDS shows an uncanny similarity in the posts about Star Wars: The Acolyte made as its first trailer hit the web. And many of those ultra-similar posts were made by the same blue checkmark accounts he has been following!
This is not the only entity seeing tremendous support from what might be “botting”. It’s also not the first time that Disney entertainment properties have been the recipients of positive conversation from what could be synthetic, non-human efforts. And these, again, seem to be very expensive efforts by someone (not necessarily Disney) to alter what is trending, what is acceptable, etc, on social media. In fact, using bots has been so prevalent in the last years in order to create the appearance of outraged mobs and/or excited hordes of fans, that it may be part and parcel of building andĀ destroyingĀ careers.
(Clockwise from center): Jedi MasterĀ IndaraĀ (Carrie-Anne Moss), Master SolĀ (Lee Jung-jae), Jedi Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) and (second from right) Master Torbin (Dean Charles Chapman) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. Ā©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
That’s why Master of the TDS even says there is evidence bots were employed to attempt destroying Gina Carano’s career via an appearance of outraged fans who could have been totally fake. At the least, bots may have been used to bolster the appearance of said outrage.
Whatever is going on, significant money is being dumped into what might be described as a dubious ethical endeavor. And it draws to question when you respond to someone — even if they’re verified — online in a social media space: are you talking to a human or an algorithm? And is it all to drive an agenda of some corporation without the need of fans, trolls, shills or regular folks. After all, if one wants their opinion to rule supreme, perhaps all a corporation needs is volume. Whether it is human volume is somewhat less important for now it seems.
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