I'm a moderator that fought back very hard against inauthentic activity in my sub.
Reddit's AI filters have gotten significantly better at blocking bots, especially with above average settings for your sub.
But alas, I pissed off people involved with the manipulation and really went after me.
So I'm more concerned about the bad guys taking the fight to the next level and trying to control sub reddits to enable inauthentic behavior.
In my case the bad guys tried to take over other similar abandoned subs and despite having most of their accounts banned, that still worked.
We all have to be vigilant.
u/Ajreil wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
I'm surprised I haven't heard about bad actors directly buying subs from mod teams. Especially with after the blackout when mods were willing to go full scorched earth.
Disney could easily justify paying a million dollars to take over /r/Disneyland.
u/michaelnovatireplied·
Well I use my real name on Reddit and a single account. We are all human with flaws, but I think this approach is better.
But again, people went hard after me and constantly attacked what they could find in my background because I'm not anonymous and make up assumptions about bias and stuff like that.
Whereas if was completely anonymous no one would ever know who I am and I would be safer but the world would be worse off IMO.
I think for important subs Reddit could verify identity more or show more info about mods or the aggregated amount of activity the mods are doing (removals and such).
I'm 100% sure Reddit is on top of this, I know a number of people who work there or worked there and they do care a ton about this and they know they have to work on it to sustain the ecosystem,
u/Pfandfreies_konto wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
May I ask why you use your full name and how did it work out in all those years? Your account is over a decade old and I would guess you know the „old“ Reddit very well and also what dangers using your real name could affect you?
u/michaelnovatireplied·
It has tradeoffs but I want to set an example for single account authentic discussion. Anyone who accuses me of using multiple accounts or astroturfing or classic Reddit conspiracy theories has absolutely zero to go on. So I have completely unabashed confidence in my actions on Reddit and their integrity.
u/Accidental-Genius wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
The real name thing only works if you can trust your government.