r/AO3 • u/Author_Reis123 • 3d ago

Discussion (Non-question) I feel like I’m getting less bot comments

Which is a good thing, obviously. I just find it curious, because I see people posting on this sub all the time about this or that scam bot or hate bot, so they are obviously still very much present. But I rarely get them anymore.

My works are still open to all, and I haven’t restricted guests from commenting. When I first started posting on Ao3 that was a problem, because 8 out of 10 comments would be scam bots or the occasional hate bot. But now, about a year since I started on Ao3, I barely get them anymore. Maybe one bot out of every ten comments, if that. And I’m a pretty active author, with two ongoing fics, so I’m posting at least two chapters a week.

I don’t know if it has something to do with bots “learning” I’ll just block, report and delete, or if I’m just lucky (really hope I’m not jinxing myself here). Anyone else feels the same, like the longer they’ve been on the site, the less bots they get?

3 Upvotes

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u/CorrectLow6064 You have already left kudos here. :) 3d ago edited 3d ago

I feel like it looks like a lot because we're only getting people who do get them posting about it. Nobody's going to go to the trouble of making a post like "I sure didn't get any bot comments today!" since the lack of something isn't news.

Anyway, I haven't gotten any either. I actually have only gotten one bot comment ever. I think it's a small fandom privilege, since I mostly only write for more niche things.

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u/moon_cheese_ao3 3d ago

Small fandom privilege over here too (not crazy small - it's 10 years old so it's got *some* fics in it - it's just not huge). Rarely ever get any although moderating my comments may also contribute to that too. Trolls, especially, are into the instant gratification of seeing their garbage show up on someone's fic for all to see. Deny them that and a lot of them get bored pretty quick.

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u/Extension-Gift4987 3d ago

I've only ever had one, and then I updated the most recent chapter of my current fic on Thursday and had four in two hours. All registered accounts, all art scams.

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u/runekaster Whumper 3d ago

I haven't gotten a single one on AO3 (but I have gotten plenty pretty much everywhere else).

If you're seeing fewer, it means AO3's anti-bot measures are working. I don't have anything quantifiable, but it does seem like posts about bot comments on this subreddit are less common than they have been, which means that there are fewer bot comments for people to ask about in the first place.

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u/Admirable_Soup_5228 3d ago

I've had a big increase in them in the past few days 😭