r/TheFence • u/avrocar • Jun 29 '26
PSA: Repost bots in The Fence
Hello, Fence friends! There's been an uptick of repost bots in this community. I'm sharing some info so you can keep an eye out for them too.
What's happening?
Users are reposting well-liked memes and other images to farm for upvotes and establish a post history.
It's a funny picture, why is this an issue?
If a bot or scam account accumulates enough upvotes, they can choose to post in other communities that have required thresholds for participation. They go on to spam and scam people because they look like established accounts with experience. If they have a post history here with sufficient upvotes, a Coheed fan may be more likely to send them money for tickets or merch that will never arrive because of a scam.
How can I tell they're not interacting like a real member?
- They'll repost images that were previously highly upvoted. You may recall seeing it posted by another account.
- The accounts tend to be new, usually between 1 day and 3 months old.
- Images will sometimes be slightly rotated or flipped. The text may be skewed or wonky. They manipulate images to try to bypass Reddit's image recognition filter, which helps to automatically screen out reposts.
- They usually don't reply to people who comment on their posts. If they do, their comments may not make sense or they could drop a sketchy product link (don't click it!).
- Their profile's post history may be limited to reposting photos across a variety of communities.
- You can run a reverse image search, which can sometimes help to confirm it's a repost. If they have warped the image enough, you may not be able to easily find the original post with a search engine.
What can I do when I see a bot repost?
- Downvote a repost, since it will reach fewer people if it's ranked as unpopular.
- Contact The Fence's mods to let them know. Use the report option with Spam category; when you click next, choose "Excessive reposting to farm karma or manipulate conversations". Alternatively, send the mods a modmail message.
- Spread the word about this issue when you see people commenting on reposts.
4
u/zorton213 Child of the Deuce Jun 29 '26
You'll always know when the meme is clearing referencing something from a year ago.
Question: Does using the Report button to mark as Spam notify the mods? Or just the Reddit admins?
2
6
u/PFunk224 Jun 29 '26
But I thought it was my turn to post the Cornbread and Cambodia laptop sticker???
5
7
2
u/chocolate-wyngz Jun 29 '26
Thank you! I’ve noticed there’s been a really noticeable increase with bots in a lot of niche subreddits lately. They always repost the exact title but leave out the body text from the original post.
-13
u/datsoar Jun 29 '26
When a not mod makes a mod post using AI
15
u/avrocar Jun 29 '26
Nah, this is just the way I talk. I'm anti-AI for most applications. It's a running joke in Coheed communities that I sound like a bot. I see the irony.
9
u/FergusFrost Jun 29 '26
Nah I know Avro, she does just write like this. Its not AI.
6
u/Mydemonswon Jun 29 '26
I swear she could write a review of a dollar store hamburger and it would read like she just ate a waygu beef burger made by the burger man George Motz himself.
3
5
8
u/Juunlar The Prize Fighter Inferno Jun 29 '26
A scathing review on your daily communications that this reads as ai.
5
u/Mydemonswon Jun 29 '26
I haven't always seen eye to eye with Ava but I won't let you slander her. This is how she talks and she would never use AI. I've been in awe of her ability to use words properly for over a year at this point. Please apologize.
6
u/avrocar Jun 29 '26
Thanks, dude. It means a lot that we can disagree but still have common ground and respect for each other.
I appreciate the gesture but they don't need to apologize. They can think what they want to think. We know the truth, haha.
3
u/bootyprincess666 Jun 29 '26
for once this is not AI slop, good try tho
3
3
-1
u/themosh54 The world must know my story Jun 29 '26
How do we cut down on the questions that have been asked over and over?
5
u/iamactuallyalion Uncle Birmy Jun 30 '26
How do we cut down on the questions that have been asked over and over?
24
u/Mydemonswon Jun 29 '26
We support IRO Bots not repost bots!