Originally posted by Courier 6:

Originally posted by Vinz Clortho:

Fewer than 30% here are real people imho, but I don't think bots are the majority. The majority are paid shills, then 4chan rejects, then real people and bots last.

Do you think this places human pop will still be majority in the next 3 years?

I think so. The countries that are paying these shills have terrible infrastructure and dysfunctional political systems, so it's only a matter of time before more pressing matters like civil disorder and lack of basic resources forces them to direct their funding elsewhere. Traditionally, when those countries make a big expenditure on military or psuedo-political operations, they take the money away from their own people who usually live in squalor. That is unsustainable in my opinion.

The ones who are just here to cause trouble are usually isolated and disenfranchised people who are being manipulated either by foreign governments or someone domestic who is legitimately dangerous. They don't have the skills or resources to organise anything beyond a ddos attack, swatting phonecall or a bunch of localised people marching with flags. The idea that they can take over a technology platform like steam is unrealistic.

The bots are probably going to be a big problem on other platforms, but I think they are going to struggle on platforms like steam and facebook because anybody who knows even the most basic things about human nature knows what to look for. Why would somebody be in a gaming forum posting about Israel or the legal situation of the Republicans? Why would they have 140,000 awards gifted and received and 20,000 games in their account but they only played 40 of them? It doesn't make any sense. They stick out like a sore thumb and probably always will.