Is the Chicago reddit getting astroturfed by NASCAR?
Is the Chicago reddit getting astroturfed by NASCAR?
Currently there are five PRO nascar posts:
- I invite everyone to turn on the NASCAR TV broadcast
- NASCAR crew members help fix a car's bumper after it was involved in a fender bender across from the garage area on Lake Shore Drive
- Unpopular Opinion, but i think the NASCAR races will be awesome
- OK Chicago,this Nascar thing is fun, Now do Formula 1
- This checks out…(Randy Sax guerilla marketing link)
and three ANTI nascar:
- Meanwhile, we’re doing 15mph on 90/94
- Worker dies while setting up Chicago NASCAR race
- Chicago’s Nascar Weekend Offers Headaches, Little Economic Gain
Two of the pro-nascar posts are obvious guerilla marketing (the "LSD pit crew repair" post and whatever that Randy Sax thing is). One of the Anti-articles is just news about an unfortunate event.
I think Nascar has hired social media PR/sock puppet groups to astroturf Chicago reddit. I wonder if it's the same people Paul Vallas hired...
I mean it's a brand new event, it was somewhat controversial. I want to hear updates about it and talk about it. I know there's plenty going on in the city but this is new and a lot of people aren't sure how it'll play out, so I'm not surprised there's many posts on it.
I think the event is cool fwiw and am going to make a post asking for others perspectives later.
It was also controversial because of
- A: it replacing a very popular circuit in Wisconsin: Road America. There's a Wisconsin/Chicago rivalry with Bears vs Packers.
- B: average age of NASCAR fans are older and more republican compared to other racing leagues. Chicago is a no go for some people due to whatever stereotypes that been fed by the Trump Campaign
- C: It's one of the busiest summer weekends for Chicago. Closing one of the most popular spots for tourists and residents in a city that has 3-4 months of warm weather will tick people off.
C- I am ticked off
Astroturfing has become endemic to reddit. If a given subreddit has more than like 5k subscribers, you can assume someone is probably trying to sell something on it - if not a product then a brand or idea. I hope ActivityPub platforms are successful but not so much that they get polluted with that crap.
Yeah I originally realized that sub was being astroturfed hard after the election campaign.
In the runup to the vote the sub was slammed with pro-Vallas posters including a lot of "I voted for Chuy and I don't like it but I reluctantly have to go with Vallas" or "I was skeptical because I'm a progressive but I'm just worried that Johnson isn't ready so I'm going with Vallas" and similar type content. Judging by that sub it seemed like Vallas was going to win in a landside.
Then the day after the election all that stuff was completly gone. None of those people were on saying anything like "I think we made the wrong choice" or what. If they were real people earnestly expressing their opinions I'd think they'd still be on the next day expressing concern or disappointment or anything. They were just all gone. That's when I realized they were paid shills and the contract ended the day of the election. They weren't around because they were all off the clock.
I saw so many attempts at viral marketing throughout the weekend from that Randy Sax guy. Very sad and pathetic. I went to the race and he put his name everywhere.
NASCAR and the City of Chicago should be putting marketing money into social media propaganda like Reddit. Would be irresponsible for them not to.
How many of these posts and comments are directly from these campaigns?
No idea. But it could be a significant portion.
The City of Chicago should not be putting one square penny of my taxpayer money towards promoting this private event that is usurping the city's main public park on the 4th of July, disrupting a metropolis of 10 million people including 22 separate CTA bus lines, which was negotiated under the cover of darkness by a mayor who was so corrupt, arrogant and stupid that she got ejected after a single term.
I agree with your sentiment but this is Chicago, my lemon. Corrupt mayors doing corrupt things to benefit themselves and their friends is very on-brand.