Does Reddit have an astroturfing problem? What the data suggests
3 hours ago
- The author tested whether Reddit's knife subreddits have an astroturfing problem by analyzing 51,129 comments from six subreddits.
- A small tail of 49 accounts (top 5% by brand-heaviness) wrote 11.3% of buying-thread brand mentions, versus 7.9% expected by chance—about 50 extra recommendations out of 1,471.
- Concentration varied by subreddit: r/chefknives (14.9% tail share) and r/knifeclub (12.4%) exceeded chance, while r/knives (6.7%) did not.
- Three brands received far more buying advice from the tail than chance predicted; one chef's-knife brand got 31.2% from the tail versus 8.0% expected.
- Full Reddit histories of 23 tail accounts showed they are 4.5 years old on average, post across many subreddits, and are no more knife-focused than a random comparison group—suggesting devoted fans rather than paid accounts.
- The author concludes adding 'reddit' to knife searches still mostly returns humans, but recommends checking an unfamiliar recommender's history for brand diversity.