Everything we like is a psyop?

History and Scale of Astroturfing

• Many see current “psyops” as a modern form of long‑standing practices: payola in radio, wining and dining journalists, PR seeding “facts” that get recycled.
• Commenters argue the basic scam is old, but short‑form, algorithmic feeds make it vastly more effective and harder for ordinary users to detect.
• Some note that earlier forms (e.g., radio payola) were explicitly outlawed, whereas today’s equivalents operate largely unchecked.

Algorithms, Inorganic Traffic, and Narrative Control

• Strong sense that a large fraction of traffic and discussion on major platforms (Reddit, X, TikTok, even HN) is inorganic: marketing firms, governments, bot farms.
• Marketers explicitly aim to “control the discourse,” especially via first/top comments and mass posting to game recommendation algorithms.
• Several suspect current AI narratives (which models/tools are “best”) are significantly shaped by coordinated campaigns rather than broad, independent testing.

Authenticity, Trust, and Detecting Shills

• One strategy: cultivate a “web of trust” of specific individuals, blogs, and feeds, while recognizing they may eventually be approached to shill.
• Others emphasize doing one’s own experiments and forming opinions from direct experience, not just consensus chatter.
• Heuristics to spot shilling: repeated talking points, similar phrasing across reviews, weak/performative “negatives,” and alignment with product sheets.
• Brandolini’s law is invoked: it takes real time and attention to distinguish genuine reviews from paid influence.

Music, “Psyops,” and Taste

• Debate over whether specific bands’ sudden ubiquity is organic virality or manufactured via agencies; some feel deeply uneasy, others don’t care if the art is good.
• Several stress that being good is necessary but not sufficient for broad success; attention markets are so crowded that heavy marketing can be decisive.
• Others push back, sharing experiences of discovering obscure acts via small venues, random CDs, or niche platforms to show organic discovery still exists.

Advertising, Media Incentives, and Regulation

• Deep distrust of ad‑funded media: outlets are seen as structurally biased toward advertisers/underwriters and marketing budgets.
• Some advocate banning or radically restricting advertising; others doubt enforcement, citing regulatory capture and political corruption.
• Hidden or poorly labeled paid endorsements on social media are viewed as clear consumer‑protection issues that current regulators under‑police.

Discovery vs. Marketing and Organic Growth

• Creators and founders describe tension between refusing SEO/astroturf games and the practical need to be “found” at all.
• Some insist that if something is uniquely valuable, organic growth can still happen (with anecdotes of apps, tracks, and projects blowing up with no budget).
• Others argue that without some deliberate promotion, even high‑quality work is effectively invisible in today’s attention economy.

Coping Strategies and Cultural Impact

• Suggested defenses: limit social media time, seek smaller venues and ticket‑door shows, use RSS/blogrolls, accept the need to sift through “bad” content.
• Several see pervasive, euphemized dishonesty (“marketing,” “puffery”) as poisoning the shared information space and eroding virtue and trust.
• Overall mood mixes cynicism (“everything is marketing”) with a guarded belief that careful curation, critical thinking, and niche communities still work.