So folks are asking why the volume of content here is fairly low...but honestly has anyone been comparing our volume to other places like /r/conspiracy and 4chan?
Every "controversial" forum is seeing a marked decrease in content, and at record levels.
For example, I just checked out /r/conspiracy/new, and on the first page (25 links) it goes back 3 hours. I don't think I've ever seen that. IOW, in the last 3 hours, there have only been 25 posts on /r/conspiracy. Sure it's Sunday morning, but lately I frequently see the front page of /new go back 2 hours even during peak time.
In addition, /pol had a thread the other day saying the volume of posts there is at a record low in the last several years.
I personally think 60-90% of the fevered activity leading up to the election (and in the aftermath) was bot activity, and they were just shut off.
But something else is happening.../r/conspiracy is eerily quieter than it's been in half a decade.
Is something coming, or did something already come?
What you say probably explains a big chunk of it (previously more active bots), but for me personally, the conversations I’m seeing lately across the internet just aren’t pulling me in. Everything seems more artificial since November 2020, even more so than how things felt after November 2016.
Could be part of {their} efforts to squash discussion grounds, or maybe a lot of us are just feeling the same way, confused, scared, unsure of how to proceed. Demoralization is maybe the best way to brand it...