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A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

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Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#91

Post by kevinh »

riversflow wrote: post #53
boh wrote: post #33

AI is pretty much killing social media in the long term. Even pre-AI, a good chunk of posts/comment sections on sites were bots/paid. Reddit is becoming less believable than ChatGPT. I guess there's still the Onion-verse.

Reddit died to me when they allowed private profiles this summer.

Yeah, I saw some posts on there the other day that felt a bit suspect, went to look at their profile, and nothing. I'd already become an infrequent user of reddit since some earlier changes, but that makes me even less likely to go back.

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#92

Post by reaperducer »

aunty_helen wrote: post #21
jfindper wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "never pay a human again." > "Take proven content and spawn variation." It's almost refreshing how unashamed they are. I hate it, obviously, but I kind of like it better than companies that say something dressed up in marketing speak but actually mean what this site just says outright.

Controversy is currency. Businesses literally try to track and optimise virality these days as part of their marketing.

Businesses literally try to track and optimise virality these days as part of their marketing.

Not just businesses. It's governments, too.

There's a public park near me that is tracked for likes and social media engagement. If it misses the city's goals for social media engagement a certain number of months in a row, it can be turned back into a parking lot.

I objected to this measure of "success" during the public meetings about it, but nobody cares about the old man in the back of the room.

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#93

Post by yunnpp »

thephyber wrote: post #36
ipython wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I agree with you. I think that great role models are sadly in short supply these days.

I don’t think they are in short supply, but the vast majority of them aren’t the super-successful so we don’t see their names often. They are the teachers, coaches, and engineers. The problem is the anti- role models are the ones who get all of the media: Andrew Tate (mysogenistic pyramid schemer and pimp / sex trafficker of high school girls), Joe Rogan (his mind is so open that his brains fell out), Jordan B Peters…

Never seen a better description of Jordan B Peterson. Should also add climate-change denier there.

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#94

Post by tomhow »

jpalawaga wrote: post #69
tomhow wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: Fine! I found a way to get a16z in there and keep it to 80 chars. Both for length reasons and because it was clickbait. The original title doesn’t even have the actual company’s name in it, only the name of the investor, which is intended to elicit just the kind of ragey reaction you’re exhibiting in this comment. On HN, titles need to be more neutral and factual (I.e., include the name of the company the artic…

Nobody knows what Doublespeed is, everyone knows what a16z is. Doesn't putting the part that's pertinent to people in the headline oblige readers-to-be? I'd say that the change is editorializing more than the original was "linkbait".

A16z invests in _a great many_ companies. Without the company name in the title, you have to click to find out who the company is. That’s the point. The title gets readers riled up and activates them to click.

The title we’ve set is intended to give enough information to pique curiosity for those who will be curious about the topic - the company name, what the company does (AI-generated promotional content), what’s happened (hacked).

I don’t love the title but it’s the best I could come up with to fit within the 80 character limit.

Anyone is welcome to suggest a better one that is compliant with the guidelines.

(Edit: s/ countless / a great many /)

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#95

Post by tomhow »

jfindper wrote: post #87
tomhow wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: Fine! I found a way to get a16z in there and keep it to 80 chars. Both for length reasons and because it was clickbait. The original title doesn’t even have the actual company’s name in it, only the name of the investor, which is intended to elicit just the kind of ragey reaction you’re exhibiting in this comment. On HN, titles need to be more neutral and factual (I.e., include the name of the company the artic…

> Both for length reasons The original title is 75 characters. Your title is 74 characters. If it was edited for length reasons, I'm not sure saving 1 character is worth it.

The title had to be changed to be compliant with the guidelines. It also has to fit under 80 characters. It’s not an easy task and you’re welcome to suggest a better one.

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#96

Post by jfindper »

tomhow wrote: post #95
jfindper wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Both for length reasons The original title is 75 characters. Your title is 74 characters. If it was edited for length reasons, I'm not sure saving 1 character is worth it.

The title had to be changed to be compliant with the guidelines. It also has to fit under 80 characters. It’s not an easy task and you’re welcome to suggest a better one.

I'm just pointing out that it's weird to say you changed it for length reasons if you make the new title the same length.

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#98

Post by tomhow »

grahamlee wrote: post #90

As the submitter, I want to point out that I submitted this post with the original title. The one that makes it clear a16z are behind the social media astroturfing. The mods changed the title.

That’s fine, you did nothing wrong. I explained the title change here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46307121.

Edit: The community has spoken and I've come up with a way to include a16z in the title whilst keeping it under 80 chars.

Re: A16z-backed Doublespeed hacked, revealing what its AI-generated accounts promote

#99

Post by tomhow »

jfindper wrote: post #96
tomhow wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The title had to be changed to be compliant with the guidelines. It also has to fit under 80 characters. It’s not an easy task and you’re welcome to suggest a better one.

I'm just pointing out that it's weird to say you changed it for length reasons if you make the new title the same length.

I’m saying the reason I couldn’t include a16z is that I can’t fit it into the title along with all the other details that seem important, notably the name of the company the article is about.
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