HasStupidQuestions

Not OP but I've worked with people who run bot farms and I've used their services. I've written about it a while ago right here on Reddit. Basically everyone is using them because the cost of not doing so greatly outweights the cost of doing it. Game theory 101. Many choose to operate in India/China while basically VPNing through European/American servers. Why did I write about it? Because it doesn't matter and nothing will change. While many would deny it, people are far too susceptible to such manipulations. You can even know all these things and fall for it. I've done it and I know a lot of bullshit that's happening.

Edit: Here's the post I was talking about

The real question you should ask is how many bot farms are employed by social media companies. You gotta pump those numbers up, man. Shareholders are hard to please.

What datasets did you use and what, if any, adjustments did you make? What are the shortcomings of datasets used in your studies?

You shouldn't trust me. I might be a spooky Russian bot for all you know. In the post I linked to, I outlined basic patterns to get you started in observing and taking notes of some things.

Sweeps do happen but they often aren't what they seem to be. They are there to see what's triggering and what isn't. Once you notice people calling something out, people swoop in and start reading off their scripts. First, some supporters poke people a bit. If they get a reaction (positive or negative), the leader takes over and starts building the narrative. Then supporters are there to push the narrative forward. (Leaders and supporters are terms I used in the guide)

And how exactly do you expect to do that? Social media abuses a fundamental flaw in human psychology - we read the comment and think it's a person, unless it's painfully fake. If you make someone emotional and make them attack you or your supposed ideology, the person will see the bot as a person. It's manufactured outrage.