The infamous subreddit which was ground zero of GameStop’s insane share price increase will never be the same, but not because of what happened.
The Background
The subreddit /r/WallStreetBets, also known as WSB, skyrocketed in publicity due to a massive share price increase in $GME that is thought to have started after the subreddit picked up a shared interest in the stock.
While the subreddit has been steadily gaining members since 2018, it’s member count increased dramatically after GME’s share price more than quadrupled.
With the influx of members came two problems that are potentially fatal to the sub, unless Reddit’s management team steps in to save it.
The Bot Attacks
It is no secret that public perception is a key driver in share prices and valuation. It is also no secret that public perception can be swayed, especially when users are tricked into thinking that an opinion posted by a bot was the opinion of someone like them.
Ben Hunt, co-founder of a research firm named Epsilon Theory, confirmed the massive impact and velocity of the coordinated bot attack.
These bot attacks not only swayed public opinion, but likely also significantly swayed the stock price.
The Hijacking
With publicity often comes opportunity, and the “top mods” of the Subreddit, claimed to have been inactive for years, immediately hopped onto this opportunity. After the sub amassed a global following, mentions by Elon Musk, an AMA with Mark Cuban, and a potential potential Netflix movie, the hijacking mods could not help but sell the sub for personal gain.
Moderators that worked around the clock to protect the SubReddit from the massive bot attack (as well as other threats) were surprised to find that their moderator access had been swiftly removed.
This post was written by /u/zjz, a respected and former moderator of WSB. Another moderator that was removed was /u/bawse1, which caused yet another moderator to formally resign. Finally, just 5 hours since writing this, former moderator /u/jamsi was also forcefully removed.
It Gets Worse
After several prestigious members of the sub’s mod team were removed, one moderator noticed that the moderator team was expanded by new Reddit accounts and blew the whistle by posting the photo below, which led to his removal. Users have speculated that these accounts may be used by malicious actors to further exert control and influence over the sub (which has already began happening).
And Worse
WSB is no longer the same. It is no longer reasonably possible to believe that that the subreddit is a place to speak freely without being invisibly puppeted from behind the scenes by malicious actors exploiting it for personal or corporate gain.
$GME has plummeted from over $200/share to $58/share in just two days even after a press release that the company hired executives from Amazon.
Users have reported having their comments removed (or even being shadow-banned) after posting positive comments about $GME or raising awareness about the hijacking. Random tickers that were never mentioned before are now being flooded by bots and the new moderators are actually allowing this.
What Happens Next?
It is truly disappointing to see that the WSB, a subreddit that will be likely be in textbooks and be permanently recorded in hearings the SEC is reportedly conducting under the suspicion of fraudulent social media posts, has been burned to the ground.
The only thing that can save it at this point is if the administrators of Reddit were to step in.
- The malicious moderators that hijacked the sub and promoted brand new Reddit accounts to the moderation team need to be removed
- The bot attacks that are manipulating the sentiment of the subreddit need to be blocked
- WSB needs to be permanently protected from coordinated attacks going forward
- And in a perfect world… An investigation needs to be done and the findings should be shared publicly and with the SEC
For now, users are retreating and regrouping at a subreddit created by former moderator and whistleblower /u/zjz called WallStreetBetsTest which has quickly gained over 82,000 members since the hijacking began.
Members of the subreddit have desperately tried to bring attention of the hijacking to Reddit administrators but they have not yet made any official statements about it.
It is now a waiting game to see if the Reddit administrators will respond to what has taken place and take action.
