A thought-provoking essay: The Cracker Barrel Hype(rreality): Simulation and Simulacrum in America.

We've moved so far from authenticity to superficiality, in an infinite algorithmic feed, that we're through the looking glass.

Also: Cracker Barrel Outrage Was Almost Certainly Driven by Bots, Researchers Say.

Folksonomies and other social sorting processes don't select for the best, they select for an option that everyone is OK with.

This means that if there's a small bias at the very beginning between two equivalent options, the one that had a small lead will compound into a massive, dominating lead.

That kind of situation is extremely sensitive to bot traffic and manipulation in that critical early phase.

Nation-state level actors seeking to sow discord would have a very easy time of doing it…