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Disney may be using bots to trend topics of their choice to promote the well-being of the company alleging an X-user going by the name “MasteroftheTDS”. The user also runs a YouTube channel named Gothic Theory where he posted the complete analysis of the accusation with screenshots. The accusation of the user is about Disney employing bots with verified accounts on X to help increase public interest and opinion about the company’s stock market.
While the same user released a second video three days later to accuse Warner Brothers of doing the same, the first video about Disney is presented with evidence picked from X pages. The surprising part of the observation is the high number of verified accounts all responding to one post. This story from the YouTube channel was also reported by That Park Place and Fandom Pulse.
Disney is suspected of using bots to boost its image on X
A week ago, from the date of this article, an X-user presented a video on their YouTube channel Gothic Theory, alleging Disney’s use of bots. As a clarification for the accusation, the channel initially shared a screenshot of a post by another X-user by the name “moodle zoup” which talked about Disney’s 11.5 % increase in company reported profits. This would result in an increase in its incoming revenue.
The post further informed about a 47.9% share price jump for a chip-making and designing company named Arm. The moodle zoup post continued by analysing the strength of the US economy based on the 4.16% increase of the ten-year US treasury bond yield.
While the moodle zoup post is a financial observation by the X-user, the post garnered 1.5 million views and 339 replies. Gothic Theory pointed out the replies to the moodle zoup post by taking screenshots of the same. They drew attention to how each of almost 200 replies was essentially the same sentence, rephrased in each of the verified X accounts.
MasteroftheTDS presented the theory that each of the accounts was a bot since the essence of the one-liner replies was the same. Moreover, the replies are meant to promote the original tweet and trend the news about Disney doing well financially.
MasteroftheTDS considers the replies to be from bots that the company has invested in. While getting 380 likes on 1.5 million views is a skewed ratio, a verified account on X Premium usually requires the holder to pay for a $8 subscription to bring up the posts on priority ranking.
How would Disney benefit from using bots?
A large number of replies to a particular tweet makes it a trending news. Allegedly, this would help Disney prove that it is a healthy company and attract revenue in the future. The company further benefits by tagging its share market news with that of another healthy company, Arm, which is doing very well in the financial market.
As mentioned before, using bots to reply to a tweet that talks about Disney’s good financial health would ensure that the company continues to attract funds for its future projects. A good way to make this trending news would be to have verified accounts, rank high on the priority posts, and reply to the said news.
Recently, the Mickey Mouse company was accused of using bots to rig the votes for People’s Choice Awards after Rachel Zegler won the Best Action Movie Star of the Year. This was brought to the fore by another YouTuber, Valliant Renegade, who questioned Rachel’s win for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
As per Valliant, Bob Iger's company is awaiting Rachel Zegler-starrer Snow White to release in 2025. With the movie and its titular actor already receiving a good measure of public displeasure, the company must do everything to promote the $209 million movie and its lead actor.
Which other company was accused of using bots?
As Variety had reported in the past, Casey Bloys, CEO of HBO and Max had admitted to using fake troll accounts on social media in a bid to boost the reputation of the network’s shows. He recounted his actions during 2020 and 2021 to venting out frustration while working from home. Moreover, Bloys had apologised in the interview and offered to talk openly about it.
However, MasteroftheTDS’s other video released on February 24, 2024, presented a story on how Warner Bros. may be using bots to boost their social media visibility. The research done by the YouTuber shows how similar verified accounts have continued to reply to a piece of news tweeted by multiple account holders on X.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is awaiting its major draws, Dune: Part Two to be released on March 1, 2024, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in May, this year. Disney has its Deadpool & Wolverine releasing in July 2024 besides many other upcoming titles.
