Lately I have seen the #StopTheGrift movement taking off on X and I am completely on board with it. I support calling out the nonsense. What I do not support is people pretending they suddenly discovered how the internet works.

X is not driven by morality. It is driven by mentions, engagement and activity. The algorithm does not care if you are right, wrong, smart or ridiculous. It cares if people click, reply, repost and fight in the comments.

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And that is exactly what the grift feeds on.

The current X algorithm is believed to factor in post quality, consistency, follower count and posting frequency. That is the legitimate side of visibility. The dark side is bot farms, engagement farmers and automated amplification networks that push certain names and categories directly into your feed whether you asked for it or not.

You cannot shut those networks down by yelling at your screen. But you can stop helping them.

Here is how.

Stop Complaining About Idiots And Start Ignoring Them

You want to know why certain names keep showing up in your feed over and over again? Part of it is automated scam traffic. The other part is you and everyone else talking about them nonstop.

Every time you complain about an idiot you also help boost their reach. That is how the grift works. As conservatives we all know exactly which personalities thrive on outrage engagement. Foreign bot networks amplify them for one specific reason. To sow division inside our own movement.

If you truly want them gone, stop feeding them oxygen.

Date Rebpublican on X illustrates it perfectly here:

Stop Engaging Engagement Farmers

If an account does nothing but post lame graphic questions, stop interacting with it. These accounts almost always ask questions they already know you will say yes to.

Do you support President Trump stopping cancer
Do you love puppies
Do you want lower gas prices

Of course you do. So does every normal human being. But when you like and repost these things you are turning your time and influence into cash flow for an engagement farmer who adds nothing of value to the conversation.

Most of these accounts post ten thousand times and every two hundredth post might say something like I hope yall have a blessed day. Then they sprint straight to their analytics to see how many reposts it got.

There is a difference between someone sharing a meme now and then and someone running a full scale click factory. Learn the difference.

Learn To Spot Bot Farms

Here is the pattern.

A mainstream sounding account only two weeks old with forty followers suddenly attacks your post out of nowhere. Fifteen more accounts with similar profiles pile on at once. That is not organic debate. That is a bot farm.

If you have been on X for more than a month you already have dozens of fake followers. Many of them are porn bots. They go silent for weeks then suddenly reply to multiple accounts in one day and vanish again. Often they magically appear defending left wing press offices and political narratives while claiming to be American from accounts that clearly are not.

Stop treating these swarms like real people.

Your Click Is Worth More Than You Think

I see too many people blindly resharing everything from accounts they feel personally aligned with without checking the source. There is a difference between sharing something meaningful from someone you actually engage with and amplifying garbage because it feels good in the moment.

Doom scrolling is not activism. It is unpaid labor for people who do not deserve your attention.

You are under no obligation to reply to nonsense. You are not obligated to fight every troll. You do not have to comment on every outrage bait post that slides across your feed.

Your click has value. Your reply has value. Your repost has value. Start treating it like it does.

So welcome to X. Formally.

Remember to click with your brain.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of SHR Media or its affiliates.

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Sack Head Shaun

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