Nearly Half of Negative Reactions to PS5 Disc Removal Likely Posted by Fake Accounts

A fascinating study published by Cyabra shows that nearly half of the replies posted beneath PlayStation's official posts about the August protest campaign were not genuine; in other words, these replies

A very interesting research published by the Cyabra company shows that almost half of the answers published under the official PlayStation posts about the August protest campaign were untrue; In other words, these answers are published by fake accounts.

After Sony decided to stop producing physical versions of the games in 2028, a group of fans mobilized to hold a boycott campaign in the final days of August. The campaign encouraged players to disconnect their consoles from the internet and stay offline for a while. The purpose of this action was to reduce the number of monthly active users of Sony and to lower the amount of spending by players in the PlayStation ecosystem; An action that was supposed to hit one of the most important parts of this company's business.

However, published data from the United States showed that these protests did not have a significant impact on the statistics of user interaction with PlayStation. Of course, we still have to wait for the release of Sony's financial report in order to get a more accurate assessment of the consequences of this campaign. Meanwhile, Cyabra's new research has provided interesting information about how these protests formed and spread.

The Cyabra company had published its findings in September, but this report has recently received the attention of Internet users on a wider level. Based on this research, researchers have been able to identify nearly a thousand fake profiles, which by publishing automatic and repetitive posts, fueled the increase in the volume of discussions and targeted official PlayStation accounts.

The phrase "No Disc, No Buy" was one of the main slogans of this campaign. Some accounts published the same message over and over again; A behavior of which examples can also be seen in X social network posts. According to the findings of this research, the fake accounts generated a total of more than one million views and their content was reposted more than 100,000 times. Also, misspelled or misspelled hashtags, such as #NoDiskNoBuy, were boosted by bots in nearly 90% of cases.

However, all the results of this research are not against the protesters. Cyabra emphasizes that the posts with the most engagement were mostly published by real users. According to the company, 28 percent of the discussion's key posts belonged to accounts with fewer than five thousand followers; The posts that simply reflected the feelings and dissatisfaction of the players quickly went viral.

If you've visited the comments section of PlayStation posts in the last few months, you've probably come across many objections from users about the removal of physical versions of games. However, it seems that the intensity of these reactions has gradually decreased and bot accounts no longer receive significant interaction as in the past.

It is interesting to see this happening in an era where it can be referred to as a war in social networks. Also, if a significant part of the public attention to the campaign to boycott PlayStation was raised with the help of fake accounts, it is not so surprising that the movement ultimately failed to achieve its original goal.

However, one important point should be emphasized: this research does not mean that the fans' dissatisfaction with Sony's decision was unrealistic. Many players are really unhappy about giving up physical copies of games. What this report shows is the significant role of bots and fake accounts in enlarging this discussion and increasing the scope of its publication; An issue that once again highlights the influence of fake accounts on the formation of public space in social networks.