Everything we like is a psyop

The internet is in a full-on feelings fight after revelations that buzzy indie band Geese worked with a marketing firm that spins up thousands of accounts to make songs look like they’re trending. Some commenters screamed “psyop,” but the loudest chorus was a snarky we been knew. “It’s called astroturfing,” one veteran user sighed, likening it to old-school radio payoffs—just faster and cheaper now. Others clutched pearls over the hype machine that crowned Geese the “next Bob Dylan,” asking if we even like music or just what the algorithm tells us to. Then came the tech twist: the founders of fashion app Phia openly brag about a “creator farm” of college students pumping out hundreds of TikToks, while massive streamers allegedly enlist Discord teens to flood feeds with clips. Cue the paranoia: one commenter warned that the “best {product} reddit” search has become a rigged carnival game, and even the AI hype might be getting massaged. There were jokes too. People quipped that “the Tooth Fairy runs a PR agency now,” and that Geese is “Bob Dylan by committee.” A link to the classic doc Merchants of Cool resurfaced as users wondered if we’ve learned nothing since the MTV era. Drama level: high; trust level: low; vibes: manufactured, but catchy.