So I purposed that for Lemmy and mastdon a bot that post links to YouTube videos and news articles relevant the city I live in, and I got push back on suggesting the idea. I suggesting this bot because my city isn't big enough to pump out content everyday and the links would seed content for a Lemmy community so that its not empty.

I have looked into city subReddit and for my city links to news stories are basically non existent and big city like NYC news article links are rare, but do get engagement.

I have been told that link bots don't help with empty communities and something about redundancy.

I do look at politics community and that's nothing but links.

I'm asking for general perspective from both sides

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[–] InfiniteHench@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Personally I worry this is sort of a chicken and egg problem. On one hand I get the idea, on paper, of automating a way to post more content to hopefully spark engagement in a small community struggling to grow.

OTOH, as a community visitor, few things will immediately tank my interest in engaging than when I see “bot” in the name of the poster. I’m not talking with a human—literally the entire point of hanging out in a community like you and I are, right now.

I think it’s a similar problem to what I see in r/blogging. People keep asking if they can start a blog and pump it full of AI content, then get admitted to AdSense or other ad networks and thus win the game of capitalism. But virtually zero ad networks will admit you that way. In fact, they all have a bunch of tech now to sniff out AI content and downrank or otherwise block it. The problem is: no one wants to read AI (bot) content because it isn’t genuine content from human beings. Which means no advertiser wants to place their ads next to AI content.

Speaking as a community manager: If you’re trying to build a community, I think the best solution is still to simply put in the time yourself. Find people who share your passion and want to help. Post the links and discussions yourself. Be the human you want to see in the community of humans you hope to build.