I agree with all of this. I definitely think at least some of them are astroturfing. The mods from r/adviceanimals got kicked and ever since then, they mostly post memes that say things like “the official app isn’t so bad, you guys!” We all know u/spez isn’t above editing comments for petty reasons and since he got caught, I’m sure he’s more careful about not getting caught editing things to suit him now. I wonder if the voting system is rigged, too, at least in some subs.