And I’m not even talking about large criticisms where you entirely dismiss their favorite treat as trash.
You can post just a couple of misgivings that are deeply couched in reassurances that you really loved the show overall, but it doesn’t matter. You’ll still get downvoted to hell, and a bunch of weirdos will come out of the woodwork to vehemently disagree with you on each and every point, line by line, arguing as if they’ve been born ready to die on this exact obscure molehill.
I guess they just really want you to say that their media is perfection incarnate, and that’s such a bizarre mindset. They’ve always been like this, but I tend to pick up on it so much more often now because I can’t help but compare that behavior to how people interact on Hexbear. Here we actually take care to charitably engage with each other’s thoughts, something redditors are apparently incapable of regardless of how low stakes the topic of discussion is.
When social media revenue comes from advertising, the owners have an incentive to make the platforms amenable to advertisers. Or even to offer a favourable environment for a price. Not to mention astroturfing by the shows’ marketing teams, etc. Social media looks organic. It’s anything but, as you say. There’s no way that they’ll leave the good press to chance.