AI Bots Kill Small Social Sites

Small or revived community platforms can be rapidly overwhelmed by sophisticated, AI‑driven bots and SEO spam, which flood posts, falsify engagement metrics, and make normal moderation tools ineffective. That fragility can force layoffs, shutdowns, and a return to a smaller, gatekept model led by founders or third‑party vendors. — This shows that the rise of automated AI agents is not just an annoyance but an existential threat to the business model and civic function of independent community platforms.