this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2025
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[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 11 points 43 minutes ago

I wonder what percentage of posts containing the words “woke” or “DEI” are from bots, and what percentage of posts with those words are from liberals getting upset about a bot post.

[–] salty_chief@lemmy.world 17 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Who had money on Cracker Barrel faking outrage about a plan that wasn’t to be?

[–] Wolf314159@startrek.website 10 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

They were also inconveniently experiencing significant negative feedback to their business decision to sell warmed up day old food as a standard operating procedure just before new of the logo drama erupted. If you thought cracker barrel was extremely mid before, it's apparently gone full Applebee's microwave kitchen bad lately.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 25 minutes ago

Dang. They were mediocre the last time I went there (about 10 years ago), but at least uniquely mediocre (mediocre southern food). I've been there 2-3 times, and each time was on a road trip where the choice was Cracker Barrel, Denny's, or a fast food place, and Cracker Barrel has an interesting store.

I very much dislike Applebees, Chilis, and other massive chains, but at least Cracker Barrel is a bit unique in presentation and has decent portion sizes. Or had, idk, I haven't been there in a decade.

I don't think anyone goes there for fine dining, so them reheating stuff isn't all of that surprising. But it is disappointing.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 13 points 21 hours ago

The point where I realized it was fake was when nobody was complaining about the font or going "Uhm, aktually it's 'typeface'!"

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 19 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

People need to remember that these themed businesses are taking huge risk by maintaining their identity. If a CB goes out of business they practically take a loss on the building because no one wants to buy an old timey restaurant. It’s too niche. Companies are going to bland and grey so the properties are easier to sell. It was never about woke and everything to do with money as usual.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 13 minutes ago

Especially since Cracker Barrel is publicly traded.

That said, I don't think Cracker Barrel locations are all that different from Applebees or Chili's. The "country store" is basically a waiting area, but with merch instead of more benches for waiting to be seated. Or it's like Buffalo Wild Wings and its counter for order pickups and sauce sales.

I think the main intent here is to appeal to more people. A new logo could get people interested who weren't before.

[–] jaemo@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Imagine how much more successful any given business might be by simply.... ignoring Twitter.

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 6 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

For all we know CB may have been behind the outrage

[–] BootLoop@sh.itjust.works 6 points 20 hours ago

cracker bargle

[–] DreaddyMck@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

Peter Teil straight up told an audience that he will push ideas with tech.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 156 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The entire modern "conservative movement" is completely astroturfed. It's all funded and sponsored by the elites, in order to convince people to reject policies intended to improve their own lives, in favor of policies that exclusively benefit the elites.

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 59 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's almost as if someone figured out that conservatives, in an effort to feel the need to play the victim, will react negatively and thus be more engaged when presented with non-conforming news.

A sort of dissonance.....that happens cognitively.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Conservatives love playing the victim.

Trans women existing = an attack on all women existing

Not being allowed to pressure children into praying at school = being denied religious freedom

[–] phubarr@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

Haha... It's funny cause it's true

[–] Geodad@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Someone got offended that they took the cracker off the logo.

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean they took the barrel off too. What is cracker barrel without a cracker and a barrel?

To be fair, the new logo is kind of barrel shaped. It's also Denny's shaped...

[–] QuantumTickle@lemmy.zip 181 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'll give you a hint, the company behind the bots rhymes with Gracker Ferrel.

[–] Macchi_the_Slime@piefed.blahaj.zone 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Nah, Cracker Barrel almost certainly wanted the redesign because that particular sector has been moving trying to avoid the whole "You can tell this used to be a Pizza Hut," thing for a while.

They want to be able to just open up a store anywhere with minimal investment. Then if their store is super generic it's real easy to offload the real estate if that location doesn't work out. It's easier for another firm to buy the real estate if they don't have to spend a bunch of money making the former Cracker Barrel not look like a Cracker Barrel.

[–] turkalino@lemmy.yachts 127 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Nah pretty much everyone was in agreement that the new logo was worse, what do you me-

a sample of 52,000 posts made on X

Ah yes, the defunct site that is mostly bots so that Muskrat can continue to earn ad revenue NaziBucks

similar conversations were happening on the alt-tech platforms like Donald Trump’s Truth Social, Twitter knock-offs Gettr and Gab

Ah yes, the sites that use amplification bots to keep their users riled up and strengthen the echo chamber

[–] bigfondue@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Yea a lot of people didn't like the new bland logo, but conservatives were going on about how it's an attack on their culture and heritage. To go that far about a truck stop restaurant was not an organic happening. This is why it doesn't matter that Charlie Kirk was shot. If it wasn't that, the outrage machine would have turned to something else.

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[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (7 children)

Nah pretty much everyone was in agreement that the new logo was worse, what do you me-

Right? I'm definitely not right wing in any way shape or form, but I enjoy Cracker Barrel and the atmosphere once in a while. The logo doesn't need to be updated to the bland bullshit modern marketers want to force just so they can make millions in bullshit consulting fees. There is no way in hell the new logo was better than the old one to represent the company, but someone got paid a ton of money to convince them that it was a good decision clearly without any market research to back it up. A blind idiot could tell that logo was a worse choice objectively without any politics involved.

Were there bots? Oh, for sure. But they weren't the reason for the backlash, the shit decision was the reason it was a thing at all.

[–] TheRealKuni@piefed.social 29 points 1 day ago (6 children)

I still suspect the entire thing was a marketing ploy. That they had no intention of ACTUALLY changing the logo. They just wanted people to push back so they could get in the news. I wouldn’t be surprised if the marketing firm that made the logo also started the backlash.

I suspect the same is true about American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney ad.

[–] other_cat@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago

Didn't IHOP do something similar by claiming that they were going to change their name to IHOB?

"IHOb also issued a press release about the change and still used the original "IHOP" in its footer, suggesting the switch was a temporary promotion."

Seems so. Source.

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[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Here, Gizmodo. Let me fix that title for you.

"Almost half the upset tweets on the most bottidden platform (twitter) about Cracker Barrel were likely from bots."

Realistically, the upset was probably more about how the new logo came on all of a sudden, was very plain, and like how coca cola found out with new coke in the 1980s, it's not necessarily that people love cracker barrel. It's a part of their nostalgia they grew up with. They went with Grandma and Grandpa growing up. It was a special little stop on a family vacation to eat. They liked looking at the toys and candy in the gift shop and it was so weird and cool they had a store in the restaurant. It can be a company nightmare to screw with a logo that's been around for decades that could have memories attached to it.

Especially the new one is pretty lame.

Exactly. I've been to Cracker Barrel maybe 2 or 3 times. I think the food is decent, especially since I didn't grow up eating southern style food. I'm not really nostalgic for it, but will prefer stopping there over a fast food place if it's near where we're going to stop anyway on a road trip (i.e. to get gas).

The new logo sucks, and it looks like they ripped off Denny's. Likewise the interior redesign completely kills the soul of the place. Crack Barrel isn't a cool hunting lodge or something, it's a place to get home-style cooking (or what I imagine southern-style home cooking to be like) away from home, so it should feel like eating in a kitchen, not a lodge. The store is like the box of toys and puzzles and whatnot grandma and grandpa would have on the coffee table while food is getting finished up and really adds to the vibe.

I don't really care all that much about Cracker Barrel though. It's not a place I'd ever go out of my way to eat at, but it's still a decent option when I'm hungry and tired.

[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 53 points 1 day ago

Most right-wing outrage has been driven by bots for a decade. Yeah, what’s new?

[–] Global_Liberty@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I like Cracker Barrel's four vegetarian sides plate. I can pick reasonably healthy options and the price isn't terrible. They are my preferred interstate-adjacent dining option on roadtrips. I'm even a loyalty member.

Yet I can't imagine spending one microsecond thinking about their logo let alone being stupid enough to be manipulated into having an opinion and then believing it relates to politics. Unless you are the majority shareholder, your view is utterly irrelevant. Shut up and either patronize the place or not.

There are a lot of people today on the right who cosplay as libertarians but somehow care deeply about the logo of a company they don't own.

Exactly.

I only go to Cracker Barrel on road trips and when they happen to be near where I plan to stop anyway. I don't go out of my way to go there, but I do prefer them over fast food joints.

Their new logo is stupid, mostly because it reminds me of Denny's. It doesn't change whether I'll go there, it only makes me think their logo is stupid when I do.

[–] itztalal@lemmings.world 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I love watching companies tear themselves apart trying to appeal to both sides of the aisle.

Eventually, they're just going to have to stop trying and pick a side. That's when the real fun begins.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why not just run a decent business? You don't need to appeal to the left or right to sell food at a restaurant to hungry road trippers. Make your product appealing and people will come.

That's what I don't understand about target as well. They went out of their way to appeal to the left, then out of their way to appeal to the right, and now everyone is pissed off. If they stuck to selling stuff at reasonable prices, they would've been fine.

Don't discriminate in your workforce, just find the best people for the job and you'll do fine with people regardless of their politics.

[–] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Why not just run a decent business?

Bc propaganda sells and corporations have entire teams that exist to market a brand as a value. That's why Dove and Axe are both owned by the same parent company.

One exists to empower women and one exists to empower men by objectifying women. It's not that either are really run by anybody with those values. They're both faceless corporations, and it's all just a marketing ploy.

This is Propaganda

[–] itztalal@lemmings.world 1 points 23 hours ago

It's part of how hysteria works.

The average idiot can't resist it by definition.

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[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 14 points 1 day ago (6 children)
[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Stir shit up, get people to declare sides. Or maybe for the lulz.

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[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Making non-political things political means people aren't looking at other stuff that actually matters. People have a limited attention span, and a limited amount of time to look at things outside work and family. Fill that with bullshit that doesn't matter and they can't stay educated on actual current events.

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