director fans Zack Snyder refuse to believe that a pair of fan-voted categories at the Oscars were dominated by their films due to unfair manipulation, despite a report that seemed to raise questions about the possibility of Twitter bots tainting the tally. But the Academy’s own version of the situation, in a later report, was the most startling revelation of all.
The Wrap reported Thursday that the most active voters in Twitter polls “were stand-alone web shows,” when it came to the Academy Awards’ “Fan Favorite” and “Moment of Joy” categories, which were won by Snyder’s army of the dead Y League of Justice (2021), respectively.
But is the report all that it seems? Many fans, particularly those advocating for DC to reinstate the so-called SnyderVerse, are raising questions.
An impromptu campaign began to emerge on Twitter with users declaring that they voted for Snyder in the count and that they are, in fact, not robots.
But let’s face it: Of course, fans of the director are going to refute the bot theory. Are there other reports to back them up?
As it turns out, since The Wrap’s initial report, vanity fair of all places submitted its own report on Friday that seemed to contradict the former’s claim. According to the article,
“[A]An Academy source defended the merits of the categories, arguing that only 20 votes could be cast per Twitter account and that accounts less than a day old could not vote.
Wrap’s original report cited Tweet Binder, a hashtag analysis tool, and University of Maryland professor David Kirsch, whose research has included the study of fanbots. While Kirsch said there were some questionable accounts, he couldn’t “definitely declare them to be bots.” However, The Wrap noted some “strange anomalies” with the polls, such as a one-day jump in votes to 25,000 votes on February 27, 2022, after averages in the weeks leading up to that date were in the range. from 4,000-15,000.
Both of Snyder’s fan-voted wins were announced at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, but were largely overshadowed by a certain slapstick that was heard around the world.
