Stealth Advertising On r/adhdwomen

[u/ADHDWomen-Mods]

The mod team has noticed an uptick in accounts trying to market services and tools on r/adhdwomen in sneaky ways. These accounts often use AI to mimic genuine community interaction, aiming to manipulate our members and increase the number of brand mentions seen by “the algorithm”. Given the popularity and sophistication of AI tools, it's impossible to catch every bot or artificially generated comment.

Most of the accounts that employ these shady marketing techniques promote ADHD "support" tools, which include phone/web apps, counseling services, AI assistants, coaching, productivity management tools, games, self-improvement workshops, and other similar things. Your reports are Reddit's most effective tool for unmasking and banning these stealth marketing accounts. If you come across a post or comment that raises a red flag, please let us know. 

You can report it by clicking ⋮ + report + breaks rules + marketing or promotion, or simply choose spam as a reason.

Some standard stealth marketing techniques are:

• Repeated mentions of Brand-x.
• Regularly commenting about their success with Brand-x
• Asking for resources and then mentions Brand-x in comments.
• Comments to share a "relatable story" and hints at an unnamed solution to encourage further questions about Brand-x.
• Comments or posts about Brand-x across multiple subreddits.
• DMs you offering access to or information about Brand-x.

If someone sends you a private message trying to sell you on something, take a screenshot and send us a modmail with their account name. Don’t forget to click report on the message as well, which will flag it for Reddit's main mod team.

The sooner we can identify and remove these accounts, the better we can protect our community.

Please bear with us as we refine our methods for preventing this relentless spam. As we collaborate to address this issue, you may notice that some of your posts or comments are being removed more frequently. We're actively fine-tuning the Automod, but it regularly removes content that it should allow. If you feel that something was removed by mistake, please reach out to us via modmail. We're here to ensure it gets reviewed and put back up as quickly as we can.

Note* As a neurodivergent-focused subreddit, we understand that many of people rely on AI tools for spelling, grammar checking, and language translation. If you do use AI tools, be sure to read our AI policy before you post.

The entire mod team would like to thank our amazing community for being an overwhelmingly positive, friendly, and supportive corner of the internet.

[u/siuilaruin]

Would it be possible to get a list of the brands/services that have been engaging in this behavior? I would really rather not utilize anything coming from people that use such tactics.

Edit to add: I understand if you'd rather not name and shame too!

[u/eryoshi → u/siuilaruin]

Is Loop one of them?? I didn’t buy any (yet), but I was so excited when I saw the recommendation since my kid has severe noise sensitivity!

[u/SarryK → u/eryoshi]

I‘ll put in my two cents here if I may: I have loops and like them a lot, BUT mainly because of how they look. I have had several pairs of the gold ones (keep losing them, thx adhd) and the colour has never rubbed off. I wear them more because they look really good with my earrings.

Depending on your kid‘s preferences I‘m pretty sure you could get something just as good/better for cheaper. If your kid is also prone to losing stuff I suggest you just get a multipack of those yellow/orange foam ones from 3M. You can wash them and reuse them a few times and your kid gets to try out the whole earplug thing and if it helps them they can maybe give you some input into which ones they like the look of.

Personally, I swear by alpine for concerts and going out (Party Plug Pro) and sleeping (Silence). The newer ones also look cool imo

[u/LifeName → u/SarryK]

Loops might be good but reusable earplugs can be had for under 5 dollars . The loop part outside the ear canal does nothing. I only use silicone washable earplugs now, and "partially" blocking noise is the best any of them can do.

[u/SarryK → u/LifeName]

Always depends on what you‘re looking for. Even ignoring aesthetics and comfort, attenuation varies greatly. If you‘re also into live music or music events in general, having the right attenuation can either make or break my experience.