Cyabra analyzed the online conversation surrounding Sony’s disc phase-out between 1 July and 26 August 2026 across X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Four narratives shaped the discourse, with the boycott narrative accounting for 57.3% of total conversation volume. Negative sentiment on X reached 70.4%, sitting 42 percentage points above the video gaming industry benchmark.
The grievance predated Sony’s announcement, with organized advocacy groups spending two years building infrastructure before Sony acted. When DoesItPlay called for a one-week #PSBlackout on 26 July, the hashtag did not exist before that post, and four accounts had amplified it within 133 seconds.
Roughly 25% of the boycott narrative came from inauthentic accounts, concentrating in the reply sections of official PlayStation handles where as much as 43% of comments on relevant posts were inauthentic. The most viral post in the dataset came from an account with 137 followers, generating over 104,000 engagements, showing the backlash spread from the ground up, not from the top down.
Cyabra's analysis found a coordinated network of inauthentic accounts amplifying election fraud claims following a ballot paper shortage during South Korea's June 3 elections.
Cyabra's analysis of the boycott targeting five major U.S. retailers found inauthentic accounts padding volume and hopping between brands, without manufacturing the underlying anger.
Cyabra found that fake accounts driving stock market conversations grew 4 percentage points in 2025, with coordinated networks manipulating investor sentiment through both negative and promotional narratives.
