Daniel Snyder May Be Using Bots To Make Himself Look Good

Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder may have turned to Twitter to help with his image. Sound familiar, America?

Anyway, Snyder is suspected of using bots to boost his own image and the image of the organization, as the NFL continues its investigation into the team.

Per the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a number of Twitter accounts created within the past year have been praising Snyder and the Football Team for vastly improving in the areas of diversity and progress. Those new accounts just happen to come on the heels of a Washington Post report that detailed sexual harassment claims from former employees against the organization.

All of the Twitter accounts mentioned by the Times-Dispatch consisted of women. Of course, there's no evidence these women actually exist.

"Additionally, suspicions point to Snyder allegedly turning to Facebook to help depict him in a more positive light," wrote Jose Martinez of Complex Media. "Ads were purchased to promote an article applauding the Washington Football Team owner’s charitable work on a website named NYCTalk.org. After a quick perusal, it seems as though the site is infrequently updated, and contains no contact information. Adding to its mystery, the domain is registered privately."

Is there some social-media funny business going on here? Perhaps.

Is it illegal? Nope. Just fishy. And in a world where you can never be sure of what's real and what's not-so- real online ... well, all we know is it appears that someone really loves Snyder and the Washington Football Team. Maybe it's actual people using these accounts. Maybe it's team employees. Or maybe it is indeed Snyder himself.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.