I suppose it could be normal- it's becoming more insular and homogenous and the topics follow in their extremity- but I wonder sometimes whether the narratives being pushed are truly organic.
There are some fishy accounts who seem, to me, to not be who they claim to be- and I don't mean the obvious distractions like Amalek and Sanegoat and Engrish/nogarbage. These fishy accounts seem like users playing a role that doesn't quite match up with their writing style & content.
I don't care to name names openly. More observation is needed.
Maybe I'm just becoming schizo.
I've been browsing Voat less and less lately so I haven't noticed an uptick. But I do agree that there's some dedicated individuals who are using sock puppets to drive an agenda.
Personally, I lay a lot of blame on whoever runs these accounts (and probably more)
https://voat.co/user/boardsisgreat
https://voat.co/user/themodsarejews
https://voat.co/user/HookHandNodin
https://voat.co/user/voteleaveeveryday
https://voat.co/user/shu
https://voat.co/user/EavanSmith
https://voat.co/user/EmmetMcTaggart
https://voat.co/user/queeg
As they all post nothing but a particular type of news and don't contribute to the community in any way.
However they make the front page several times a day with their accounts and give the illusion that there's more interest in these subjects than there organically were.
If course, now they've cultivated that interest and just fuel the circle jerk.