Possibly.
It could also be kill-box. Those are now the targets of current ops.
Honestly, I think we have always been a bit quick to jump on the "so and so is a shill" - while people like AJ have an established history of being a carnival side-show… Come see the alien I made…. This should be fairly obvious and not need to be discussed.
Others have always been a bit more on the edge. Perhaps they are young and are making mistakes, being misled themselves, or perhaps they simply lack the discipline to avert the impulse to try and drive ad revenue or brand their name.
It is very difficult for us to know, from our own position, what the range of various commentators new and old are actually trying to do. Our arguments over many of them are ultimately a distraction, and I think many of us are more inclined to believe they are part of a monolithic cabal… When this view misses the more nuanced reasoning and rationale behind individuals' behavior.
As someone who has tried to contribute rather detailed and complete pictures of the history and relationships… Only to have idiots chanting about hive-minds and try to act as though we aren't 'together' enough while ignoring relevant information… I can say I understand the impulse to, instead, take that information and tie my name to it while expecting some kind of exchange on the interest. I have things to do and people to safeguard if the 'hivemind' is going to rely on prayer missiles to fix everything.
I realize that this is part of the goal of shilling, not just to distract the watchers, but to demotivate and dissuade the diggers, bakers, and other contributors; which is why I am still here and still putting in more effort than casual analysis from time to time - but I certainly understand where people could go down a rather embattled path with this place.