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Redditor claims MS employees monitoring Reddit; making positive posts about the Xbox1

Zabant

Zabant

Member
kurbaan said:
Microsoft has at least dozens of buildings in the Redmond area alone. Skype and Windows Phone are not even in the same area. Windows Phone division alone has several buildings. So the post quoted in the OP sounds like BS to me.

Microsoft has a pretty strict policy against Astro Turfing for employees.
Click to expand...

You seem to know a lot about the Microsoft campus . . . fellow junior
 
N

nhlducks35

Member
Bish doing work as usual

YWAJg.gif
 
S

Shalashaska161

Member
I have no doubt this is true. This type of stuff is incredibly commonplace nowadays, all the big companies are doing it to some degree. I'm sure there are a fair amount of people here on GAF astroturfing as well.
 
digoutyoursoul

digoutyoursoul

Member
Beardz said:
I my past job I was the e-commerce manager of the company, being on facebook and twitter answering questions and interacting with the users wasn't part of my job, but I did it because that was the way for me to know more about our users and costumers.

My mantra was "every comment and question must be answered".

At first my boss and the higher-ups were worry about the negative comments "You should delete them" they used to tell me, and my answer was "why?, why don't we ask ourselves about why that costumer / user is complaining?"

I guess what I'm trying to say is...

I hate all this corporate bullshit, I fucking hate when companies forget they are who they are because of us the customers.

Every business must try to make their customers happy, not the shareholders, because the shareholders win money because of US too.

Fuck!
Click to expand...

I like your honesty. Certain game publishers would benefit with a attitude like yours.
 
W

Wickerbasket

Member
Freshmaker said:
The best part of this is with everyone knowing MS is actively poisoning the well, nobody can credibly defend the XBOne at all now. It's great.
Click to expand...
It kind of makes me feel bad for the new batch of juniors though; now they're all viewed with suspicion.

Freshmaker said:
The best part of this is with everyone knowing MS is actively poisoning the well, nobody can credibly defend the XBOne at all now. It's great.
Click to expand...
This is so true.

The fact that their practices are near impossible to defend just makes it stand out more.
 
1

140.85

Cognitive Dissonance, Distilled
So I guess the strategy was:

1. Release details the weekend before E3.
2. Flood online boards with RM.
3. Distract gamers with shiny objects at E3. (And don't talk to the press).
4. ???
5. Profit.
 
S

SymbolicGamer

Banned
Hari Seldon said:
This shit should be illegal. Like false advertising or something. And fuck anyone who works in marketing and does this shit. That is scumbag ambulance chasing lawyer level type shit.
Click to expand...

It's not much different than getting some celebrity to endorse something on TV.

While I think paying third parties to be professional trolls and covertly trash a competitor is a little shady, I honestly don't see anything wrong with paying people to spread positive information about their product, as long as that information is true.

Take George Foreman's grill. That's not really his grill. He didn't design it. The people who did paid him to be their spokesman, after Hulk Hogan didn't return their phone call.

I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a wrestling fan and used to everyone that gets involved being a plant, but it just doesn't bother me that much.

It also seems like a waste of money for Microsoft to hire a bunch of no names. Anyone can do that.

Microsoft should take a page out of WWE's book and hire "social media ambassadors". Get Carlos Estevez and Criss Angel to talk about how much they love the Xbox One.

That'd be cool.
 
F

Falifax

Member
I don't get why is MS wasting time implementing TV functionality into the Xbox One when the MS employees alone are providing us with amusing entertainment.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
HamPster PamPster said:
This is why you don't get junior members to astroturf, you need to pay off established posters. Like for example posters who have been here a few years yet fly under the radar. Posters with sweet dragon avatars and email addresses not tied to your company. Not that I know anyone like that *wink*
Click to expand...

That book was on the book report list from one of my elementary school teachers. (sometime in the '80s)
 
D

DocSeuss

Member
I'm skeptical of the OP.

It's so easy to say "uh, so, yeah, there's a secret conspiracy of people out there trying to make, gasp, the Xbox, which we all know to hate, look bad!" And I've been watching a lot of people who seem to be, uh, shall we say... invested in making the Xbox look bad? Don't ge me wrong--it does look bad in a lot of ways. But I keep seeing people pop into a thread where the Xbox One is confirmed to, say, run Forza Horizon at 60FPS 1080p native, and they can't seem to help themselves from saying "lol, probably just upressed." Microsoft mentions that they're spending a lot of money on AAA games, releasing new IPs and such, and the response is "probably just all Kinect-only." Even during and immediately after the conference, before Microsoft started completely tripping over themselves and screwing up royally with the online/used DRM stuff, people were screaming bloody murder.

So... I dunno. I see things like this, and I feel more like it's just people trying to pile all the hate they can on Microsoft. A silly part of me looks at Sony's aggressive marketing (which seems focused in some ways on saying "we're not like Microsoft because they suck") and wonders if Sony people are saying this. A more rational part of me thinks it's probably just insane Sony fans. They've always been the craziest fan group, after all--I've never seen Nintendo or Microsoft fans commit to the kind of backlash that we saw with Final Fantasy and Devil May Cry going multiplat, nor have I seen the insane ranting on par with what accompanied Eurogamer's Uncharted 3 review (and it's happened to other games as well, like Killzone 2 and The Last of Us).

And so... I sit here, and... I dunno. I feel that the fire's deliberately being fueled by people who are actively invested, emotionally, in Microsoft's failure.
 
Boss Man

Boss Man

Member
SymbolicGamer said:
It's not much different than getting some celebrity to endorse something on TV.

While I think paying third parties to be professional trolls and covertly trash a competitor is a little shady, I honestly don't see anything wrong with paying people to spread positive information about their product, as long as that information is true.

Take George Foreman's grill. That's not really his grill. He didn't design it. The people who did paid him to be their spokesman, after Hulk Hogan didn't return their phone call.

I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a wrestling fan and used to everyone that gets involved being a plant, but it just doesn't bother me that much.

It also seems like a waste of money for Microsoft to hire a bunch of no names. Anyone can do that.

Microsoft should take a page out of WWE's book and hire "social media ambassadors". Get Carlos Estevez and Criss Angel to talk about how much they love the Xbox One.

That'd be cool.
Click to expand...
Eh, I disagree. This is not the same as celebrity endorsements. Celebrities endorse things at the risk of their own image and/or credibility. This kind of thing is actively impersonating a consumer. It's not like Kim Kardashian tweeting about how much she loves the new iPhone 5, it's like a guy wearing a mask that looks like your father tucking you in at night and telling you never to buy an Android phone when you're five years old.
 
A

Ashes

Banned
kurbaan said:
Microsoft has at least dozens of buildings in the Redmond area alone. Skype and Windows Phone are not even in the same area. Windows Phone division alone has several buildings. So the post quoted in the OP sounds like BS to me.

Microsoft has a pretty strict policy against Astro Turfing for employees.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but my sarcasm might be off. If this serious, why would you admit to this? lol.

edit: actually, there is nothing inherently wrong with being a microsoft employee.
 
V

Valnen

Member
botty said:
Apple would never be this pathetic.
Click to expand...

No, they're far worse. They try and remove their competitors by abusing the legal system rather than offering superior products. That's a million times worse than a few words on twitter.
 
M

MogCakes

Member
HamPster PamPster said:
This is why you don't get junior members to astroturf, you need to pay off established posters. Like for example posters who have been here a few years yet fly under the radar. Posters with sweet dragon avatars and email addresses not tied to your company. Not that I know anyone like that *wink*
Click to expand...

I'm sure they've done that as well. Those posters quickly have all credibility lost once their employer's motives are discovered though.
 
B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
guek said:
Makes me wonder if SneakyStephan is one of the marketing fellows who is disseminating false information knowing it wont matter one bit if he's banned since he's just doing his job.

I know that's a not-so-subtle accusation but I'm just thinking out loud, not trying to point fingers.
Click to expand...
I think you're confused.

I have lots of disagreement with SneakyStephan but you must be thinking of a different dude. What he cares about on GAF are games and technology (preferably PC technology.)

Maybe you meant "SenjutsuSage"?
 
U

UntoldDreams

Member
kurbaan said:
Microsoft has at least dozens of buildings in the Redmond area alone. Skype and Windows Phone are not even in the same area. Windows Phone division alone has several buildings. So the post quoted in the OP sounds like BS to me.

Microsoft has a pretty strict policy against Astro Turfing for employees.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA... That's funny you even posted this considering how blatant its been.

This is like selling manure as a deodorant and trying to convince the customer its "great".
 
A

Ashes

Banned
Valnen said:
I'm not so sure it's a good thing that having an unpopular opinion is now viewed with suspicion.
Click to expand...

Well, there are going to be fans of halo and other xbone exclusives such as forza too. Don't see why you can't be genuine fans.
 
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