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12-31-2007, 12:47 AM #1
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How To Spot A Viral Marketer, Paid Shill, Disinformation Agent Posting FUD
So it is probable that there may be some viral marketers posting lies on public forums where people go to get information about HDM. This forum is one of them, another is AVSforum.com.
Here is how you can tell:
Users are being paid to speak highly of the company's product at every chance. They push an agenda without a care of what anyone else thinks or says. When someone calls him out, he responds calmly and "respectively", as well as giving instructions to moderators - as if he has been specifically trained in how to respond to criticism. The shill will keep in regular contact with the mods and claim personal attacks. The shill will try to get people banned and instruct the mods on which users to investigate/prosecute.
Here is a link to an article that describes the great Nvidia scandal. Nvidia hired an agency that employed professional posters to flood forums with relentless propaganda, and manipulate moderators.
Nvidia hired a company called Arbutnhot Entertainment Group (AEG) to "cultivate" online communities and create positive word of mouth while at the same time denigrating competing products by any means possible.
Interestingly another major client of the AEG "FUD" company is Microsoft.
If a member is involved in creating petitions, runs outside websites, has a huge number of posts per day, or has been proven to lie and make outlandish predictions that propagate fear, uncertainty and doubt about competitors, then you can be pretty sure that this poster is being paid to manipulate you.
Often there will be two or three people working in shifts to keep posting on one user account.
Here is the article about the Nvidia/Microsoft company AEG: .xbitlabs.com/articles/editorial/display/nvda-accusations2006.html
As consumers we need to stay educated and look out for these insidious "artificial enthusiasts". They are lying to us and lining their own pockets with these marketing dollars.
More consumer resources can be found at the consumerist website.
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12-31-2007, 12:54 AM #2
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First post. Pointing out Microsoft. The irony.....
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12-31-2007, 12:55 AM #3
Your name wouldn't be G'kar would it.......

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/show...9&postcount=40
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/show...6&postcount=49
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/show...8&postcount=65
How is using a Sock Puppet to push your own agenda any better then the people you are criticizing?
Sony has also done more then it's fair share of viral marketing. That is a fact.
(This also does not belong in the Smackdown)
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12-31-2007, 12:58 AM #4
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12-31-2007, 01:03 AM #5
Yawn... Pick a side or pick both and please stop wasting our time... As if posting in an internet forum wasn't a big enough waster of precious time.
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12-31-2007, 01:03 AM #6
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12-31-2007, 01:05 AM #7
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Exactly....
When someone calls him out, he responds calmly and "respectively"They push an agenda without a care of what anyone else thinks or says.So, was your post circulated around the room, or did you come up with it on your own?Interestingly another major client of the AEG "FUD" company is Microsoft.
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12-31-2007, 01:09 AM #8
Sony did the samething, hired an agency to create a web site built by 35 year old "teens" to promote PSP. They are heavily known for this viral marketing.
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12-31-2007, 01:09 AM #9
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I tend to not care.
There are plenty of hardcore posters shilling for free...
I mean Kosty/RDjam/Beatboy etc. spend tons of time on tons of forums evangelising their formats...
Stuff like MS's majorynos.com REALLY pisses me off though. Pretending to be your competitor to rally your own fans against stupidity? Thats as low as it gets.
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12-31-2007, 01:09 AM #10
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Well I have not adopted either format yet. I am going to wait until there is one clear winner.
Unfortunately I was one of the people burned by purchasing an inferior Nvidia product after reading fake reviews.
I came here and to AVSforum to get advice on which format would win the war and have found an environment just like the one that surrounded the nvidia debacle.
It made me feel even more cautious about buying in to either format and I wanted to share my experience so that others don't get duped.
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12-31-2007, 01:17 AM #11
I'm guessing that most of the people here who spew nonsense do it for free. Few people here are calm when called out, and get all huffy at the slightest negative comments. A lot of people here are just so wrapped up in their own thoughts and likes and think that everyone else in the world must think like they do--and if they don't, they're stupid, and need to see it their way. As for disinformation problems, a lot people read what they want to rather than what is written, or get a less-than-tenuous grasp on something, then get it all tangled up when they try to explain it, or argue a point based on it.
I've suspected a few astroturfers (sharing an account, I'd guess) among the crowd based on volume of posts, information posted, and erratic posting times, but it seems few and far between.
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12-31-2007, 01:21 AM #12
I m always quick to point out that Sony is usually the king of this type of advertising. Quick Google attorney general and Sony will prove the point. You can supplement that with scandal or anything really.
I will say pretty much every company does it I just think Sony is the most brazen of them all. For instance Sony's CD root kit fiasco even after being found guilty tried to defend there position as the correct one.
I figure if people are gonna toss stones at the predominantly HD side of things I felt like leveling the playing field as this is actually the 2nd biggest reason I dont like Sony and what they govern.
Lastly I can tell you with utter certainty based on companies history ( all included ) the tactics depend on the company doing them. I feel the opposite are in use on this site as the object is to take attention away from good points or threads related to the oppositions product.
Example: Thread about Format A just came out with the super great video disc.
Subsequent posts are personal attacks or comments that go off in a tangent taking the thread off topic completely.
That essentially diffuses any chance of a positive thread to inform a consumer.
Honestly though most threads arent valid till they get a reported on
BD+ is a violation of consumer rights
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12-31-2007, 01:45 AM #13
I would point out that the moderators here are also not easily swayed, but tend to get annoyed by people who report posts to often or who act like oversensitive jerks when their word is not taken into account when we are doing our jobs.
Our job is to enforce the rules. The grey areas are those we decide upon as a GROUP to enforce, or not to enforce, and are made up of supporters of both formats.
So, while I expect we may see a few viral marketers here, as well as a few shills, the idea that they will have much influence over the mods, while not absurd, is very difficult to push.
Especially seeing as how long time members will be held in higher regard than newbies and it is incredibly easy for mods to spot baiting tactics and call people out on it.
Debate, debate, debate - keep it civil and noone gets hurt.
At the end of the day, this site pushes above all else: REPORT POSTS! Anyone who doesn't and responds gets told the same thing - don't respond... report! So, it is a very poor arguement to suggest that the mods on this site aren't demanding, very much, that people make use of the report post feature.
It isn't just for shills... we allow everyone to use it.
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12-31-2007, 01:46 AM #14
The BLU FUD CREW have almost completely turned me off the idea of going purple, so this crap can backfire.
PURPLE, but not buying HD-DVD's anymore.
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12-31-2007, 05:56 AM #15
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I find your puppet comment both distasteful and puppetist... I've noticed such comments in other threads, not by you but by members of both the Blu and Red side...
This Puppet shall sue for emotional distress if such Puppetist views are spread around the forums in the future.

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