Live data from Hacker News

I feel like im talking to the borg

twitter.com

51–60 of 387 posts

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

defo a bot, the fact they are using different account's to reply. super weird.

It seems like they’re using an enterprise account that has a bunch of sub accounts attached to it. It probably brings all replies and subtweets into a single feed that any of the “ambassadors” can have added to their queue to reply to. Text-banking systems for political campaigns work like this, but those interactions are purely informational and aren’t intended to put a human face on anything. Applying it this way i…

ahh, that makes more sense!

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#52
post #15

Can somebody explain how to parse the page linked here? This seems like deeplinking Intl the middle of a conversation. Side note: it feels like Twitter specifically has done immeasurable damage to the discourse. Why does the communication have to be presented so confusingly? To an outsider it seems like it’s to create maximum outrage/confusion/dopamine response. That’s much scarier to me than a customer service team.

I see this complaint a lot, but I absolutely disagree. It's a conversation back and forth between "Diana Wilde @rulesObeyer" and a series of different accounts in the format @AmazonFC, culminating in "Diana" saying the tweet that was linked. The lines connecting the tweets very clearly show the flow of responses. There are instances where conversations can be hard to follow if you're not involved, because the replies are more of trees than lists, but this is really not one of those cases.

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#53
post #15

Can somebody explain how to parse the page linked here? This seems like deeplinking Intl the middle of a conversation. Side note: it feels like Twitter specifically has done immeasurable damage to the discourse. Why does the communication have to be presented so confusingly? To an outsider it seems like it’s to create maximum outrage/confusion/dopamine response. That’s much scarier to me than a customer service team.

These accounts are not costumer service, they are specifically paid to talk up how nice it is to work for Amazon, amidst reports of incredibly terrible working conditions.

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#54

A real gem in there was the comment of "there is actually an open door policy at the FCs, which allows us to directly communicate with our managers if we have concerns or issues." Think about that for a second. The fact that they feel that is notable to call out, saying they "actually" have that... implies that they believe it is normal to not have an open door policy, and not be allowed to talk to their managers abo…

Open door policy means nothing if you'll be fired if you actually make use of it. (Not saying Amazon is necessarily like that.)

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#56

I see people saying they are 'chat bots'; any evidence of this other than people's general feeling? To me the FCA's came off like normal human beings who actually like their job a bit more than average (these people do exist). The people replying to them come off as infantile.

They don't seem to be regular FC employees, but I also don't think they're bots. Instead, they appear to be humans with a limited understanding of english who are required to reply based on a manual (like call-center workers).

This explains why different accounts swap out -- the manual was designed for a single conversational thread, but employees are supposed to reply to individual tweets (as picked up from some kind of filtering system).

This is a sort of common pattern -- basically whenever I mention a brand on twitter, I get replies from somebody with " ambassador" in their display name, & those accounts never follow anybody or reply to their replies. It's gotta be a whole industry. The only difference is that, unlike the accounts run by Comcast or TD Bank or Steak-Umms, amazon's manual seems to demand that the service workers pretend to be regular warehouse workers (rather than customer service / PR).

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#57

I doubt these are bots. One of them says: > I don't get compensated per tweet. I get paid $15/hr whether I am answering tweets or out on the floor stowing. I do this 2 days a week and 2 days a week I stow. While I think it's weird that Amazon is doing this, I also doubt that the warehouse jobs are bad jobs. I've done manual labor for less than $15/hr and I'd much rather have a job like that than, say, a job in a rest…

> I also doubt that the warehouse jobs are bad jobs

I agree that these folks are probably real people, but you must have missed the last several month's worth of very public information about the conditions in their warehouses.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-describe-pe...

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/11/18260472/amazon-ware...

https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-drivers-warehouse-conditions...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-fu...

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20696154/amazon-prime-day...

https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/amazon-prime-day-fulfil...

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#58

... imagine this the other way. Imagine that "@rulesObeyer" is the one with the agenda. Imagine RO is paid by a competitor to spread misinformation and "stir the pot", then re-read the thread. Suddenly RO seems incapable of reason or adapting in the face of clear evidence against its assertions. It makes for a fun read. (Similarly, "anyone condemning this comment or defending @rulesObeyer must just be @rulesObeyer in…

The "Amazon Ambassadors" look extremely sketchy even without anyone criticizing them, though. They don't use Twitter except to praise Amazon, they are universally 100% positive without a single complaint, they all echo a few specific talking points, and they openly admit to being paid to make these tweets. (One of them claims that spending two paid days a week tweeting instead of working the warehouse floor doesn't count as "being paid to tweet," but come on.)

Even if @rulesObeyer is also a paid shill, all they're doing is drawing attention to the obvious.

Re: I feel like im talking to the borg

#59

I doubt these are bots. One of them says: > I don't get compensated per tweet. I get paid $15/hr whether I am answering tweets or out on the floor stowing. I do this 2 days a week and 2 days a week I stow. While I think it's weird that Amazon is doing this, I also doubt that the warehouse jobs are bad jobs. I've done manual labor for less than $15/hr and I'd much rather have a job like that than, say, a job in a rest…

Poor 20-something grandfather Rafael also identifies as a nana and as a middle-aged woman.

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397...

Post reply on HN