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Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

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Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#41

Post by bugsy »

AndrewMoffat wrote: post #34
burgerbrain wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an extreme example some believe that the Westboro Baptist Church is a group of these "reverse shills". I don't think I believe that myself though.

If it was true, it would be incredible dedication. Lots of people want them dead. To put your life (and your kids' lives!) on the line like that for either cause (legitimate bigotry or reverse shill) is insane regardless

Hm, this subthread seems pretty afar off topic, but I'll sincerely say that if there is a God and He is Just, then it makes sense that he "Hates America" like they say. The US has become such an imperialist corporate police state. This coming from a reformed former rah rah america guy. So... Westboro has a point to some of their stuff. As far as protesting soldier funerals, why not? Soldiers spreading american imperialism, murdering children, torturing innocent people. Sure, if God exists and is fair, he hates that stuff and knowing those guys are burning in hell could be a lot of comfort to some.

I should state I'm not trolling, but I realize I'll probably get downvoted to hell for this since there is probably no one else in the US that will stand up and say they have something of a point, and also that free speech includes telling bereaved soldier parents their lost child is burning in hell, even though that is a pretty shocking thing to do and it would make more sense to keep that belief to yourself. But they don't. They advertise their politically incorrect beliefs to the world. Takes a lot of balls and a bit of craziness. I certainly wouldn't do it. It took me 10 years to get to the point where I would dare to post this one note which I'll probably chicken out and delete in a bit.

But what if everyone said what they really thought about things? Probably there would be utter chaos. I was reading today that a majority of britons believe the police should have used live ammunition to massacre the "rioters" (protesters). That opinion I find FAR more psychotic and offensive than what the nuts at Westboro are preaching. I find the advocacy of using live rounds to massacre protesting civilians in the UK to be utterly depraved and insane. That there is a majority that supports this means the world has gone insane and whatever the democratic majority wants or thinks no longer matters because they are as evil and crazy as the lunatics in Germany that elected the Fuhrer and then encouraged him to get rid of undesirables. It wasn't just the Fuhrer's plan all by himself, it was what the evil people wanted. That level of public evil and madness is what I see in Europe and the US today in the general public. A bunch of crazy dangerous people. God hates them? I sure hope so.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#42

Post by aaronbrethorst »

ilamont wrote: post #19

I always thought this was an interesting example of Apple extremists being provoked by a hoax: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2004/02/62157 The hoaxer, identified only as "Andy," claimed he received a dual-processor G5 for Christmas. But preferring a Windows PC, he swapped out the insides of the $3,000 machine for the guts of a cheapo PC. The post included several digital photographs to prove the outrageous cl…

Wow, this is horrifying:

"I hope your PC blows up and leaves your miserable face disfigured forever," read one. "You will surely burn in hell for an eternity for this one."

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#43

Post by shabble »

rbanffy wrote: post #11
bediger wrote: post #2

There's also a persistent rumor/concept among Linux aficionados that some or all of the worst profanity spouting, knuckle-dragging, "Sodomize Microsoft!" fanbois are actually paid-for "reverse shills". That is, some vague conspiracy finances trolls to make the rest of Linux advocates look stupid. This rumor seems like an example of "Poe's Law" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law ) in action.

> There's also a persistent rumor/concept among Linux aficionados Never heard such thing and people here can tell you I am a very vocal Linux aficionado. But there are companies who specialize in interfering with forums to adjust brand-awareness for their clients.

I'm reminded of the recent HBGary hack/infodump which contained a lot of material about creating software to ease/simplify sockpuppeting and plausible background generation for the US government.

One article: https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/12250-HBGary-Federal-...

Dozens of others, including probably the leaked docs themselves via Google.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#44

Post by shabble »

ilamont wrote: post #19

I always thought this was an interesting example of Apple extremists being provoked by a hoax: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2004/02/62157 The hoaxer, identified only as "Andy," claimed he received a dual-processor G5 for Christmas. But preferring a Windows PC, he swapped out the insides of the $3,000 machine for the guts of a cheapo PC. The post included several digital photographs to prove the outrageous cl…

> Extremist commenters repel moderates who might otherwise be aligned with the cause, and/or attract other extremists.

I seem to recall reading something a while back that suggested the reverse is often true - that moderates will back the extremists for "fighting the good fight".

Even the moderates will tend to have some topics that they strongly support/criticise, and applaud that someone is doing it, especially in the case where the opinion is a minority view. The argument also suggested that extremists tend to generate the most media coverage of a topic - A terrorist bombing is going to generate a huge amount of front-page news compared to, say, some reasonable people meeting and making reasonable compromises. That will then raise awareness of the topic &c. Granted, the publicity will be overwhelming negative, but some people still subscribe to the "any publicity is good" theory.

I can't seem to find the original reference, but I'll edit it in or post a reply if I do find it.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#45

Post by hugh3 »

gruseom wrote: post #10

Humans treat criticism of favorite anything as threat to self-image.

Not necessarily. Not all humans. Perhaps insecure humans, or humans without enough going on in their lives. For instance, if I tell you my favourite breakfast cereal is Raisin Bran, and you tell me that Raisin Bran suxx0rs and Rice Krispies rulez then I'm not really gonna take that as a big threat to my self-image -- I'll just think that you're a weirdo for having such strongly expressed preferences on such matters.

And for the vast majority of the population, the question of your favourite brand of consumer electronics falls into the same category.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#46

Post by hugh3 »

krluna22785 wrote: post #3

Thanks for this. It makes a lot of sense. I even take it personally when a brand I love holds an event or a specific sale that is accessible to everyone, even people who are not in love with the brand as much as I am.

... don't take this the wrong way, but you really need to change your relationship with life in general.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#47

Post by hugh3 »

burgerbrain wrote: post #26
lmkg wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phrase "Apple fanbois" is disparaging against the fans themselves, but not against Apple. If your brand is successful enough to have fanboys, then your brand is successful and that's a good thing for you. The fanboys themselves are irrational, and deserving of some criticism about their irrationality, but that generally does not carry over to the brand itself.

Surely there are things a brand can do and comments a ceo can make that encourage or even nurture such behavior. Harley Davidson certainly recognizes that.

Under certain circumstances, having brand fanboys can be a bad thing for the brand, since they can ghetto-ize the brand to the point where the casual buyer won't buy it, to avoid being associated with those people.

Comic books are the first example that springs to mind, but I guess Harley Davidson might be another good one.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#48

Post by hugh3 »

podperson wrote: post #35

It seems to me that passions flare when people are forced to make an expensive, difficult to reverse choice based on insufficient evidence between similar but highly incompatible products. E.g. which car is going to be better? I don't know, there's really no way to find out (history is at best a guide), so I do "research" and make a choice and now I am stuck with it. I'd like to believe I made a good choice, so any e…

* It seems to me that passions flare when people are forced to make an expensive, difficult to reverse choice based on insufficient evidence between similar but highly incompatible products. E.g. which car is going to be better? I don't know, there's really no way to find out (history is at best a guide), so I do "research" and make a choice and now I am stuck with it. I'd like to believe I made a good choice, so any evidence that I clearly made a bad choice is hurtful*

This doesn't explain why the vast majority of the population seems to be perfectly able to buy a car and not become fanboys, whereas a small, largely very young, overwhelmingly male, sector of the population feel compelled to defend far more minor purchasing decisions.

Example: I drive a Ford. For some folks, driving a Ford puts you on one side of some great battle, whether it be Ford vs GM or Domestic vs Imported. For me, it's just a goddamn car, and my next car will probably be something entirely different. I don't feel compelled to defend the decision I made in buying that car, nor to argue that it's "better" than any other car, because (a) there's a lot of cars out there, each with its own advantages and disadvantages and (b) life is too short.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#50

Post by starwed »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #42
ilamont wrote: post #19

I always thought this was an interesting example of Apple extremists being provoked by a hoax: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2004/02/62157 The hoaxer, identified only as "Andy," claimed he received a dual-processor G5 for Christmas. But preferring a Windows PC, he swapped out the insides of the $3,000 machine for the guts of a cheapo PC. The post included several digital photographs to prove the outrageous cl…

Wow, this is horrifying: "I hope your PC blows up and leaves your miserable face disfigured forever," read one. "You will surely burn in hell for an eternity for this one."

I suppose that it could be a serious comment, but I really sturggle to parse it as anything other than a joke.
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