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Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

delyan.me

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Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#111

Post by vectorpush »

ksec wrote: post #85
natch wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Come on. To be fair, since the immediate comparison that jumps to mind is between Samsung and Apple, let's put it right on the table: I don't think Apple does this.

I am sorry if this comment spark off any other pointless debate and argument or offended any Apple Fan boys or Samsung Fan boys. But the truth is, pretty much every company does this.. except Apple. Ans Samsung are at the top of this game. They are number 1 in spending on advertising and they spend double the advertising budget compared to 2nd in place. ( And their Rate are pretty awesome too compared to others ) You…

But the truth is, pretty much every company does this.. except Apple.

Any evidence or even subjective reasoning why I'd believe Apple is any different from any other company? In the absence of evidence I wouldn't accuse Apple of anything but only a fool would give Apple a pass on something that "every company [supposedly] does".

Lots of bashing and irresponsible reporting while bending the truth on Apple. Coincidence

Good point; Apple never trashes the competition, that's above them.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#113

Post by mathattack »

icebraining wrote: post #72
mathattack wrote: post #20

I'm very interested in how this plays out. Right now I add Stackexchange to search queries in Google, precisely because the SEO effects haven't hit. The morality question may not be so black and white, though. If it's ok to accept goodies to monetize a Klout score, why not for StackExchange? Unfortunately, it only takes a small amount of people doing this for a variety of products to ruin the site. My impression of t…

The morality question may not be so black and white, though. If it's ok to accept goodies to monetize a Klout score, why not for StackExchange? By "monetize a Klout score," you mean spam your followers on social networks sites, right? That seems pretty morally clear to me.

Is it morally clear though?

Kim Kardashian gets paid to plug god knows what, and it's not immoral to be a shill.

That isn't to say that I would do it. (I won't) But it isn't black and white. It might be a dark gray, but it's still gray.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#114

Post by jaydles »

I work at Stack Exchange, and contacted Samsung as soon as this was brought to our attention last night.

1. The company engaging in these tactics was not hired by Samsung; they appear to have been sub-contracted for some promotion by the company they did hire. Now, it's obviously possible that they turned a blind eye, or don't want to know what methods are used, but in fairness, there's no evidence that they had any idea this was happening. And given the directness of it all, I suspect they'd have objected, if only because it looks so bad.

2. Everyone who was contacted due to being a user on our sites has now received a follow up communication from the company that sent the first message redacting the offer and apologizing for the inappropriate contact and request.

None of that makes any of this... lovely, but it does help clarify that any potential harm or noise this might cause seems to have been contained.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#115

Post by 6ren »

natch wrote: post #65
ebbv wrote: post #43

Anyone who finds this shocking, I have news for you; every large company has been and is doing this type of astroturfing all over the internet for well over a decade now. I guess it can be surprising when you get asked to participate in it directly, but every type of site that's driven by "the public" (Slashdot, Digg, reddit, Twitter, Stack Overflow, etc.) is going to be a target for this type of activity. It's usual…

Really? Come on. To be fair, since the immediate comparison that jumps to mind is between Samsung and Apple, let's put it right on the table: I don't think Apple does this.

On reddit, I often see comments about upcoming games that really strike me as astroturfing... It's mainly that it makes so much sense for manufacturers to do this (word of mouth is more compelling than "advertising"), that I can't imagine them not doing it. So when a post is just emptily positive in a generic way ("Really looking forward to this!"), with no content to suggest it's not astroturfing, I assume it is.

I think one way it can be given away is not from an individual comment, but in the context of all the comments on that story. But if it's done well, it's impossible to distinguish.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#116

Post by yuhong »

ksec wrote: post #85
natch wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Come on. To be fair, since the immediate comparison that jumps to mind is between Samsung and Apple, let's put it right on the table: I don't think Apple does this.

I am sorry if this comment spark off any other pointless debate and argument or offended any Apple Fan boys or Samsung Fan boys. But the truth is, pretty much every company does this.. except Apple. Ans Samsung are at the top of this game. They are number 1 in spending on advertising and they spend double the advertising budget compared to 2nd in place. ( And their Rate are pretty awesome too compared to others ) You…

Most of this is not astroturfing.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#117

Post by yuhong »

natch wrote: post #65
ebbv wrote: post #43

Anyone who finds this shocking, I have news for you; every large company has been and is doing this type of astroturfing all over the internet for well over a decade now. I guess it can be surprising when you get asked to participate in it directly, but every type of site that's driven by "the public" (Slashdot, Digg, reddit, Twitter, Stack Overflow, etc.) is going to be a target for this type of activity. It's usual…

Really? Come on. To be fair, since the immediate comparison that jumps to mind is between Samsung and Apple, let's put it right on the table: I don't think Apple does this.

And that is not the only example.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#118

Post by benologist »

natch wrote: post #65
ebbv wrote: post #43

Anyone who finds this shocking, I have news for you; every large company has been and is doing this type of astroturfing all over the internet for well over a decade now. I guess it can be surprising when you get asked to participate in it directly, but every type of site that's driven by "the public" (Slashdot, Digg, reddit, Twitter, Stack Overflow, etc.) is going to be a target for this type of activity. It's usual…

Really? Come on. To be fair, since the immediate comparison that jumps to mind is between Samsung and Apple, let's put it right on the table: I don't think Apple does this.

Anything "growth hacking" and "social media" are literally jobs where you're paid to shill and spam.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#119

Post by snom380 »

vectorpush wrote: post #111
ksec wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sorry if this comment spark off any other pointless debate and argument or offended any Apple Fan boys or Samsung Fan boys. But the truth is, pretty much every company does this.. except Apple. Ans Samsung are at the top of this game. They are number 1 in spending on advertising and they spend double the advertising budget compared to 2nd in place. ( And their Rate are pretty awesome too compared to others ) You…

But the truth is, pretty much every company does this.. except Apple. Any evidence or even subjective reasoning why I'd believe Apple is any different from any other company? In the absence of evidence I wouldn't accuse Apple of anything but only a fool would give Apple a pass on something that "every company [supposedly] does". Lots of bashing and irresponsible reporting while bending the truth on Apple. Coincidence…

There's the problem, stating that "all companies do this" when some big ones get caught is wrong. Some companies do this, but not all.

Re: Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users

#120

Post by snom380 »

darkchasma wrote: post #101
ksec wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sorry if this comment spark off any other pointless debate and argument or offended any Apple Fan boys or Samsung Fan boys. But the truth is, pretty much every company does this.. except Apple. Ans Samsung are at the top of this game. They are number 1 in spending on advertising and they spend double the advertising budget compared to 2nd in place. ( And their Rate are pretty awesome too compared to others ) You…

If you don't write favorably about Apple, then they don't invite you to the press releases. So their hands are no cleaner, just far more transparent and public.

That's just silly. Pretty much the whole tech press are critical if Apple and still gets invited.

The ones that don't get invited are those that buys stolen goods to be able to show off unannounced products.

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