The Escapist- "I'm Evil"

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

Jack, John and Joe are talking about games.

Jack has played a new game. He likes it. He tells John and Joe, who, knowing Jack's reputation for giving games a fair, balanced review, and that their tastes and his are often similar, decide that it's a game they should try. So, based on Jack's recommendation, they buy the game, as do several other people who have been listening in.

These kinds of conversations are the stuff of legend in the advertising community. Getting a consumer so excited about your product that he'll tell others to buy it is essentially free advertising, and the most effective form besides. Marketers call it "buzz," and they track it as religiously as brokers follow the stock ticker. They even try to create it, by sending trained salespeople, or "shills" into places where normal people congregate in order to get those normal people talking about their product. These days, the tactic has moved online.

Jack, John and Joe are all members of an internet community forum. Their conversation is not taking place in one workplace, but several; each of them is typing his part of the conversation onto his computer and posting it on the forum. Each message is then read by more people in other workplaces, some of whom live across the globe. John and Joe visit the site during their off-hours, or from their desks, when they should be working. Jack, however, actually is working when visiting the site. His job is to post messages to internet forums frequented by people like John and Joe, and to convince them to buy products represented by his employers. Jack is an internet shill.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/62/4

You don't think...naaahhhhh. But...you don't think...do you?

[Kutjara]

1. Absolutely not, and if anyone accuses me of shilling...

...for an organization here on DU, my employer "Political Mouthpiece Solutions" will slap a defamation action on them faster than prunes through a goose. Vote Lieberman ! Vote Lieberman!

All opinions expressed in this posting are the author's and in no way represent the views of PMS or affiliated companies.

[acmejack]

2. Wait, me, me!

Amalgamated Shilling Solutions here! Do you think we need new initials?

[Kutjara]

4. Actually, I'm about to move companies.

My new employers, "Allied Shills, Salesmen, Hucksters, Opinioneers, Lobbyists, E-voteriggers and Suckups" are far more ethical and would never stoop to such transparent tactics as forum-hacking. It says so in my contract.

[acmejack]

5. Ethics how quaint.

My attorney tells me they are outdated and we have no need to abide by them. We're a multi-international now and we create our own reality!

[Kutjara]

8. That's Ethics(TM)

We own the trademark on the word now, so we define it how we like.

By the way, you owe ASSHOLES $10,000 compensatory damages for the unauthorized use of our word in your post.

[babylonsister]

3. Could there be phone shills, too, who call into CSPAN and

AAR? :crazy:

[acmejack]

6. There just has to be!

Armed with the same uniform talking points and you see the uptick in them whenever something noteworthy is occurring. Don't you think so?

[babylonsister]

7. I have no doubt, acmejack! nt

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. Could there?

No, there definitely are. Read up on The Rendon Group. They aren't the only ones, either.