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It is no different than forums in other product or subject areas. People 'in the business' not only LOOK, but also comment. Readers must take this into consideration.
if they are anything like the crime threads yes. believe me felons post on em plenty.
If a person opposes capital punishment, that does not necessarily make him a murderer. If a person opposes castration, that does not necessarily make him a pervert. If a person opposes nuking North Korea, that does not necessarily make him a communist. If a person supports gay marriage, that does not necessarily make him gay. If a person supports sensible immigration reform, that does not necessarily make him an illegal alien. If a person supports civil rights, that does not necessarily make him black.
There are actually some people in the world who support fairness in general, without being among the downtrodden themselves. But there are also people, I guess, who have no concept of that idea, and advocate only what is good for their own self-interests.
Maybe you can show us an example of a posting on a crime thread that is from a felon, and explain how you identify the poster as an undisclosed felon.
For so long I've toiled on this forum, joining debates and commenting on threads across the CD site, building a user history and profile such that when my real mission started, you'd all be none-the-wiser! But alas! You've found me out before I've even began my advertising campaign!
I don't think there are any "black ops" people from manufacturers actively posting on large car forums to try and sell their product. What I do know for a fact is that many company/model specific sites (particularly the enthusiast ones) are routinely trolled by marketing/sales/engineering/design folks from the manufacturer to see what people are saying. I know of one forum for Cadillac's V-series cars where there are two engineers who worked on the cars that routinely post and ask/answer questions for people. There are also two sites dedicted to Ford and GM (blueovalnews and gminsidenews) where there are many people who work for the companies that are routine posters and contributors.
So, yes the manufacturers read internet forums and some even participate, but no, I don't think they infiltrate sites (though many go on the other boards anonymously) and try to talk up their product.
I agree - visit and participate, yes. Plenty of that.
Spy-and-deny ... yes. Mitsubishi and Nissan have been known to do that and then deny warranty claims.
Infiltrate and advertise ... no. Typically there's more than just one participant, and the bottom line is that the product still has to sell itself. A shill could gush all they want, but all it takes is another poster to counter "But this and this SUCKS on this car! The ___ ___ is faster and handles better ..." to shut them out.
They'd be easy to recognize. They would have very few prior posts, and would probably not post on forums like Hobbies and Parenting and Food/Drink.
I mostly agree with that however I still have to wonder.... Marketing is constantly evolving and companies/agencies are always finding better ways to push a product. Some tactics are so blatant and poorly thought out / executed I have no idea how they could possibly work. The people covertly advertising wouldn't have to do it full time with a particular account, simply because as you said it would be pretty easy to recognize.
However, say a car company sought out a clever person like yourself and offered you a $1000 to casually push a product for a few months wouldn't you do it? Maybe you wouldn't but the point is there are definitely people who would jump on that opportunity. Or to keep that information from leaking out they could just assign an employee to the task.
It just seems that people on forums (including CD) are capable of being influenced into buying a particular vehicle or make based on the opinions of other.
Just a thought, not trying to stir up a conspiracy nor do I really care if it was true. Personally I think it might work if you had the right people. Is it worth the time and effort? I suppose not, but I am not certain at all!
It just seems that people on forums (including CD) are capable of being influenced into buying a particular vehicle or make based on the opinions of other.
No different than any other purchase, I do allot of research before buying a product, and other peoples opinion plays a big part in what products I'll consider and the one's I won't.
I don't think there are any "black ops" people from manufacturers actively posting on large car forums to try and sell their product. What I do know for a fact is that many company/model specific sites (particularly the enthusiast ones) are routinely trolled by marketing/sales/engineering/design folks from the manufacturer to see what people are saying. I know of one forum for Cadillac's V-series cars where there are two engineers who worked on the cars that routinely post and ask/answer questions for people. There are also two sites dedicted to Ford and GM (blueovalnews and gminsidenews) where there are many people who work for the companies that are routine posters and contributors.
So, yes the manufacturers read internet forums and some even participate, but no, I don't think they infiltrate sites (though many go on the other boards anonymously) and try to talk up their product.
The good thing about enthusiast forums is you don't have to deal with opposing brand loyalty getting in the way of discussion and subject matter is always on topic and usually to the point. Advertisers there stick out like a sore thumb because they usually have no relevance to the topics. However on big general forums many things go unchecked.
Infiltrate and advertise ... no. Typically there's more than just one participant, and the bottom line is that the product still has to sell itself. A shill could gush all they want, but all it takes is another poster to counter "But this and this SUCKS on this car! The ___ ___ is faster and handles better ..." to shut them out.
Well with that in mind is it easier to push a product or to put one down? I would think the latter... is that an effective strategy? Couldn't tell ya!
However, say a car company sought out a clever person like yourself and offered you a $1000 to casually push a product for a few months wouldn't you do it?
That's an interesting point. What's the company profit per unit? How many people would I need to 'sell', in order for them to recover the $1,000 investment in me?
Given my track record on C-D, nobody would ever buy a car I recommended. Especially people in the Politics forum. They would pay me to badmouth their car.
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