Shilling on Bargain Alerts forum - double standards by Boards.ie??

Chorus_suck

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Dav

It's clearly marked as Sponsored - we've been running these sorts of ads for months.

Chorus_suck

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Dav

They *PAID* us for that post. Do you understand the difference between paid advertising and shilling because it is significant.

Chorus_suck

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Dav

They did want to pay for an ad, that's what they got. As I said, we've offered these sorts of posts as a sales product for months now, so I'm not sure why you're only seeing it now - here's a list of all of them to date (the first one was 14/05/'15)

There are ads all over the site, I don't have a personal stance on *any* of them except that I'm glad they put a roof over my head.

The Hill Billy

OP - Shilling is when one pretends that they have no interest in or deliberately hides any association with the business that they are promoting.

Your understanding of shilling is wrong.

Chorus_suck

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Chorus_suck

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Orion

A sponsored post is an ad. Do you use Facebook? You see sponsored posts on your timeline all the time. It's exactly the same.

Timberrrrrrrr

It is shilling if you go by Dav's definition tbf

For those of you who don't know what shilling is, it's when someone represents a brand/shop/product by making recommendations on their behalf when they have a vested interest - either by virtue of the fact that they're an employee of the shop/brand or they've been offered some sort of reward

Edit: maybe a disclaimer in bold at the start of the post advising people that it's a paid for post/advertisement?

Zaph

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Edit: maybe a disclaimer in bold at the start of the post advising people that it's a paid for post/advertisement?

In fairness, it does say PROMOTION in big purple letters in front of the thread title on the desktop. I appreciate that this isn't there on the touch site, but surely it must be obvious to anyone who's been here even a short while that Dav isn't just posting up an ad for DID for the fun of it?

Chorus_suck

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Chorus_suck

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Timberrrrrrrr

Zaph wrote: »

In fairness, it does say PROMOTION in big purple letters in front of the thread title on the desktop. I appreciate that this isn't there on the touch site, but surely it must be obvious to anyone who's been here even a short while that Dav isn't just posting up an ad for DID for the fun of it?

Ah I mostly use the touch site

Well ya never know, he could been on the sauce or took a knock to the head

rubberdiddies

It's clear to my pet poodle that it's a sponsored post and has absolutely nothing to do with shilling.

As an adult I'm well able to determine a sponsored post from a normal post and equally I'm able to decide for myself whether a bargain alert is a bargain or not.

More faux online outrage. The bane of the Internet!

Chorus_suck

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mansize

OP get off the cross, boards need the wood.

rubberdiddies

Chorus_suck wrote: »

How exactly is it clear that this a sponsored post of one is using the touch site?

It's very clear to me. Maybe it's not clear to you or maybe you're just being outraged for the sake of being outraged. Dav has pointed out in this thread that it's a sponsored post but you're still labouring the point. I don't happen to agree with you whatsoever on this.

I should add: it's a sticky and it's clearly posted by a poster that has boards.ie employee attached to their name

Chorus_suck

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Insect Overlord

Chorus_suck wrote: »

How exactly is it "very clear" to you? Genuine question.

Do you not agree this is the exact definition of shilling (on the touch sight at least)?

No need for any backhanded insults ... I'd be genuinely very interested in a straight answer.

Nothing back-handed so; you're coming across as a total moron here. When I first saw your OP this morning I thought it was a rubbish April Fools troll/prank.

You got a straight answer earlier. It's not shilling. Sponsored posts have been around for a while, and they do tend to be posted by site staff. They're not pretending to be anyone else.

Timberrrrrrrr

An File wrote: »

Nothing back-handed so; you're coming across as a total moron here. When I first saw your OP this morning I thought it was a rubbish April Fools troll/prank.

You got a straight answer earlier. It's not shilling. Sponsored posts have been around for a while, and they do tend to be posted by site staff. They're not pretending to be anyone else.

What happened to attack the post not the poster? Again (as someone who mostly uses the touch site) It's NOT clear it's a paid for promotion when viewed on the touch site!

Chorus_suck

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Chorus_suck

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Insect Overlord

Chorus_suck wrote: »

Post reported for personal abuse. I see a few Admins are reading this thread ... is this the kind of personal insult that's allowed on feedback?

Boards does NOT like any negative feedback.

Tell me An File ... what would you do if I posted that on any of the forums you moderate?

I'm long beyond caring, buddy. Somebody needs to tell it straight instead of trying to humour you.

Chorus_suck

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Zaph

Chorus_suck wrote: »

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Which admins would they be now? It doesn't fit my definition of shilling, and I suspect that Dav would be the first to admit that his definition that you posted is incomplete and that it should have mentioned that a shill is where the person does not reveal that they have a connection to the company/product.

Chorus_suck wrote: »

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An File has received a warning for his post, so maybe you would like to ease off on the righteous indignation a bit now?

Chorus_suck

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Edward Hopper

Really something and nothing, would be better if the touch site had a small indication that it's a paid for post as Timberrrrrrrr suggested. As not everyone knows who Niamh and Dav are, particularly new users. It's not shilling by any stretch of the imagination though.

Chorus_suck

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Mr E

I'm in danger of dislocating my eyeballs.

It's a sponsored post. It's not the first one - they've been happening for years. DID paid for it. It's not shilling.

Move on.

Zaph

Chorus_suck wrote: »

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Can't argue with either, that's the definition of shilling. However the definition you initially attributed to Dav makes no reference to the poster keeping their connection with the company/product secret. So which definition do you want to use for the purpose of your spurious argument?

Edward Hopper wrote: »

Really something and nothing, would be better if the touch site had a small indication that it's a paid for post as Timberrrrrrrr suggested. As not everyone knows who Niamh and Dav are, particularly new users. It's not shilling by any stretch of the imagination though.

I agree, it would be a lot clearer if the fact that it was a sponsored post was visible on the touch site, and maybe this will be clearer when the new site goes live. But I'll mention it in the admin forum for the office to look at anyway.

Chorus_suck

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Chorus_suck

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Mr E

I've added [Sponsored] to the thread title.