Would Twitter Make President Obama 'Follow' the Tea Party If the Price Is Right? 121
theodp (442580) writes Giving others the impression that individuals support something that they actually don't could get you fined and placed under house arrest. But if you're Twitter, it could boost your bottom line. Gigaom's Carmel DeAmicis reports that brands pay Twitter to falsely appear in your following list, an advertising technique brought to light by William Shatner after he saw that 'MasterCard' appeared in his following list despite the fact that he didn't follow it. "By making it look like someone follows an account that they don't," writes DeAmicis, "it sends a false signal that said user cares about that brand. Although the brands are marked as 'promoted,' it's not necessarily clear that the user in question doesn't actually follow the brand. There's ethical considerations to be had. Hypothetical examples: What if you're vegan and don't want people to think you're following Burger King? Or you're the CEO of Visa and don't want people thinking you're following MasterCard? Or you're a pro-life activist and don't want people thinking you're following Planned Parenthood?" Or, if you're @BarackObama and don't want people to think you're following @TPPatriots!
simple... block them (Score:2)
frickin weasels at Twitter... should be blocking and reporting them, but block is OK for now.
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Yeah, but Obama would still feed his mother a dead-rat sandwich, if he thought it would increase his popularity.
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Hey, a well-seasoned grilled rat can be quite tasty (you insensitive clod).
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Anything for a buck! (Score:4, Insightful)
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And Jack Dorsey was fired, and Ev Williams was fired ... big deal. Getting rid of your CEO is a good way to get a stock boost. Microsoft shares jumped when it was announced that Steve Balmer was leaving.
Couple that with the low stock value, and some might even see Twitter as a buy ... or maybe now's the time to acquire the company ...
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That's been the way of business since people started doing business.
Welcome to civilizations!
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Lying, cheating, invading your privacy, not cleaning up the messes they've already started, only apologizing when they get caught
Well, what did we expect? With most websites living off the fictive 'value' of advertising, how can we expect anything other than exactly this? Advertisers have always done this - just look around in the world of cosmetics and 'beauty products' with their grotesque, blatant lies; the most hilarious being L'Oreal's "Inspired by Gene Science", but there are others - such as stating that a product is '20% fat-free' (ie 80% fat) or labeling a type of olive oil as 'light' in the hope that people are stupid enoug
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A refreshing change from goatse spam. Click this at your peril.
Re:How about the Lemon Party? (Score:5, Funny)
Figured it'd be both too tacky and possibly have too many consequences if caught, but it sure amused me to think of raging political buttheads all over the country pulling up that site because they saw it prominently displayed on FOX News...
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"... and possibly have too many consequences if caught ..."
Well, the Chicago Seven [wikipedia.org] were acquitted!
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There's also The Ale Party
Politician question (Score:3, Insightful)
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He likely already has straw accounts following it anyways. It's an easy way to keep tabs on opposition and it doesn't require abuses of government power.
Why shouldnt Barack Obama follow the Tea Party? (Score:4, Insightful)
This two kingdoms version of america you all seem to live is absolutely retarded. The president should be listening to what his political adversaries are saying.
Re:Why shouldnt Barack Obama follow the Tea Party? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Oh please, just stop it. They are different political parties for a reason. Overstating that they are the same is about as useful as overstating that they are both interested in politics.
Either learn the differences or shut up. I'm sick of people spewing that there is no choice, there is. The choices might not split down the lines you want. You might have a position that no candidate is willing to promote. It's nearly impossible to get one person to embody everything you might want. But it is your un
Re:Why shouldnt Barack Obama follow the Tea Party? (Score:5, Insightful)
They are? OK, please answer for me:
1. Which party wants to decrease corporate money in politics?
2. Which party is for decreasing the length of copyright?
3. Which party supports jail time for fraudulent bankers?
4. Which party would increase the penalty for crimes committed by corporations, instead of the current toothless fees we currently have?
5. Which party is for reducing our illegal surveillance both here and abroad?
6. Which party is for eliminating the NSA?
I mean, sure, they're different on a bunch of minor crap no one (should) care about, but when it comes to major issues, they're identical.
Actions speak louder (Score:4)
They are? OK, please answer for me:
1. Which party wants to decrease corporate money in politics?
2. Which party is for decreasing the length of copyright?
3. Which party supports jail time for fraudulent bankers?
4. Which party would increase the penalty for crimes committed by corporations, instead of the current toothless fees we currently have?
5. Which party is for reducing our illegal surveillance both here and abroad?
6. Which party is for eliminating the NSA?
I mean, sure, they're different on a bunch of minor crap no one (should) care about, but when it comes to major issues, they're identical.
I'm all for dividing good from evil, but I'm also a rationalist: I work from evidence, not hearsay. Please answer for me:
1. Which party decreased corporate money in politics?
2. Which party decreased the length of copyright?
3. Which party put fraudulent bankers in jail?
4. Which party increased the penalty for crimes committed by corporations?
5. Which party reduced our illegal surveillance both here and abroad?
6. Which party curtailed the NSA?
Democrats bemoan those nasty republicans for blocking all attempts at making a better world, but they have not blocked any of the bad stuff that makes this a worse world.
Rhetoric is useless, ignore what they say. Consider what they do
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They are? OK, please answer for me:
1. Which party wants to decrease corporate money in politics? 2. Which party is for decreasing the length of copyright? 3. Which party supports jail time for fraudulent bankers? 4. Which party would increase the penalty for crimes committed by corporations, instead of the current toothless fees we currently have? 5. Which party is for reducing our illegal surveillance both here and abroad? 6. Which party is for eliminating the NSA?
I mean, sure, they're different on a bunch of minor crap no one (should) care about, but when it comes to major issues, they're identical.
And let's not forget:
7. Which party is for enforcing immigration laws?
8. Which party is for ending corporate welfare?
9. Which party is for limiting the role of the federal government in our personal lives (including when we're working)?
10. Which party is for limiting the rolling back regulations that keep small companies from growing?
11. Which party is for shrinking government spending (and thus giving us more free time so less of our economic output has to be diverted to government functions)?
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I don't know, but I'll take a guess.
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I don't know, but I'll take a guess.
It's a big issue for a lot of people - but generally the kind of people who work and don't have a lot of spare time to get out and protest. As for "reform", enforcement is a major part of the reform - in fact it is the reform that makes all other reforms possible. But to be comprehensive enforcement has to come first before any other reforms are passed because we know from history and from the behavior of current leaders that a deal won't be honored by those who oppose enforcement. In fact we already did
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1) yeah, it'd be nice
2) i don't really see the point, copyright isn't a patent, it's the cherry on top, it isn't the cake.
3) if they had a single person to string up, they'd have strung him up, but you're looking at a clusterfuck for 2008, and we already do it when its on a smaller scale.
4) do we want to encourage or discourage economic activity in this country.
5) here i'd support, abroad i'd say spy the hell out of them
6) i don't support this.
Education, taxation and the role of government in health care...
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Oh please, just stop it. There are only two parties for a reason. Overstating their differences is about as useful as overstating the differences between King Soopers and Safeway.
By ensuring that any vote for an independent party is a wasted vote, each party minimizes its competition for power, thus limiting how much of the people's will it must honor. The differences that exist force American voters to polarize on two extremes of civil and economic policy, both of which lack the sort of reasonable balan
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they call them snake oil salesmen or messiahs :)
one of them lies to you, the other makes you lie to yourself.
because he has the IRS for that (Score:2)
>. Re:Why shouldnt Barack Obama follow the Tea Party?
Because he has the IRS to do that for him?
Is it in their T&C? (Score:1)
if yes: leave twitter if you don't like it
if no: leave twitter because they're deceiving bastards
Where's my cut (Score:2)
If Twitter is being paid to promote a brand through my appearing to follow it, they're having me act as a spokesman aren't they? If so, where's my fee? I think 10% of the gross that Twitter receives is fair.
Stop using these godamn services (Score:4, Insightful)
Facebook, Twitter, etc. Users are their products and their power. Stop giving them power, unsubscribe today.
Sure, what are some alternative services? (Score:2)
Half of the value of the internet (Score:3)
But the real money is in "guerilla marketing", pretending to be normal people in order to change your opinion. They engage in all kind of anti-social activities like spreading rumors against resistors, as well as threats and cyberbullying people resistant to their marketing. They are also the ones generating the vast amount of black propaganda around the election proccess and are trying to get people amenible to seeing their neighbors as the enemy.
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Your twitter feed is now following the American Nazi Party, and NAMBLA is topping the list of your FaceBook "Likes" shared with your friends and family.
Following != agreeing (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because you follow something on Twitter or Facebook does not mean you agree with or support it. Surely it makes sense to also follow the enemy/opposition/competition just to get more of an insight into what they are doing. So, it would make sense for Obama and/or his staff to follow the Tea Party.
Re:Following != agreeing (Score:5, Interesting)
Agreed. My first thought was the old saying 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'.
I monitor several gun opposition groups just so I know what they're up to in order to better oppose them. I'm sure they do the same to us. I wouldn't be surprised as a result that I'm counted as a 'member' in some circles.
Of course, then there's the militias where it turns out over half the 'members' are undercover officers....
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That's true I guess, but if the President made a public statement that "I don't even want to know about the junk policies of the tea party, I don't give them the time of day", then he is seen to be following them on twitter, then he would look like he is contradicting himself, which wouldn't be a good thing.
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Yeah, he probably wouldn't say that, but nevertheless, he COULD say it, which makes Twitter's approach potentially misleading.
Twitter is for idiots (Score:1)
Lets consider some common terms.
"Consumer"
"Brand Loyalty"
People are consistently manipulated via the media, their buying choices, their humor, their self identification, their politics, think about an environment where you are not exposed to some sort of advertising, propaganda, or other negative stimulus.
Do you have an environment like that?
We are drowning in a sea of media manipulation, and most can't see it as they have grown up with it.
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Just in case you're wondering how well this manipulation works...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Suggested viewing [wikipedia.org].
You mean he (or someone he trusts) doesn't? (Score:2)
Pro-Life & Planned Parenthood (Score:4, Interesting)
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What is and is not extreme is subjective.
The fact that Planned Parenthood performs abortions under *any* circumstance means they are 100% evil
I fail to see why that is "evil."
that they can do no good
That makes no sense. Even if I were to assume the above is evil, are you telling me that if they did something commonly considered to be "good," it would become bad simply because they were the ones doing it?
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Planned Parenthood does not perform mammograms [washingtonpost.com]. (Unless they started doing it since late-2012.)
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"I believe that now, immediately, there should be national sterilization for certain dysgenic types of our population who are being encouraged to breed and would die out were the government not feeding them."
-- Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood
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Lovely strawman, I tip my hat to you. Quoting a line from an era when eugenics was considered good science and not following up with her change of stance when the whole eugenics crap was discredited following WW2.
I've said it many times over, people are allowed to change their minds when new knowledge comes to light and old stances should not be commented on in solo when their enlightened stance has replaced the old one. It's bad science and bad argument.
Untrue; it was a bug (Score:5, Interesting)
This isn't true. This was a bug that has already been fixed [ycombinator.com].
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Issues with OP (Score:2)
Giving others the impression that individuals support something that they actually don't could get you fined and placed under house arrest.
What he did wasn't "giving an impression". It was fraud, plain and simple. The court certainly thought so.
There's ethical considerations to be had.
Yes, there certainly are. But the REAL ethical consideration is whether this constitutes fraud. Again the issue is plain and simple. It might not be simple to decide, but the nature of the actual question here is black and white.
All in all, I think it's an interesting question, but it is being a bit obfuscated by the way it was presented here.
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I suppose there IS another question, but I'm not sure what it is. The fraud part seems clear, but what about misrepresentation and how that can affect one's perceived character? It's not libel... I think. So just what is it?
It is very unlikely that the latter is a "new" issue. I'm just wondering what label it goes under. Hollywood stars and other rich people have sued over having their "personal brand" usurped before. But if they have one, then so should everyone e
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Good question. The Court may soon be asked to answer it, according to this update: Ramirez files suit against Waechter [yourobserver.com]
Why We Have a Lawless Gotcha Capitalism Economy (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's Why We Have a Lawless Gotcha Capitalism Economy [moneytalksnews.com]: "Gotcha Capitalism rewards bad behavior. It turns the normal reward function of capitalism on its head. Instead of good companies with good products and creative innovation rising to the top, we have companies that refine their gotcha mechanisms rising to the top. They create just enough surprise to walk the thin line of the law...or slip over it, but not enough to do something that might actually have a material impact on the bottom line. If you like my line of thinking, I've written an entire book about this - you can buy it here. But for now, know this: Until bad behavior starts resulting in material impact, companies won't stop. And we'll remain stuck in the sucker economy."
But Spock (Score:2)
Why...
am I...
following MasterCard...
on Twitter...
if I...
didn't...
add them?
*stares dramatically at the camera, with dramatic background music*
[fade to commercial break]
Reverse Betteridge (Score:2)
The definition of "the price is right" implies that they would.
I suppose the interesting part is that the price is likely not terribly high.
Barack Obama follows 646k people (Score:2)
Isn't he the President of everyone? (Score:4, Insightful)
The President should definitely listen to the Tea Party. He's supposed to be the President of everyone in the US, not just another partisan asshole.
He says he is open to ideas from anyone. As President, that is the correct attitude for him to have.
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The President should definitely listen to the Tea Party. He's supposed to be the President of everyone in the US, not just another partisan asshole.
He says he is open to ideas from anyone. As President, that is the correct attitude for him to have.
Should Obama be forced to listen to the KKK? He is their President, too.
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Why not? Who does "listening" harm? What would be the specific benefit from not listening? Do you have a plan of action for living together peacefully in a civil society that doesn't involve "listening"? If so, please describe this plan.
A bug in an unrelated ad-functionality (Score:5, Informative)
According to him it was supposed to bump the advertised pages in the "following" list of their followers to the top. In order to do so it required removing it from the current position and reinserting at the top, as (again, according to him) the "following list" is not kept whole in whatever data structure it is stored.
I say equally damning because it reinforces the idea (common in here, not so common out there) that the user is not actually the customer but the product to be sold and "monetized" the harder it can be done without scaring him out.
This should be the definite proof of that (both the bugged and the intended feature) but people will happily trade their social influence for an easy to access technological soapbox.
No judgement being passed or merit being discussed on this post, just an observation of the current standing of the whole situation.
Following Means Nothing (Score:2)
I con't see where you can deduce much from who someone follows, since after all the old adage goes "Keeps your friends close and your enemies closer".
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Welcome to Big Data driven marketing. It doesn't matter if correlation doesn't prove causation. It only matters that it does, often enough. If one thing doesn't mean another it doesn't matter to them, as long as it means it often enough. Machine learning plus crowd thinking means there is no room for indecipherable incongruity. This is the hubris of Big Data. God help the unlovable, undatable, unemployable, weirdos, reformers, artists, revolutionaries, poets and perverts for the algorithm will never be thei
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I really like the visual I get thinking of "Often Enough!" written on a huge banner flying over a Big Data army...
WHO GIVES A FUCK ? This is Gawker-type bullshit. (Score:1)
Sure, you get page hits, but that is not the path to "news that matters".
Fuckwits ... can't you all sit around and circle-jerk instead of posting crap like this ?
Funny that the Headline... (Score:2)
Twitter DO auto follow people for you (Score:2)
At least the phone version, no question of it - it's done it to me within days of having the Android app installed, not an ad, DEFINITELY an actual follow of someone.
This has occurred to me at least 5 times now, I've stopped using the Android app, I'm sick of it.
Promoted tag (Score:2)
Too much weight in social media? (Score:1)
If the CEO of PepsiCo follows Coke will it negatively affect Pepsi in some way? I just don't see it.