Corporate shills

[aelf]

I'm sure nobody is surprised by the existence of shills for political parties. You could say that at the very least there's probably some innately human sense of tribalism at play there. But what about corporate shills? Are they mostly either employees or paid by the corp? Because why else would normal people defend a corp so vehemently?

One example I saw recently was a budget airline that had been in the news a lot recently due to bad delays and technical issues with their planes, though it hasn't yet crashed a plane or caused any fatalities. I do get that these things happen with budget airlines due to the way they operate, but the fact that there are other similar budget airlines that don't have these problems nearly as much, it's fair to say that this particular airline isn't doing great. Yet there were multiple people who vehemently argued that the airline's only responsibility is to being customers safely to their destinations and that other problems do not make it not a great airline. This argument strikes me as so untrue and dishonest that I thought these people must be shills who have something at stake in the conversation.

So what do you make of such people? Would they do what they do without being compensated in some way? Do you personally know anyone who's a corporate shill?

 

[Hrothbern]

I struggle with the meaning of the word "shill"

These people defending that airline:
they were no employees of that airline ? no employees of another airline ? or of anything related to the success of an airline ?

A shill is someone who defends something, but you cannot see his stake, his motives... nor does that person clarify that ?

 

[Camikaze]

People can be insecure about their choices, and so act defensively when those choices might be called into question. If someone is a habitual consumer of a particular company's products or services, they may feel faced with the choice of either dismissing the criticism or admitting their own mistakes, even if it's not really their choices which are under scrutiny.

Beside psychology, there can be a bunch of reasons for defending specific companies at specific times, and the cumulative effect of that bunch of reasons might be that there's always someone defending a company.

 

[cardgame]

Usually it's because you tangentially triggered their I D E O L O G Y and they must defend it, even if they know not what they do.

 

[Tristan_C]

I don't know any shills personally, but there are businesses that can be hired to defend or boost online reputation on social media and wikipedia. You could say some features of the situation online generates an excusable market for shills. People are more likely to write negative reviews if they have been stiffed, than positive ones if they were satisfied. It takes time and effort. There is also aversion to writing reviews in general because it discloses information about you to Google/Facebook/Moloch/Beelzebub/Amazon/etc.. So you'll only do it if you had a bad-enough experience to justify this loss of privacy, and subsequently, a business might not necessarily deserve its x% negative reviews.

Like cardgame said too. I might take up for Boeing because it is an American company. I'm not sure what I would say in defense of their new computer system determining a jet's cruising angle (particularly since Boeing is supposed to be more analogue than Airbus), but I would be tempted to cook up excuses.

 

[innonimatu]

So what do you make of such people? Would they do what they do without being compensated in some way? Do you personally know anyone who's a corporate shill?

There are professional corporate shills, of the paid kind, and "PR" employs people disguised as "common people". So some of those you think are not compensated may be. As for the ones who are not... people like to argue and project, it's normal. But this too is very often cultivated and channeled by PR operations.

 

[Lexicus]

Paid PR people tend to be smoother than your average online commenter though. Online it can be very hard to tell what's going on, with multiple layers of fake accounts etc.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Gamer "culture" is terrible this way and I knew people in the 2000s who basically defended Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo to their grave, because their choice of console became part of their identity, and so any criticism of said corporation was then taken as a criticism of them.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Gamer "culture" is terrible this way and I knew people in the 2000s who basically defended Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo to their grave, because their choice of console became part of their identity, and so any criticism of said corporation was then taken as a criticism of them.

How dare you say that! YOU HAVE INSULTED MY HONOR AND FOR THAT. YOU. MUST. BE. PUNISHED!

 

[yung.carl.jung]

for me it's the McChicken, the best fast food sandwich. 2mcdonalds coupons have been disposed to your account

 

[Lexicus]

Gamer "culture" is terrible this way and I knew people in the 2000s who basically defended Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo to their grave, because their choice of console became part of their identity, and so any criticism of said corporation was then taken as a criticism of them.

I wasn't merely a boy playing Halo on an Xbox, I was an Xbox boy, righteously and messianically certain that Xbox was not only the best gaming system, but the best way of life

 

[Timsup2nothin]

You see this all the time in cars. Brand loyalty runs amok when it is represented by the largest purchase you don't live in. Buyers have a real need to assure themselves they made the best choice.

 

[MaryKB]

Maybe you're the shill, for another budget airline trying to drive this one's customers away? XP

Everyone has different experiences, I don't feel it's healthy to think people who see things differently from yourself must be getting paid to think that way, your point of view isn't the only one that's correct, right?

Obviously that airline has customers, and I'm sure many keep going back and live them, despite what flaws you see. I've found people get defensive when you criticize something they care about, and I don't feel it's especially productive to be negative about something that doesn't even affect me.

If you don't like that airline, why don't you just not fly with them? Why do you feel so strongly that other people view them positively?

 

[aelf]

True, I guess people do let their choices dictate who they are in part, and that's when they'd be motivated to defend their choices as though their honour is at stake.

Paid PR people tend to be smoother than your average online commenter though.

Not necessarily true, I feel. Lots of obvious sock puppets are barely coherent, and it seems to be their actual jobs.

Everyone has different experiences, I don't feel it's healthy to think people who see things differently from yourself must be getting paid to think that way, your point of view isn't the only one that's correct, right?

Obviously that airline has customers, and I'm sure many keep going back and live them, despite what flaws you see. I've found people get defensive when you criticize something they care about, and I don't feel it's especially productive to be negative about something that doesn't even affect me.

If you don't like that airline, why don't you just not fly with them? Why do you feel so strongly that other people view them positively?

Who said I feel strongly or very negatively about shills? What I do feel negative about are irrational arguments and gaslighting when those are employed by shills. I couldn't care less what their product preferences are.

Clearly, lots of people buy crappy things all the time. Not that many of them would spend time defending those things to strangers, though, which is why when people do, it can strike me as quite a bizarre thing. If you think that's an 'unhealthy' point of view, well, I couldn't care less either.