Pharma shills - Page 3

[Rrrrrachel]

I wouldn't be surprised if their were pr people working on social media. I just doubt they're on mdc.

[heathergirl67]

I agree with some of the previous posters. It seems possible, but more likely that they'd go somewhere where they know their audience would already be receptive. Honestly, I think there's probably a lot more shills for alternative medicines/ products here. For the same reason, this would be where they could find a receptive audience.

[Turquesa]

Apologies for the misinterpretation, Kathy. When you wrote in post 7, I assumed that this poll was for non-vaxxers only: "I am interested in the opinion of other non-vaxxers."

[BeckyBird]

I voted yes.

[Taximom5]

On the subject of pharma-shills, the NY Times actually calls webmd

a pharma-shill: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/magazine/06FOB-Medium-t.html?_r=0

"In more whistle-blowing quarters, WebMD is synonymous with Big Pharma Shilling. A February 2010 investigation into WebMD’s relationship with drug maker Eli Lilly by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa confirmed the suspicions of longtime WebMD users. With the site’s (admitted) connections to pharmaceutical and other companies, WebMD has become permeated with pseudomedicine and subtle misinformation."

[Taximom5]

More about shills:

Paid Shills In Forums (Online Reputation Management) http://forums.pcworld.com/index.php?/topic/127381-paid-shills-in-forums-online-reputation-management/

"Basically it's 'online reputation management'. Only the best and brightest. Only the most model netizens. They even work hard to become 'volunteer' moderators in forums, so they get to warn and/or kill other people's comments, and even accounts, for being 'too biased' against the company/companies that they shill for. Mostly, all they have to do is turn the page on a negative comment, and it 'goes away' under a relentless 'defense' of Microsoft's (or whoever's) products, business practices, etc. "

http://www.ehow.com/how_2054569_work-from-home-as-paid.html

How To Work From home As A Paid Forum Poster

If you are seeking a work from home job online, can type and have good communication skills, paid forum poster positions are widely available. These work-at-home positions pay for posting services on community forums and are a good fit for those who can type fast and create interesting conversations.

Read more: How to Work From Home as a Paid Forum Poster | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2054569_work-from-home-as-paid.html#ixzz2EOrzFg6U

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management

 "Firms have been known to hire staff to pose as a blogger on third party sites without disclosing they were paid. Some have been criticized for asking websites to remove negative posts."

Apparently, many companies are not happy when complaints are made about their products on forums:

^"Such negative suggestions which are harmful to the reputation of the organization or individual are often caused by negative contents on personal blogs, complaint sites,scraper sites, forums and comment sections. In such cases where it is not possible to ask for the negative contents to be taken down...some experts advise that the proper thing to do is to push down the visibility of such negative search engine results through proactively publishing useful, positive information about the organizations or individuals."

[Taximom5]

How Does a Paid Forum Poster Spend a Workday?

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4727790_paid-forum-poster-spend-workday.html

"A paid poster who works independently by approaching individual website owners will have a contract to complete a certain number of forum posts while a paid poster will have assigned websites and a quota."

This is fascinating.  I'd read that they get paid per post, but I had no idea there was a quota.  According to this article, they are not supposed to go over their quota.

"Paid forum posters spend a large bulk of their day posting within forums, especially if this is a main source of income."  I wonder if they have a high rate of carpal tunnel syndrome?

"Successful paid forum posters have vast knowledge about a wide variety of topics. A forum poster might start the workday posting within a forum for cat lovers and then eventually end the day posting about sky diving. Since paid posters must have the ability to sound knowledgeable about whatever the topic of the forum is, most forum posters must devote some of their workdays to researching topics.

[ModerateMom]

Those ehow links aren't about paid shills...at least, not the kind you mean.  They are actually talking about posters being paid by the forums themselves and they are supposed to be driving traffic, not shilling for a company or product.

To be a good paid forum poster, you should engage others by creating subjects that encourage conversation.  The point of having paid forum posters is to encourage traffic and conversation at the community so do your best to write with open ended questions that will illicit responses.

Paid posters may work independently or through a service like Paid Posting Tools, but either way the poster usually has a certain quota that must be met and cannot be exceeded.  For example, a paid poster who works independently by approaching individual website owners will have a contract to complete a certain number of forum posts while a paid poster will have assigned websites and a quota.

[Rrrrrachel]

I had no idea paid forum posters was a gig, but I definitely want in on that!

[emmy526]

It sure is!!  I was contracted by a website to do the same...generate traffic to the site, generate conversation, and get others to join the group.  (Not a pharma or vax site)

Originally Posted by Rrrrrachel 

I had no idea paid forum posters was a gig, but I definitely want in on that!

[Rrrrrachel]

It makes perfect sense, I just hadn't ever thought of it before!

[Chicharronita]

Originally Posted by emmy526 

It sure is!!  I was contracted by a website to do the same...generate traffic to the site, generate conversation, and get others to join the group.  (Not a pharma or vax site)

It seems like a lot of forums have these shills. They now go on many different ones in order to monitor what people are saying about certain products or things like GMOs that require a lot of PR in managing public opinion. 

I guess it's inevitable considering how many people are now looking to the Internet for information rather than the mainstream media.

There are good articles such as "Twenty-five Rules of Disinformation" and "Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression" that show some of the methods they like to use to derail threads. I don't know who the original authors are, and I see variations on them posted from time to time.

You may be familiar with "Invoke Authority," "Demand Complete Solutions," "Change the Subject" and "Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents."

[Chicharronita]

I imagine the best ones are fully informed on forum derailing.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Hi All, I've removed some posts that were mocking in nature. Please remember that this forum is support only and keep in mind what Mosaic posted earlier in this thread:

"This thread is about pharma shills and their potential actions on this board and not at all about any pro-vax members or specific posts or posting habits, because that would of course be against the user agreement.

I guess a poll about whether or not folks think pharmaceutical representatives are lurking on MDC is within the UA; but it's a fine, fragile line, ladies, so proceed with caution!!"

[thegoodearth]

maybe...

[WildKingdom]

Interesting thread.  I've been accused of being a shill on MDC many times, by some of the very people posting on this thread.

Let's see.  I've been a member for 4 1/2 years.  I have 653 posts in that time.  That's less than 0.5 posts/day.

Shit!  No wonder I haven't gotten my Big Pharma paycheck lately.

Thanks, guys.  Now I know how to do my work better. :)

[Imakcerka]

Wait Taxi are you saying that Mothering could be paying people to be shills here?  That's a strong accusation. 

[Cynthia Mosher]

I think this thread can only continue if it is moved out of this support forum and into the Vaccinations Discussion and Debate forum. kathymuggle, if your intent for this poll can be met in that forum shoot me a PM to let me know and I'll move it over and open the thread for discussion again.