Something beautiful is happening in internet-world.
Something that has been a long time coming.
Something that could finally bring peace to large sections of this war-torn land, whilst decimating acres of free and useless 'content'
Yes, people are finally getting 'Tough' on people who post fake reviews. And by Tough, I mean taking them to court for hundreds of thousands of dollars.. Hurrah!
Yes in New York, generally known for being a 'Don't fuck around' kind of town the dagger is finally being put to companies that supply those fake reviews as well as their clients. Of course it's about time, and for the good of the universe it would be lovely if it was successful...
But there are some fun game to be had with fake reviews. Firstly the obvious spot the fake.
This can be great because they range from the blindingly obvious ones (usually containing the words: For the Record, I am not an employee). These are usually found on a host of rubbish restaurants, after 30 1 star reviews a whole raft of top mark reviews flow in to attempt to balance them up, saying things like 'I don't know what the other reviewers are thinking' or my favourite ever, a Dodgy Landlord who attacked reviewers of his shifty practices and counter-reviewed them, their clothes, their hair-style, their hygiene and claiming they worked for other landlords... he was later caught out posting hooky reviews of other landlords...
Which brings us on to the second fun game, which is based on the legendary Internet Game: 'Fake!' If you don't know Fake it simply involves finding a picture, youtube Video, or anything upon which you can comment, the more innocuous the better, and leaving one word 'Fake!' and then watching the poster tie themselves in knots of apoplectic fury explaining exactly why it couldn't be a fake. This variant works on the same premise, you find the most reasonable, balanced and downright fair review you can, and simply reply 'Well anyone who works for the company would say that'.. and then sit back and watch the mayhem...
The strange thing about this is that it's news at all.. Firstly this is totally illegal anyway. Fraud is still fraud, even on the internet.. That's why those 'This can enlarge your penis' emails go in the spam filters. They aren't legal advertising (Believe me, if anything other than painful surgery could genuinely enlarge a penis, most men would be carrying theirs in a wheelbarrow by now). It's fraud, you get caught, you get busted. So why has fraudulent impersonation taken so long to be taken seriously, particularly when most long time users can spot them a mile off. (Not that means they are ineffective, do you read all the reviews, or just look at the average star rating?)
At least it's a step in the right direction. And it has led to one of the most amusing piece of pure 'Meta' I have read in a long time. One of the 'Astroturfers' caught up in the New York 'Cease and Desist' writ had their internet presence announced by a glowing review, containing those immortal lines "For the Record, I am not an employee"
You can guess the rest...
Something that has been a long time coming.
Something that could finally bring peace to large sections of this war-torn land, whilst decimating acres of free and useless 'content'
Yes, people are finally getting 'Tough' on people who post fake reviews. And by Tough, I mean taking them to court for hundreds of thousands of dollars.. Hurrah!
Yes in New York, generally known for being a 'Don't fuck around' kind of town the dagger is finally being put to companies that supply those fake reviews as well as their clients. Of course it's about time, and for the good of the universe it would be lovely if it was successful...
But there are some fun game to be had with fake reviews. Firstly the obvious spot the fake.
This can be great because they range from the blindingly obvious ones (usually containing the words: For the Record, I am not an employee). These are usually found on a host of rubbish restaurants, after 30 1 star reviews a whole raft of top mark reviews flow in to attempt to balance them up, saying things like 'I don't know what the other reviewers are thinking' or my favourite ever, a Dodgy Landlord who attacked reviewers of his shifty practices and counter-reviewed them, their clothes, their hair-style, their hygiene and claiming they worked for other landlords... he was later caught out posting hooky reviews of other landlords...
Which brings us on to the second fun game, which is based on the legendary Internet Game: 'Fake!' If you don't know Fake it simply involves finding a picture, youtube Video, or anything upon which you can comment, the more innocuous the better, and leaving one word 'Fake!' and then watching the poster tie themselves in knots of apoplectic fury explaining exactly why it couldn't be a fake. This variant works on the same premise, you find the most reasonable, balanced and downright fair review you can, and simply reply 'Well anyone who works for the company would say that'.. and then sit back and watch the mayhem...
The strange thing about this is that it's news at all.. Firstly this is totally illegal anyway. Fraud is still fraud, even on the internet.. That's why those 'This can enlarge your penis' emails go in the spam filters. They aren't legal advertising (Believe me, if anything other than painful surgery could genuinely enlarge a penis, most men would be carrying theirs in a wheelbarrow by now). It's fraud, you get caught, you get busted. So why has fraudulent impersonation taken so long to be taken seriously, particularly when most long time users can spot them a mile off. (Not that means they are ineffective, do you read all the reviews, or just look at the average star rating?)
At least it's a step in the right direction. And it has led to one of the most amusing piece of pure 'Meta' I have read in a long time. One of the 'Astroturfers' caught up in the New York 'Cease and Desist' writ had their internet presence announced by a glowing review, containing those immortal lines "For the Record, I am not an employee"
You can guess the rest...
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