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| https://twitter.com/amazonfchannah/status/1161910397336768512?lang=en |
Many people speculated that these were bots, fake accounts set up by Amazon to make people think everything was going great in Amazon warehouses and factories. However, they are apparently real people. If you go through and read the tweets these people have made, they all have their own lives and stories - they are all actual people. What is terrifying about this whole thing is that all of these replies give off the vibe that a gun is being pointed to their heads, you can almost hear the forced smile and happiness in their tweets. Nothing about it is illegal or anything, but it really makes you wonder if all Amazon factory workers are being treated fairly if they have to pay these ambassadors to say they're living their best life.
There's nothing huge that has come of this or anything, but I thought it was an eerie real life example of social media being used to manipulate and twist people's perceptions. Fortunately for us, the way these ambassadors are delivering their messages, we're not quite able to buy it. These posts reminded me of Saslow's piece about the lack of reality in social media and how people will eat up anything as long as it fits within their echo chamber. This isn't necessarily the same exact scenario, but the responses from these Amazon accounts are actually horrifying. I urge you to look into this yourself as some of the tweets are absolutely absurd.
For a more in-depth description of these posts, check out this article I read:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/style/amazon-fc-ambassadors.html
Interesting piece! I'd even say it's a reverse echo-chamber, as people angry with Amazon's providings for workers were probably the ones seeing these tweets, and the resulting cognitive dissonance can be confusing enough for people to back down. However, I wouldn't be too surprised by this. After all, Amazon ambassadors are supposed to keep the brand in high regards, and this is what they're doing. However, what's more concerning is their advocacy against unionization - it seems like it would be in their best interest, but they're actively against it. Definitely a trend to keep eyes on.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog! I remember seeing people talk about these accounts on Twitter, so your post hooked me in right away, and you introduced the topic very well. I think it would help if you introduced Saslow's piece and its relevance a little earlier in your post, and then you could use that to add context to the impact of these Amazon tweets. I also think there are a lot of potential connections between your topic and our readings, so I think you could outline them more instead of passing it off as not being the exact same scenario.
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting, I'm an active twitter user and I hadn't heard of this. With the shifting political attitude in America, where workers who would benefit from unionizing are inexplicably against it, I am curious as to whether you think any of the tweets were legitimate and not coerced. I think you did a really good job explaining the situation and highlighting the implications in such a short time, but I would like more on the legality of this. I know you said it's not illegal, but I would be shocked if employee coercion doesn't have at least some legal precedent behind it. I would like to see some explanation on this, and as to why there aren't any if that's the case. It's interesting, it circles back to the idea of laws not being able to keep up with technology.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there are ex-Amazon employees tweeting / posting about this issue to bring some clarity?
ReplyDeleteOverall an interesting piece I enjoyed reading, but agree with Rachel with possibly making an earlier reference and/or expanding on the piece after the connection. This seems prime for disinformation examples. Perhaps also not out-link to Canvas.