Onyx Boox pays people to leave positive comments on social networks
You know that I’m a huge fan of the Onyx Boox Note Air. I love this device.
Maybe you noticed that it’s another story for the Nova 3 Color as I cannot bear the low contrast and low quality screen.
Many people have shared their opinion about the Nova 3 Color on social networks, including Reddit. Globally, it seems that most customers don’t like it and some have sent it back when possible. Some people genuinely like it.
However we can legitimately question some of the positive comments and user reviews on social networks about this new device.
Suspicious posts
Today I spotted another positive post about it, from the same member as many other posts of the same kind before. Isn‘t it strange this person committed to post positive messages on a quite regular basis since the launch of the Nova 3 Color, 2 months ago ? Posting but never really talking of his user experience or asking questions or anything that could make it more real…
Rather suspicious, I reviewed his previous posts and then I found a link to his instagram. To my great surprise it was there, written in clear words « partenariat rémunéré avec boox.global » I’m french so it’s translated in my language. That means « paid partnership with boox.global ».
 |
| « Payed partnership with boox.global » it’s in french here |
So this person is paid by Boox and regularly promotes the Nova 3 Color on Reddit without disclosing his partnership with the company.
Deleting posts feels like a confession
I can be a pain in the ass especially because I don’t like dishonesty. So I posted a message explaining the situation and luckily got enough upvotes to make it impossible to downvote my post to the point of making it disappear (that’s how it works on Reddit). Some hours later, all the recent messages of this account were gone, the newest remaining one is now from 50 days ago.
Not even a real user
What is funny is that if you check his Instagram (it’s public but I don’t want to expose him, I won’t post a link), you can quickly notice he doesn’t even work on an Onyx Boox device but on a PC and an iPad. He has even launched a ko-fi tip box to help him buy the new iPad Pro.
So sad. All of his positive comments were false, he doesn’t even really use the device. He is just paid to promote it, acting like a real satisfied user.
Not the only one, not a professional
There are other accounts on Reddit and probably most social networks with exactly the same kind of profile, just posting positive things, always here to defend a brand or a device. When somebody is systematic in this communication exercise, it’s probably a person with a specific interest : somebody payed to do this job.
This one was just not so clever. I feel sorry for him because he looks like a nice guy just trying to earn some money. I don’t blame him. Real professionals, e-reputation managers, content partners and any other name they give to their dirty job, are usually much more clever and difficult to spot and expose. They are must more problematic for the net neutrality and freedom of speech too as they can manage to make negative comments disappear and actually take over some social networks.
Brands on social networks
It’s good to have brands on social networks. It can make them easier to reach and it gives them an opportunity to present their work and share about it in a more humane way. However, paying people to promote their products undercover, acting as genuine customers is not right. This is a dirty trick and it doesn’t give a good image of the company.
Cheating doesn’t make a good reputation
This is nothing new. Brands have tried to take over social networks since years. Recently Amazon ditched Aukey for false user comments. They don’t sell Aukey products anymore. Why ? Because this is cheating and dishonest. So what is not acceptable in user comments on Amazon, is not more acceptable on social networks. Some brands need to understand what is a positive and open attitude.