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Amazon Bullies & Trolls

edited March 2014 in Writing
Anne Rice's support of a petition against bullies and trolls. Has been in the news.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/04/anne-rice-protests-bullying-amazon-petition

Any opinions?

Comments

  • I can't see why anyone needs to hide under a pseudonym, and always comment everywhere as myself. If this became law, then a lot of anguish could be stopped... not just for authors, in particular anonymous bullying of children, by other children.
  • Obviously as an author I can make several cases for author anonymity and pseudonyms but reviewers, I can't really make a case for.
  • As much as I understand the idea behind this I can’t ever see it happening.

    "Hello, Amazon? You know you have millions of people participating in discussions and advertising your site by word of mouth, controversial news stories, book reviews, link sharing? Could you pretty much annihilate that number by forcing people to give all of their personal details? It's ok, you can tell people you won't reveal or sell the details if you think they'll buy it. Kthanksbye...”
  • Obviously as an author I can make several cases for author anonymity and pseudonyms but reviewers, I can't really make a case for.
    I agree.

    I was following an indie trilogy on Amazon - the reviews of the first one intrigued me. One gave it 5 stars and another, only 1.

    Book one - 5 stars from 'Jane' - who 'looked forward' to the next book in the series.

    Book two - 4 stars from 'Jane' - sadly she was logged on as AN Other - the author's adult son. Incredibly they haven't removed it.

    Book three - no reviews.

    How do I know? The author had an unusual name. Quick look on Google revealed the son and his wife's names.

    That might not be 'bullying', but it's dishonest.


  • As much as I understand the idea behind this I can’t ever see it happening.

    "Hello, Amazon? You know you have millions of people participating in discussions and advertising your site by word of mouth, controversial news stories, book reviews, link sharing? Could you pretty much annihilate that number by forcing people to give all of their personal details? It's ok, you can tell people you won't reveal or sell the details if you think they'll buy it. Kthanksbye...”
    I don't think customers understand Amazon's position.

    Amazon's bean counters can probably tell you (with the disturbing accuracy) the value of the literary market for the next five years. Their big spreadsheet will forecast (again with alarming accuracy) Amazon's market share.

    What Amazon don't know is which books the public will buy - but why would they care? Amazon's only concern is the dollar bill. Customer reviews cannot convince a buyer to spend additional money, they can only influence which book a customers spends it's money on.

  • I would support the using of actual names for comments. If you've got something to say, then be upfront about it. Bullying under a pseudonym is cowardly.

    I dared to confront a spiteful troll once on a discussion board (in support of someone else)... then my only review disappeared. Despite my arguing the case with Amazon, they would not reinstate it. I still remember the name of the troll. I checked out all his reviews - all scathing and bitter - and having looked at his book purchases, it seemed that he was into some very weird things! It made me loathe to contribute to that forum. He was just one of many out to cause trouble.

    Recently I went back, minded my own business and started a thread which pertained only to my books. Lo and behold, I had a visit from a regular poster who declared that I should be contributing to other threads, blah, blah, blah.

    'They' say writers should get out there and promote, but it's difficult to carry on when you're full of bullet holes.
  • edited March 2014
    .
  • I resist the temptation to add another dot!
  • Sorry, my dot was a post I deleted.

    I'm all in favour of bullies and trolls being cracked down on- I don't think enough is done about the issue at the moment, and I feel that's where the campaigning should be aimed at.

    I can see lots of drawbacks with the idea in the petition.
  • edited March 2014
    If anybody has the patience, they might enjoy this.

    http://www.hardpressed.org.uk/the-wheels-on-th-bus.html

    It's a good old-fashioned tragedy.
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