Should Industry Professionals Disclose Brand Affiliations When Commenting on Social Media?

[mtemur]

I don’t see any point for not to disclose. What’s the problem or harm when an industry professional discloses his/her affiliation with brands?

IMHO an industry professional should disclose his/her brand affiliation and let the people decide what they think whether that comment is biased or not.

 

[Synaxis]

Shill existence is like snake oil existence.

It gets talked about a lot but rarely is found in the real world.

Respectfully Lee if you're not looking for it, or a part of it, you can't say it doesn't exist, can you?

I have two distributor friends who have been in this industry a long, long, long time. One is also on the pro/home side for mfg's.

They openly tell me about how many shills they pay on the forums and how they literally can hire a small army of shills because people are so worried about the "evil" dealers, they don't use their critical thinking skills equally on ALL posts.

It's like the way people melted down over the negative review last week - they claim they what negative reviews but they can't handle it when presented with it.

 

[Synaxis]

I voted "No" because if you spend a load of money on something because you read about it on the internet, and didn't do what any sensible consumer would do like listen to the product (if it's audio), then you only have yourself to blame. You'd think that people with the cash for high-end hifi could make an intelligent decision for themselves, but then I suppose there are the trust fund kids and assorted members of the British Royal Family.

I agree with you - mostly.

100% agree people are too lazy to do their own reseach and want to be told what to think, what to buy and how to vote.

I disagree with you that it has anything to do with how much money they have.

 

[soliver]

Well, I voted NO on this poll, primarily because of this particular example. I don't think Dick Diamond as the owner/employee or whatever, has to run around with like a proverbial Scarlet letter everywhere he goes in person or online. This post is from his personal account, on a personal social media platform. Its not like he is violating the rules of Facebook or even that group page, to only say he likes the system and re-iterate particular pieces. This is extremely benign. Now if Dick had posted on Steven's system pics on this forum, the rules are clear, and the forum has a method for someone to easily add taglines announcing their affiliations here, so yes. And if you are in the industry and floating around an audio forum, you are probably doing so for your business interests. On Facebook however, I assume Dick posts to his extended family's baby pics more than he posts on a group audio page.
BTW, I am very much not a shill, I can only wish I was making some money off of this hobby.

 

[Lee]

Respectfully Lee if you're not looking for it, or a part of it, you can't say it doesn't exist, can you?

I have two distributor friends who have been in this industry a long, long, long time. One is also on the pro/home side for mfg's.

They openly tell me about how many shills they pay on the forums and how they literally can hire a small army of shills because people are so worried about the "evil" dealers, they don't use their critical thinking skills equally on ALL posts.

It's like the way people melted down over the negative review last week - they claim they what negative reviews but they can't handle it when presented with it.

Your experience has been different than mine. I have not had any distributors mention paying for shills.

If it happens, I suspect it is rare.

 

[Synaxis]

If it happens, I suspect it is rare.

If you say so. People who are hiring the shills say differently.

 

[Iamrael]

I think the term is “influencer” and I think you know a few of them!

Your experience has been different than mine. I have not had any distributors mention paying for shills.

If it happens, I suspect it is rare.

 

[gleeds]

Woah!
Dick Diamond AFAIK is not the owner of GTT Audio. Dick used to work for YG Acoustics and I am pretty sure Bill Parish still owns GTT Audio.

Bill does indeed own GTT Audio, the US importer of Vivid speakers. Dick Diamond is a long-term professional, having run sales for YG Acoustics before their buyout. If I am not mistaken, Dick is the National Sales Manager of GTT Audio, helping the company expand and service a network of dealers around the US for brands that include Mola Mola, Audionet, Kronos, Kubala Sosna, and Vivid.

In answer to Ron's question, at least as far as Facebook is concerned, I am not sure Dick's post was out of bounds, but I do agree his Facebook page would better serve everyone's interests if it mentioned his affiliation. I have a personal Facebook page. This week, a good friend and colleague who is an expert on Facebook suggested that I set up a page for my company, Hear This, so people would know my affiliation when posting about audio.

WBF has always had a firm policy on disclosing industry affiliation, which I strongly support. However, to me, WBF is not Facebook. In my view, WBF exists to serve the interests of its members, while Facebook is an entirely different animal.

 

[howiebrou]

I would very much like to be a shill. Audio companies please contact me by PM and bring a cheque book.

 

[treitz3]

Do forum owners and paid/unpaid forum employess consider themselves to be audio industry participants?

Hey, Tim. This is an interesting question.

I will answer this, from my own perspective, but with a separation in the answer.

First - As far as the WBF is concerned? The forum owners do disclose their affiliation within the industry, as that is part of the Terms of Service of the forum.

As far as the moderating team goes? No one is industry affiliated. We are simply in the hobby that all members here enjoy. All of us deeply and truly enjoy this hobby and honestly, we would not be here if we didn't.

Now, have we participated in testing prototypes and offering feedback prior to the public release of said product(s)? Yes.

Sometimes the feedback is bad and the product does not get released. Other times, the product gets improved (not just from us but other folks that are also offering feedback).

This, IMO is nothing more than what any other member of the forum might have the opportunity to do for any manufacturer. This would be kind of akin to filling out a customer comment card at a restaurant and then having to disclose your affiliation within the culinary industry.

As far as the website administrator? What does he even have to do with this hobby, other than offering us a fully functional and smooth working platform that we can all chat on about subjects just like this. Heck, I don't even recall him ever posting on the forum before about anything audio related. His action is all behind the scenes. Not quite sure he would need to disclose his industry participation...

That said, let's address other forums.

At the end of the day, it is up to said forum owners to make that decision. IMO, credibility goes a long way when you disclose your affiliation within the industry. That said, some don't. There is nothing we can do about that.

The consumer/possible customer has to do the research. All of us have had to do this. I mean, would you buy anything off Facebook because of a stellar review? Haha....well, I never do. I go to the legit website, check reviews, read real input from real users (or try to decipher real users from the BS).

Yes, it takes effort but it is what it is.

Kind of got off topic there, sorry. I am human.

My point is that I could agree to your question....only if the owners/administrators/moderators were actually associated with the industry, sold products, owned a business within the industry, or was was a representative of an audio company, promoting their products. In other words (as Ron alluded to), a solid connection to the industry.

Tom

 

[tima]

Do forum owners and paid/unpaid forum employess consider themselves to be audio industry participants?

Hey, Tim. This is an interesting question.

I will answer this, from my own perspective, but with a separation in the answer.

First - As far as the WBF is concerned? The forum owners do disclose their affiliation within the industry, as that is part of the Terms of Service of the forum.

As far as the moderating team goes? No one is industry affiliated. We are simply in the hobby that all members here enjoy. All of us deeply and truly enjoy this hobby and honestly, we would not be here if we didn't.

Now, have we participated in testing prototypes and offering feedback prior to the public release of said product(s)? Yes.

Sometimes the feedback is bad and the product does not get released. Other times, the product gets improved (not just from us but other folks that are also offering feedback).

This, IMO is nothing more than what any other member of the forum might have the opportunity to do for any manufacturer. This would be kind of akin to filling out a customer comment card at a restaurant and then having to disclose your affiliation within the culinary industry.

As far as the website administrator? What does he even have to do with this hobby, other than offering us a fully functional and smooth working platform that we can all chat on about subjects just like this. Heck, I don't even recall him ever posting on the forum before about anything audio related. His action is all behind the scenes. Not quite sure he would need to disclose his industry participation...

That said, let's address other forums.

At the end of the day, it is up to said forum owners to make that decision. IMO, credibility goes a long way when you disclose your affiliation within the industry. That said, some don't. There is nothing we can do about that.

The consumer/possible customer has to do the research. All of us have had to do this. I mean, would you buy anything off Facebook because of a stellar review? Haha....well, I never do. I go to the legit website, check reviews, read real input from real users (or try to decipher real users from the BS).

Yes, it takes effort but it is what it is.

Kind of got off topic there, sorry. I am human.

My point is that I could agree to your question....only if the owners/administrators/moderators were actually associated with the industry, sold products, owned a business within the industry, or was was a representative of an audio company, promoting their products. In other words (as Ron alluded to), a solid connection to the industry.

Tom

Thanks for replying Tom -- I give you credit for doing that.

My understanding of who is an "audio industry professional" -- a member of the audio industry - is people who are manufacturers, distributors, and dealers. Then there is the media: audio review publication editors and publishers and reviewers who publish in recognized audio review publications, print or on-line. The recognition of audio media publications as industry participants comes from the first group, that is the manufacturers, distributors and dealers who send components/equipment to the review publications to write about. Someone who solicits information or interviews (not a review) and puts that on the Web (typically as a columnist) qualifies if they do so under the auspicies of a recognized publication and the publication recognizes them as associated to them. Someone who obtains equipment through some other channel and puts an article on the Web does not qualify.

If an industry member has thoughts on the above I welcome them to comment on or correct the above.

Let me see if I understand what you are saying by being more explicit and you can give your thoughts.

In the case of the WBF forum: Although he used to be a dealer for Lamm and was a business associate of Joe Lavrencik of Critical Mass Systems, I don't see anything in Steve William's current profile that suggests he is a member of the audio industry. Ron Resnick hangs out a shingle saying he is a dealer for Clarisys Audio and Hegel Music Systems and indeed Clarysis Audio Global LLC lists him as a Clarysis dealer in California, so he is member of the audio industry.

I agree with you that no one else who 'serves' at WBF is a member of the audio industry. I agree that beta-testers do not qualify if they are not a regular employee for whomever they test. I agree with you that technologists maintaining Web sites are not audio industry professionals per se although they may be if they are regular employees of manufacturers, distributors or dealers.

What I am curious about is audio forums in general -- there are many. In virtue of soley owning an audio forum does that qualify one as an industry professional? I have not personally heard of that and I don't think it is up to forum owners (or anyone) to simply declare themselves such. However, forums do publish lots of advertising and hope to draw eyeballs to see the advertising and it may be possible for individual manufaturers, distributors and dealers who have ads in a forum to recognize that particular forum as among industry professionals. That part is unclear to me.

To my knowledge, their are no formalized rules that hold across 'the audio industry' about anything. I agree with you that "credibility goes a long way when you disclose your affiliation within the industry." I do think there is a vague general consensus on what counts as accepted practice and among those transparency is a virtue.