Ask Slashdot: My Company Wants Me To Astroturf, Should I?

An anonymous reader writes "Posting as AC for obvious reasons. The company I work for put an app in an app store. The marketing people think it isn't selling very well, so they sent out an email asking people to get on all their social media sites and friend or like the app to build up traffic. The thing is, most of the employees have not used the app, but we are being asked to say that we like it. We just saw stories about companies not being allowed to ask employees or interview candidates for access to social sites, but what does it mean when a company asks employees to astroturf? Will the marketing or HR people look at who has astroturfed, and who has not at raise time? How would you deal with this?"

Re:Honesty

[fermion]

The dishonest thing about "astroturfing" is the lack of full disclosure. I see nothing wrong with an employee or developer or managet stating in a review who they think is good about a product. Heck, I would even welcome some inside information about details that make the product really good. However the consumer does have a right to know when a review has a deep interest in the success of a product. I know disclosure is not always permitted, so what I would say is to write nothing that is untrue.

In any case I wonder if these programs really work. If a product is popular, the competition has an equal right to state honestly everything they think is bad about a product. In the end all we have is an arms race where the outcome is determined by advertising resources, not quality of product. And then we back where we started from.

Re:Find another job

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh bullshit. Show me someone that doesn't lie, and I'll show you another liar. And this isn't like they asked you to lie to your spouse about infidelity.

The important question here is, "was there an implicit 'or else' on the end of that email from marketing". If not, then shut up and get back to work because there's nothing to whine about... and you know it.

If so, you should be looking for a new job.

That's the real question.

Re:Are you loyal?

[sdguero]

Yep. I was nearly fired when I pointed out (at my manager's suggestion) to the execs that the smallish (~250 employees) company was throwing hazardous materials in the dumpster, and could be fined for it under CA law. The big wigs saw it as a threat and my manager had to convince them I was only looking out for their best interests, not trying to be a whistle blower or make money off them. And of course, they did nothing once they figured out I was just trying to help and not get a lawsuit going.