
I feel like im talking to the borg - louis-paul
https://twitter.com/rulesObeyer/status/1161820065773182976
======
duxup
I feel like this is twitter in a nutshell, and that goes for everyone
involved.

The very first response is "eally like? cause your workers are liars?"

There we go, now the entire conversation is everything or nothing, you're
either with them or against them. Then it's off into personal attacks and
arguments about followers and etc.

Nobody is talking to each other in any of that. They're just posting for
everyone else to see.

The medium is the message and twitter is dumb, and it makes everyone on it
dumb.

~~~
cal5k
I had to delete Twitter from my phone - I found it would make me angry for no
discernible reason, and I'm generally a pretty even-tempered person. Not
healthy.

Once you detach, you realize quickly that much of Twitter represents a tiny
minority of loud, self-righteous people. When "Twitter explodes" in righteous
indignation, I feel like the best move would simply be to ignore it and wait
for everyone to move on.

~~~
logosmonkey
Yeah, same. I actually found this with facebook as well. Since I quit both
networks about a year ago I've been overall happier and have shifted that
downtime to either just not using my phone or reading a book via kindle.

------
codingdave
A real gem in there was the comment of "there is actually an open door policy
at the FCs, which allows us to directly communicate with our managers if we
have concerns or issues."

Think about that for a second. The fact that they feel that is notable to call
out, saying they "actually" have that... implies that they believe it is
normal to not have an open door policy, and not be allowed to talk to their
managers about problems.

I have worked warehouse jobs at a couple points in my life, and it was always
OK to talk to your manager. It wasn't a perk, it was just how things were.

~~~
dx87
That could also be interpreted as a response to the people who talk about the
warehouse workers like they're slave labor with zero rights. It's like saying
"Believe it or not, we actually have an open door policy and can talk to our
managers if there are any issues."

~~~
michaelbuckbee
The past reports on Amazon warehouses call out how strict and automated the
management is: that the local managers don't have the authority to really do
much in the way of providing flexibility (or humanity) to people.

~~~
dx87
Yeah, I don't doubt the reports about it. I was just commenting about how "we
actually have an open door policy" doesn't necessarily mean that the employees
are brainwashed into thinking that having basic rights is something to
applaud.

~~~
michaelbuckbee
I think the pushback was that if there's an "open door" policy it is presumed
to mean "open communication with the possibility of change or at least
suggestions being heard".

If the supervisor you have an "open door" to communicate with has zero
flexibility in what they can do to help you then you might as well converse
with one of the stock-picking robots.

------
leftyted
I doubt these are bots.

One of them says:

> I don't get compensated per tweet. I get paid $15/hr whether I am answering
> tweets or out on the floor stowing. I do this 2 days a week and 2 days a
> week I stow.

While I think it's weird that Amazon is doing this, I also doubt that the
warehouse jobs are bad jobs. I've done manual labor for less than $15/hr and
I'd much rather have a job like that than, say, a job in a restaurant.

I also think it's ironic that the instigator here claims to care about "the
working class":

> really like? cause your workers are liars? you’re not going to convince the
> working class that everything is fine by telling us where to avert our eyes,
> we already know what it’s really like. why don’t you really treat your
> workers better, you can afford it

She's talking to working class people and when they disagree with her, she
accuses them of literally not being human.

If people want to advocate for the working class, they need to step outside of
the simplistic fiction that "evil corporations are ruining people's lives by
employing them and not treating them well". The truth is much more complicated
and jobs don't grow on trees.

~~~
scrozart
> I also doubt that the warehouse jobs are bad jobs

I agree that these folks are probably real people, but you must have missed
the last several month's worth of very public information about the conditions
in their warehouses.

[https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-describe-
pe...](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-describe-peak-2019-2)

[https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/11/18260472/amazon-
ware...](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/11/18260472/amazon-warehouse-
workers-911-calls-suicide)

[https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-drivers-warehouse-
conditions...](https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-drivers-warehouse-conditions-
workers-complains-jeff-bezos-bernie-1118849)

[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-
fu...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-fulfillment-
center-warehouse-employees-union-new-york-minnesota)

[https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20696154/amazon-prime-
day...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20696154/amazon-prime-
day-2019-strike-warehouse-workers-inhumane-conditions-the-rate-productivity)

[https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/amazon-prime-day-
fulfil...](https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/amazon-prime-day-fulfillment-
center-working-conditions.html)

~~~
Accacin
If the conditions are so bad, why are there _more_ complaints? I'm very
distrustful of the media in general and feel like they're pushing an agenda
more than anything.

I know people personally that work in distribution centres and they find it a
perfectly fine job. It'd hard work, yes, but you see complaints like "boiling
hot in summer and freezing in winter", and it's like.. yeah.. Which loading
bay isn't like that?

~~~
TheBranca18
The media absolutely pushes an agenda, they are paid to do so. Not many would
question that. The difference is, reporting on these things is their job and
Amazon is treating their employees like trash. You have to be purposefully
ignorant to miss this stuff. It's everywhere! Last Week Tonight broke it down
pretty well:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9m7d07k22A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9m7d07k22A).
The fact you think your anecdotal evidence means anything is puzzling though.

~~~
iNate2000
I seem to remember that "Last Week Tonight" said that Amazon wasn't as bad, it
was the outsourcing companies that were far worse.

~~~
TheBranca18
You are remembering correctly. But it also pointed out that Amazon sets the
standard in the industry and just because they're not the worst doesn't mean
they shouldn't get better.

------
runn1ng
The “ambassadors” are so bad it’s embarrassing.

Which leads me to think they are not actually PR professionals (they would
actually not talk in such a robotic way), but really low level employees that
are paid extra to talk good on social media, and are repeating from some
officially sanctioned book of “what you should and shouldn’t say”

they don’t sound like Borg, they sound like McDonald’s cashiers, just doing
their assignments

~~~
purple_ducks
Quoting one of the ambassadors:

> Sure some dont like it here, but they may just dont like to work.

Ignoring the grammar..

How stupid or naive do you have to be to a) believe that and b) repeat it.

A not so subtle attempt at saying anyone who has a problem here is actually
themselves the problem.

~~~
stickfigure
This sentiment is quite common in blue collar sectors. Calling them stupid and
naive is, _at best_ , out of touch with at least half the voting block of the
United States.

~~~
ivl
> Calling them stupid and naive is, at best, out of touch with at least half
> the voting block of the United States.

Out of touch does not imply it's an inaccurate statement, though. In 2015 55 %
of the US voting block thought there was a need for the same or more emphasis
on _coal_ in power generation.

------
citilife
Frankly, I find it appalling that this person is being aggressive towards the
people she is supposidly trying to "help". This isn't a "let's fight the man"
kind of mentality, but a "You're not getting what you deserve, and I'll tell
you what you need" kind of mentality - quite pretentious".

Having worked for a far lower minimum wage at 10 hours a day, I can understand
Amazon employees plight. I also know two people working at the fulfillment
centers and they were and are insanely grateful for the job(s).

It was the first time in their lives they had real, solid employment and took
advantage of trainings, saved, etc. After seeing this and living my own
experiences, honestly $15 / hour is probably overpaying for their labor. They
are happy to have the job over paying them.

I think really only the employees should have a voice here. I don't think
people from the outside really understand the situation. Unless you've lived
that kind of life, it's difficult to relate. Same for the ultra-rich, I have
no ability to empathize or comprehend their lives, living in the rat-race.

~~~
stnmtn
The accounts that she is replying to are people literally paid to post pro-
amazon things on social media.

Also there is something else very fishy about the accounts, check this out.
What do you think about this?

[https://mobile.twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397...](https://mobile.twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397696512)

------
pmikesell
I used to work a hard labor job. People got injured. I got injured more than
once. Some people died. It was part of the job and we knew what we were
getting into in exchange for money. It was the best way we had to make a
living.

I don't know if conditions were as hard as working in an Amazon FC, but it was
definitely hard work. We needed the money and appreciated the opportunity to
earn a living.

If the media had decided that we were some kind of downtrodden worker class
cause and had descended upon us to ask these kinds of antagonizing questions
our answers would have been very much the same. I'm sure we would have
answered back with our employers talking points when ridiculed for the type of
work we were doing. People in tech do this all the time when they explain why
they work at some tech company "changing the world".

This whole thing is in very poor taste. This public Amazon FC bashing feels
very much like virtue signaling and I find it disgusting.

~~~
40four
Amen.

I worked a similar job when I was out of college at FedEx. I unloaded trailers
by hand, usually just 2 of us. We were expected to go nonstop until it was
done, and our boxes per minute thru-put was closely monitored. It was hard,
back breaking work & it paid minimum wage. I did it at the time because I
didn't have many other opportunities. I imagine this is one of the best jobs
available to these people, for one reason or another, otherwise they wouldn't
voluntarily work there. Should this be the larger issue we are discussing?

I did find the whole exchange very gross. Some girl who thinks she knows
everything about what it's like working at Amazon from reading a few news
articles. She was very rude and mean to those people. Kind of ironic she's
'fighting' to improve those peoples working conditions, meanwhile (while they
are working) she's actively directing nasty comments and leading others to do
the same.

We all know it feels bad when people give negative comments on social media.
How does she think those folks will feel when they go home after a full day of
negativity directed at them from strangers on the internet?

~~~
9HZZRfNlpR
It doesn't matter to her so since she is not doing the back breaking jobs
anyway. Part of the equality movements should be directed to the fact that
there are not enough women doing dangerous and physical labor.

------
inanutshellus
... imagine this the other way. Imagine that "@rulesObeyer" is the one with
the agenda. Imagine RO is paid by a competitor to spread misinformation and
"stir the pot", then re-read the thread. Suddenly RO seems incapable of reason
or adapting in the face of clear evidence against its assertions. It makes for
a fun read.

(Similarly, "anyone condemning this comment or defending @rulesObeyer must
just be @rulesObeyer in disguise, no matter the evidence to the contrary.")

~~~
aerovistae
Not seeing it. RO is speaking like a real person with pretty reasonable
arguments; the others feel like exactly what she accuses them of being: paid
shills.

~~~
BeetleB
>are you a robot, did they make a bunch of ai to lie for them instead of
helping real workers

Talking to a real human this way is not reasonable. Nor is it an argument.

>how much are you compensated per tweet like this

This is like the question "Have you stopped beating your wife?" When the
assumption of malintent/guilt is there from the start, you're setting yourself
up for a very unreasonable conversation.

>so they’re paying you to tweet that you like your job, which is tweeting
about liking your job...lol yes!! you are paid to say that you like your job.
it’s your job!

This is very likely false, and she is actively ignoring people who are saying
it is false.

I have to agree with GP. While I found the ambassador tweets to be, well,
weird, her tweets are the ones that stood out to me as very unreasonable. She
does not seem at all interested in anything that contradicts her world view.

~~~
ahelwer
It isn't false that they're paid to tweet. One of the Amazon borg replies they
tweet for two days (at $15/hour) then work in the warehouse for two days.

~~~
BeetleB
>It isn't false that they're paid to tweet.

Which is not the allegation being made.

~~~
ahelwer
Put some effort in then, because I have no idea what hair you're trying to
split.

------
blhack
Can somebody explain how to parse the page linked here? This seems like
deeplinking Intl the middle of a conversation.

Side note: it feels like Twitter specifically has done immeasurable damage to
the discourse. Why does the communication have to be presented so confusingly?
To an outsider it seems like it’s to create maximum outrage/confusion/dopamine
response. That’s much scarier to me than a customer service team.

~~~
qwsxyh
You scroll up, and then read each tweet.

I refuse to believe HN users are this genuinely ignorant about such a basic
website. It's really nowhere near as hard to read as anyone here makes it out
to be.

~~~
wcoenen
I took your advice, and the fifth message in the list (by "@amazonfcrafael")
starts with "(2/2)". I don't see the (1/2) of that message, so it seems parts
of the conversation are missing and I'm looking at some kind of automatically
generated subset of all the relevant tweets. But I guess I'm "ignorant"...

~~~
qwsxyh
That's because the amazon bots are bad and don't know how to reply to
themselves properly.

~~~
ilikehurdles
Perhaps a lot more people are genuinely ignorant about a "basic website" than
you'd think.

------
tropicalia
_Come take a free tour at an Amazon fulfillment center and see what our
warehouses are really like. Check out the locations and reserve your spot
online._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village)

------
jeremycw
I don't get this. There's a reason why they make AstroTurf green. If you're
Amazon and you're trying to generate realistic good buzz about your work
conditions don't name the accounts "AmazonDrone643278" or similar.

~~~
rtkwe
What they're trying to do is a bit of false transparency thinking if they show
the people they're paying to tweet are associated with the brand it'll look
less fake because "if they were being fake we'd hide it" or something similar.
If it was paired with something less artificial and hyper cheery it might have
worked but the relentless positivity and the fact that no one person replies
more than twice it feel real fake real fast.

~~~
jordigh
No, it's not that, it's really so that Twitter won't shut them down.

Maybe being "honest" is some side-effect, but they wouldn't be doing it if
Twitter didn't have a history of deleting Russian troll accounts (for
example).

------
avsteele
I see people saying they are 'chat bots'; any evidence of this other than
people's general feeling?

To me the FCA's came off like normal human beings who actually like their job
a bit more than average (these people do exist). The people replying to them
come off as infantile.

~~~
enkiv2
They don't seem to be regular FC employees, but I also don't think they're
bots. Instead, they appear to be humans with a limited understanding of
english who are required to reply based on a manual (like call-center
workers).

This explains why different accounts swap out -- the manual was designed for a
single conversational thread, but employees are supposed to reply to
individual tweets (as picked up from some kind of filtering system).

This is a sort of common pattern -- basically whenever I mention a brand on
twitter, I get replies from somebody with "<brand> ambassador" in their
display name, & those accounts never follow anybody or reply to their replies.
It's gotta be a whole industry. The only difference is that, unlike the
accounts run by Comcast or TD Bank or Steak-Umms, amazon's manual seems to
demand that the service workers pretend to be regular warehouse workers
(rather than customer service / PR).

~~~
rtkwe
Yeah with the really weird insistence that they're not being paid to tweet
while saying I do this two days a week instead of packing while being paid.

------
pmlnr
This is a gem.

One person vs an army of faces all engaging in the same conversation. Borg
indeed.

~~~
segmondy
Reminds me of the scene in the Matrix where Neo is fighting Smith and more and
more of them came into the fight. I actually read it and it's really creepy.
How did they all know this discussion was going on. They really all have 0
followers and are actually following very few people.

~~~
titanomachy
They use a social media management tool (sprinklr?) which lets them track
conversations across accounts. It's designed for e.g. customer support.

------
imglorp
The interesting part here was an assertion that the Ambassador accounts were
managed by Sprinklr for Amazon, a marketing platform. Is that true?

Edit, also - [https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/sprinklr-
suppo...](https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/sprinklr-support/)

~~~
gvx
Yes, and you can easily verify it by clicking on any of the tweets by any of
the @AmazonFC* accounts.

------
imgabe
What's the endgame here? What is this person hoping to accomplish by harassing
the Twitter-jockeys at Amazon?

Is Amazon supposed to say "Oh, someone was snarky to our employees on Twitter,
now all warehouse employees make six figures and only work 20 minutes a day"?

Instead of wasting time by publicly mocking someone who either A. is actually
having a good experience working at Amazon B. isn't but doesn't want to lose
the job that pays their rent and allows them to eat how about:

\- harassing your Congressional representative on Twitter, so they pass labor
laws that might actually improve working conditions

\- organizing a union so Amazon workers can collectively bargain for better
conditions

\- start a competing logistics company, increasing the demand for warehouse
employees so that wages and working conditions have to improve to attract more
workers

Unless of course this is just about scoring retweets and fake Internet points
and isn't an attempt to produce any real meaningful change

~~~
stnmtn
Should people not complain about a company's poor work conditions on a public
forum? I'm really confused, because what you're arguing here is that there is
no reason to say anything ever unless you are taking immediate action to fix
that.

I mean, by your logic, couldn't I ask you why you are making this post and not
instead making lasting change by starting a competing social media site where
no non-impactful conversations happen?

~~~
imgabe
By all means, complain. Complain to the perpetrators of the injustice and
complain to the government that is supposed to regulate them.

Don't complain to the victims that they are not acting sufficiently victim-
like to confirm your preconceived notions of what their lives are like based
on that 10 minute John Oliver segment you watched.

~~~
stnmtn
I mean the people she's complaining to are part of the problem, they are
people who are being paid to post pro-amazon content on twitter that share
accounts, most likely using something like sprinklr.

If these were real people just saying this, then sure, but you can not
actually look at this exchange and think amazon doesn't come out looking even
worse.

~~~
imgabe
They are real people unless you mean they're AI bots, in which case harassing
them is even more pointless. They have zero ability to effect any of the
changes she is complaining about. This is the equivalent of yelling at a
customer service rep. It's not going to get you anything you want and it just
makes you look like an asshole.

------
whalabi
Well that was bizarre, creepy, dystopian.

For those who missed it:

The tweets are labelled "Sprinklr" which is enterprise social media management
software.

So I don't think Britney is sitting in the warehouse on her lunch break
helping to spread the word about how lovely Amazon is.

I think it's a marketing drone sending marketing tweets from fake accounts,
possibly tied to to people.

The replies are coming from accounts which all follow no one (so they're not
legit accounts being used the way people use Twitter - they're just used to
spray pro-Amazon tweets)

Is Amazon actually behind these accounts?

It's legitimately disturbing and my I'm feeling a boycott coming on.

------
duiker101
That was so weird to read. If they are really free to say whatever they want
can they talk trash about amazon and keep the ambassador job?

~~~
vinceguidry
They're not real, they're Twitter chat bots. That Amazon thinks this was a
good PR move is truly astonishing.

~~~
Reedx
It’s astonishing people are so confident these are bots.

No real evidence of that and it’s more likely they’re real. Occam’s razor.

~~~
vinceguidry
The evidence came a bit further down with one commenter posting a picture of
one being male in one post and female in another.

~~~
Sharlin
That's just evidence that multiple humans share the same account for whatever
reason.

~~~
vinceguidry
My guess on how it's happening is that Amazon Turk workers are presented with
tweets and then they select from a list of machine-generated responses. I'd
still call those bots.

------
umvi
Well when you come out of the gate swinging, what do you expect?

She didn't seem reasonable either. Her mind was set on Amazon warehouse
conditions = universally bad, and wouldn't take any other answer.

~~~
rtkwe
I think her response would be the existence of some people who haven't
experienced the issues other people have come forward with, different
locations will have different conditions, and enjoy (or are willing to say so
to get paid to tweet instead of walking 10-20 miles a day) doesn't address the
actual concerns and issues that have been reported. @rulesObeyer basically
says exactly that "you don't speak for those who have been wronged."

------
muzani
Borg customer service is a cousin to chum box advertising.

For those who aren't familiar with 'chum ads', they simply optimize for what
gets the most clicks and longest views. Of course, the thing with the highest
click through rate would be pornography, but since pornography is banned, it
selects the closest thing to that. As well as things that trigger raw emotion
like miracle cures and lots of weird holes.

This kind of Borg service also sounds like an abuse of data analytics.

They have a system that identifies angry people. They find an optimum thing to
say in response to a certain kind of reaction (say, Amazon worker treatment).
They assign $15/hour workers to respond to this tweet and give an optimum
response. The service person then sits around responding to thousands of
tweets per day, forgetting what conversations they've had, and it results in
this experience.

------
axismundi
Reminds me of Unity from that Rick and Morty episode
[https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Unity](https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Unity)

~~~
majewsky
That's actually a more fitting comparison. When Starfleet talks to the Borg,
it's a singular voice coming from the general direction of the Borg ship. But
when Rick talks to Unity, she uses one person at a time to talk, switching
seamlessly between people as Rick walks around.

------
castlecrasher2
This is a striking example of someone being so concerned about a group that
they don't listen to members of that group.

~~~
all_factz
Is it? I think the concern is that the members of the group are paid to share
a certain message. They’re not allowed to share how they really feel, since
they’re tweeting on the clock.

~~~
rtkwe
And the tweeting about loving your job is a pretty cushy job compared to
warehouse picking and packing so they're 100% disincentivized to share
anything even slightly negative or 'off script.'

------
settsu
What I find most unfortunate in these situations is the number of people with
a response to the effect of:

> "I worked at [physically-demanding job] for $n/hr [where n≤other
> person's/current minimum wage] and I didn't [complain/think it was that
> bad/die], so what is the problem?"

The problem with this is:

1) In the absence of any addl. context, it's a poor means of _objectively_
determining employee well-being.

All else being equal, shouldn't "we" (humans, as a species) be using an ever-
increasing bar of basic well-being _in context to historical norms and
improvements_ as the measure?

Besides, there's any number of factors that influence what is "reasonable"
(regional cost of living, changes to inflation/buying power, an individual's
capacity to work, etc.)

2) People can _simultaneously_ feel grateful __AND __discouraged in their
current circumstances. To be glad you have a job and to feel stung by two
generations of stalled economic mobility are not mutually exclusive emotions.

3) Both sides can experience entirely sincere feelings of "rightness". That
does not prove, deny, or change any underlying facts.

4) Being (AKA _feeling_ ) "right" bears little or no benefit to anyone. It
means a temporary rush of dopamine and adrenaline. No ones life has usually
been materially improved by that event.

~~~
wildrhythms
>"I worked at [physically-demanding job] for $n/hr [where n≤other
person's/current minimum wage] and I didn't [complain/think it was that
bad/die], so what is the problem?"

I call these types of comments "disciplinary blinders" (we've always done it
this way...) but there's probably a better name for them. They might as well
be prefixed with "back in my day..."

That's aside from the fact that those comments are redirecting the
conversation away from the main point, which is Amazon's questionable PR
tactics.

------
grenoire
As mentioned before, these are likely tweets managed by a centralised
messaging system. What is really creepy, however, are the tweets on the
accounts themselves.

------
spapas82
Are these account really related to Amazon? How could anybody confirm this?
Can't all these answering accounts be a part of a parody that wants to
ridiculise Amazon?

I am asking honestly because the other possibility seems too absurd to
believe.

~~~
stagger87
Only a few of them are. Several other people are jumping in with fake Amazon
FC accounts.

------
solotronics
I want to play the devils advocate here. If these jobs were gotten rid of with
automation would these workers be better or worse off?

I know the essential argument is that the job should pay more and also not be
automated away but due to the competitive nature of capitalism there is a
tipping point where it becomes cheaper to have robots do the work. Should all
these jobs be replaced by robots? What would society look like then? I don't
think anybody in charge is answering these important questions.

~~~
projektfu
This is a relative of the “lump of work” fallacy. These workers are currently
hired by amazon and its contractors because amazon has already displaced other
forms of work (retail, logistics, call centers). Experience shows that
increases in productivity caused increases in living standards and work
conditions across the board. So, usually, one would expect people to be better
off with automation even if there’s some “friction” in reducing an automated
workforce.

It’s worth pointing out that productivity growth has been low for years and
shows no sign of rapid acceleration in the Information Age.

~~~
einpoklum
"Experience shows that increases in productivity caused increases in living
standards and work conditions across the board."

Only if you average it across entire societies. For example, living conditions
in many peripheral de-industrialized areas in various countries often
deteriorate for long periods of time while central cities benefit from cheaper
products. So it's not just about "transitional friction" \- it's huge swaths
of society, in terms of geography and the population.

~~~
projektfu
I think deindustrialization is not exactly a symptom of productivity growth.
It's more of a symptom of loss of labor competitiveness, possibly from a
failure in productivity growth relative to other industries. Mobility of
capital has a lot to do with it. For example, an area with lots of factories
that popped up at the same time, and now they're reaching end of life and the
capital owner will rebuild them in a different location where labor is more
competitive.

If you think about the postwar boom, there was massive productivity growth in
many regions that saw continuously increasing labor force participation and
internal immigration. Detroit comes to mind. In the low-productivity 80s (when
productivity growth reached 0 at one point) factories started closing because
they were uncompetitive with foreign producers. Northern industrial centers
started evaporating as they were replaced by southern ones with similar
productivity but lower overall labor cost.

------
cryptozeus
Great thing about this os that they really have some people thinking they are
not bots so they already won. Even here in the thread people are saying they
are not bots. How crazy !

------
ptah
my favourite FC ambassador for sure
[https://twitter.com/SvetaPinto](https://twitter.com/SvetaPinto)

~~~
nacs
I'm pretty sure that's one of the meme accounts that popped up/changed their
name after this thread happened and not an actual FC ambassador.

~~~
ivl
I'd give Amazon a lot more credit if I wasn't certain that account was purely
there for the memes.

Their twitter bio makes it pretty clear they're not a real... propaganda
account? I'm not even sure what to call the other ones in the thread.

------
radmuzom
Not sure if anyone saw the tweet by Ken Childs -
[https://twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397696512/...](https://twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397696512/photo/1)

These Amazon ambassadors are complete fakes; and the top comment is about
shutting down a conversation?

------
PedroBatista
They are NOT bots.

They are people getting paid a few bucks to spew the Word of the Lord ( in
this case Jeff Bezos )

It's the corporate version of troll farms.

~~~
PaulRobinson
Could you explain
[https://twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397696512](https://twitter.com/TheKenChilds/status/1161847717397696512)
then?

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Account mistakenly reused?

------
scythe
Has she considered that the reason a different employee responds every time is
that she’s being unnecessarily rude and nobody wants to talk to her, so they
keep asking each other to take over? Because that’s what it looks like to me.

------
kpennell
This is such a gem of a creepy thread!

------
tus88
Holy crap was that creepy or what?

------
c3534l
This is everything wrong with the internet from every side. The creepy Amazon
workers, the echo chamber, the unreasonable Twitterer. Just everything.

------
simonebrunozzi
This thread is so interesting, and so sad, at the same time.

It also seems that Amazon is using Sprinklr as an "enterprise marketing
platform" to handle these FC ambassadors [0].

[0]:
[https://twitter.com/GarrettShorr/status/1161881614256705536](https://twitter.com/GarrettShorr/status/1161881614256705536)

------
Zenst
The swarm mentality in the depth of posters would be indicative of a hive
mentality at play. Borg is a most apt definition as they were once
individuals, but are now part of the Amazon collective.

Who knew "resistance is futile, you will be fulfilled" was a thing, not even
George Orwell saw that one coming.

------
mark212
Not one single misspelled word in a dozen tweets from 6-8 different accounts?

BORG

------
WhompingWindows
Can someone explain why the warehouse workers have to walk 10-20 miles per
day? Wouldn't it be faster to give them rollerskates or a scooter? Is it a
safety concern?

~~~
papreclip
If you spend all day walking, you rack up miles. As a furniture mover I was
walking 8-10 miles a day, carrying furniture for a significant fraction of
that.

If these workers are walking across giant warehouses they should definitely
have bikes laying around. Rollerskates seem dangerous

------
einpoklum
If you can wade through the Twitter noise it's actually humorous. But - why
have I wasted 50 seconds of my life on this? Damn you Bezos! :-(

------
Ajedi32
While I understand the idea behind this program, it still feels kinda
hypocritical to pay employees to talk about their job on social media when
Amazon doesn't allow companies to pay people to review their products on
Amazon:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201967050)

------
blaser-waffle
Does this mean we're going to more of the Žižek FC Ambassador? I imagine it
like Chompskybot but more flamboyant.

------
drngdds
Amazon's paid shill program is incredibly creepy and I have no idea how anyone
thought it was a good idea, but it seems kind of mean to dunk on them like
this.

Either (a) they actually like their job and you're being a jerk or (b) they
actually agree with you that their job sucks but they have to pretend they
don't and you're making them aggressively defend their shitty employer.

------
wonderwonder
Kind of reminded me of the short novel The Santaroga Barrier by Frank Herbert
for some reason.

------
hacknat
This was very unsettling to read.

------
cryptozeus
Twist, she is also a bot created by amazon and this blew up as side effect. Ex
machina !

------
yk
My theory is, that all of these people are actually part of the same art
project.

------
peu4000
This is just cheap twitter advertising -- the only thing different about
this(from Wendy's twitter advertising) is that Amazon is harnessing Twitter's
outrage lust to get more eyeballs on their ambassador's nice words and it
looks like it works.

Don't interact with advertisements, folks.

~~~
pas
It might work, but it's creepy as fuck.

------
dceddia
It’s like one person was given control over multiple accounts, but forgot that
every time they replied they’d appear to be a different person. It’s funny
because every now and then they appear to remember, like the person halfway
down saying “Hey it’s me again”.

------
joaomacp
This is full-on dystopia. I'm shocked this isn't fiction.

------
jaimex2
Fantastic bots, when is AWS opening access to their chat bot AI?

------
apatters
If you feel like you're talking to a drone, why keep talking? If you're not
talking to the Queen, the only effective course of action you've got is to
fire on the Cube.

------
apo
Can someone just summarize the thread? No desire to scroll through to figure
out what the hubbub is about. Grammar is a mess, which makes it even harder to
make heads or tails of it.

~~~
TheLastPass
It's a conversation with Amazon "Fulfillment Center" ambassadors, who defend
Amazon and say they're very happy. But their Twitter accounts don't follow
anyone, they're corporate-branded, they all recite near-identical messages,
and they're being paid to represent what it's like working for Amazon, and
they "happen to like working for Amazon". The way they speak sounds very
scripted and forced, a la The Borg.

------
jordigh
Oh, wow, "FC" means "fulfillment centre".

Doesn't that sound a lot like... an enrichment centre? Certainly sounds nicer
than "warehouse".

~~~
rtkwe
It's a fairly standard dress up name for shipping warehouse. Sounds better the
same way personal/executive assistant has replaced secretary.

------
jdkee
That exchange was Orwellian.

------
mattxxx
Next season on Black Mirror

------
cat199
umm... from the thread:

[https://twitter.com/SvetaPinto/status/1161889174808596481](https://twitter.com/SvetaPinto/status/1161889174808596481)

"Žižek - Amazon FC Ambassador

‏ @SvetaPinto Replying to @rulesObeyer @curry_nyc @AmazonFCCarol

We are happy to work at the glory hole of capitalism."

~~~
brodie78382
This was my favorite response in the whole Twitter thread.

------
patientplatypus
Amazon is an evil company. Just...stop buying stuff from them! You can find
better quality goods on other websites and you won't be paying for employees
to be abused. Saving 50 cents on a twenty pack of Charmin isn't worth propping
up gross people.

------
luzjh
Related: employees sing the Walmart song
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOkQJm_UGM4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOkQJm_UGM4)

------
fuzz4lyfe
What's the problem? they are just correcting the record[0]

[0][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correct_the_Record](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correct_the_Record)

