To summarize the article, Kuchera received a press release from videogame developer Majesco Entertainment for their upcoming game NBA Baller Beats a new-concept videogame you play with an actual basketball as your controller.
Official trailer for NBA Baller Beats, via YouTube
In the press release, Majesco stated the game has nearly 700,000 Twitter followers. Kuchera investigated the claim found that 95% of those Twitter accounts were either fake or inactive, leading him to believe that Majesco gained these followers in an unethical and/or dubious way.
The most damning evidence is the Baller Beats Twitter handle (@NBABallerBeats) gained exactly 21,321 followers per day, starting August 19th. Every day. Never more, never less.
Majesco denied the accusation but the evidence is hard to ignore. Especially since blockbuster videogames like Call of Duty only have 570,000 followers and it is widely considered to be the biggest videogame franchise in the world.
NBA Baller Beats vs. Call of Duty... Something doesn't seem right...
For the sake of argument, let's assume Majesco actually bought over 650,000 followers. This brings up an interesting question: Why did they decide to do this? Why take the chance that the public finds out, and potentially damage the integrity of their brand and their product?
The conclusion I've come to is that they believe, that consumers must believe: Quantity Of Followers = Quality Of Product and the risk of being caught misrepresenting themselves was outweighed by the potential consumers gained.
We were taught the first week in PR class, essentially, that honesty is the best policy when dealing with the public and this is one instance where misrepresentation could turn around and bite them in the ass.
Quantity of followers = quality of product...
Is it, though? When you follow someone on Twitter, do you see how many followers they have first? When you buy a product or watch a TV show or download a song, do you see how many other people did first? When you're in line at the grocery store, do you see what other people are buying before you decide what to put in your shopping cart?
I don't mean to be dismissive of the fact that if a product is popular, there might be a valid reason and therefore, people are more likely to give popular products a try.
I can see where Majesco is coming from and why they (allegedly) did what they did. It's too bad, really. The game is a very cool concept and seems to harness the Xbox Kinect in a very unique and intriguing way.
What gives me pause is this... If a relatively small videogame developer is (allegedly) capable and/or willing to mislead the media and the public, then anyone can. Musicians, comedians, writers, journalists, anyone! You have to wonder, when it comes to Twitter's inherent popularity contest, who's really following who?
-NxB
Playing: Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet (still!)
Reading: Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny by J. Robert King (still!)
Watching: Sons of Anarchy (Season Premiere TONIGHT!!)
All 146 of my followers are real! In case you were wondering. Also, there is no way that NBA Baller Beats would have more followers than C.O.D. any gamer/twitterer would realize that in a second. What phonies.
ReplyDeleteClick Here to see my thoughts at this very moment.
ReplyDeleteThis has been going on for a while, and it's fascinating. It shows a huge disrespect for the customer base, I think - it says "we think you are sheep and will do whatever you can be fooled into thinking everyone else is doing."
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteSadly, "sheople" like that do exist and that's why shady practices like this seem to exist.