!! Do not accuse others of shilling !!

[e_poison]

Lately, there's been a bunch of shilling accusations casually flying around. I'd like to remind everyone that that behavior is explicitly against the forum rules. It is part of the first rule of the forum, and it's been that way since the very beginning... for a very good reason.

When accusations of shilling are made, it makes other users (especially new members) hesitant to share their reviews and experiences. It creates an atmosphere of distrust, and a place nobody wants to leave reviews or ask about vendors for fear of being labelled a shill. We want an open forum where people can freely share opinions and experiences without negative feedback.

If you feel a poster is truly shilling, please click the report icon on the post and let us know the details. We will investigate and have the tools and server logs to do so. We don't want shilling happening here anymore than you guys do, and we have already banned several people for blatant shilling such as creating alt accounts for the purpose of leaving fake reviews. We do not tolerate this.

We are not deleting comments retroactively, but going forward, all comments that accuse others of shilling will be promptly removed. Please use the proper methods for reporting suspected shilling, as vigilante accusations will not be tolerated.

[reazaroff]

*claps* it made me smile to see this. I've popped up a few times in the last few months but definitely have held back recently because of it. I'm glad y'all addressed it. Much respect!

[Tomm]

Cool way to deal with situation. I guesstimate like half of reviews anywhere are shills, it's sort of difficult to tell the difference, because some kratom and vendors are perfect during effects kicking in! I feel the world is perfect at times with kratom, but then the chew tobacco I'm using makes me sick. Haha.

Yeah, because shillers accuse honest people of shilling all the time I'm certain.

Like writing a research paper, I look for 15+ references, so when deciding about a company it is wise to look for that many sources.

I just joined here but it looks like one can post about any company and any company can advertise, which is super nice! Unlike FB groups that only allowed vetted vendors to advertise, or ones that send freebies to moderators or moderators own all the companies, it is wise as a vendor to have several brands.

Sorry if I don't write too well, or follow tangents, working on it.

[thesonsangel]

Double M fellow friends; I believe I'm intelligent and knowledgeable but being "ignorant" of some words such as shilling on here, what does it mean? I looked it up and the definition I found was ...
"shilling is a unit of currency formerly used in Austria; and in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States and other British Commonwealth countries"
so please inform me so I may learn also; as from what I read on the postings it looks like it might be people that are doing things they shouldn't???

[CatfatherB]

Shilling is when a acquaintance or employee is trying to persuade people to by certain brands of products without disclosing their relationship to the brand in question?

Shilling was rampant on the old kratom reddit when vendors or acquaintances of vendors created fake accounts just to push a certain brand.

[thesonsangel]

Thank you CatfatherB. So it is underhanded stuffs? Not good at all!
I try my best to read those who have been on here a long time; that gives me an easier feeling of security. I appreciate your information sir.

[CatfatherB]

Not a problem, sometimes I have to bite my tounge, but I understand why the rule exists.

[Handofdog]

What is shilling?

[Marcussk]

What is shilling?

Well here is a definition I found on wikipedia's

A shill, also called a plant or a stooge, is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with the person or organization. Shills can carry out their operations in the areas of media, journalism, marketing, politics, confidence games, or other business areas. A shill may also act to discredit opponents or critics of the person or organization in which they have a vested interest through character assassination or other means.

In most uses, shill refers to someone who purposely gives onlookers, participants or "marks" the impression of an enthusiastic customer independent of the seller, marketer or con artist, for whom they are secretly working. The person or group in league with the shill relies on crowd psychology to encourage other onlookers or audience members to do business with the seller or accept the ideas they are promoting. Shills may be employed by salespeople and professional marketing campaigns. Plant and stooge more commonly refer to a person who is secretly in league with another person or outside organization while pretending to be neutral or a part of the organization in which they are planted, such as a magician's audience, a political party, or an intelligence organization

But yea its pretty much someone who would be giving a false review for a strain or vendor to persuade people to buy from them, or conversely to drive someone's business away. It happens more than you may think, but luckily not so much on doublem. The mods here are great about policing that sort of thing and shutting it down when it happens. So there's no need to accuse anyone if shilling. When people are afraid of being accused of shilling then people wont write reviews and the whole community suffers from it.

[LeafersonJr32]

I think we should all be able to figure out who is shilling and who isn't for ourselves pretty easily. After seeing alot of posts accusing and so much negativity in some posts here I was nervous to review or give my opinion at first as well. Seems there are alot of people looking for keyboard altercation.

[mivanqua]

Stooge is a much better word for it. Plant a close second, kind of harkens back to the snake oil salesman days...shill is probably my least favorite term for a shill.

[erinarthur]

Thank You for this ..I have been attacked and accused of this by people that don't even know me on other social media sites. anyway, Thanks !! seems to be a very popular thing on MeWe happened again today.

[BallzDeep9]

Stooge is a much better word for it. Plant a close second, kind of harkens back to the snake oil salesman days...shill is probably my least favorite term for a shill.

haha good observations M... Its All about the Money... right? Obviously there is Big money involved in this Kratom "biz". OTOH (On the other hand) this Forum, MM ~ is free? Right? Freedom of speech, Non censored? How does that work exactly... I mean web hosting is cheap, it's not the hosting cost but I think E. got into this providing a free & open service to the community... It's been fantastic. But does that mean... forever? Time is money. How much time is spent, to maintain this place.

Maybe.. this IS now, a Commercial Forum, and we're all just acting otherwise That's understandable. Times they are A' changing, as Bob Dylan once said... I don't own this Forum. All I have invested here is my Time.

[erinarthur]

Stooge is a much better word for it. Plant a close second, kind of harkens back to the snake oil salesman days...shill is probably my least favorite term for a shill.

haha good observations M... Its All about the Money... right? Obviously there is Big money involved in this Kratom "biz". OTOH (On the other hand) this Forum, MM ~ is free? Right? Freedom of speech, Non censored? How does that work exactly... I mean web hosting is cheap, it's not the hosting cost but I think E. got into this providing a free & open service to the community... It's been fantastic. But does that mean... forever? Time is money. How much time is spent, to maintain this place.

Maybe.. this IS now, a Commercial Forum, and we're all just acting otherwise That's understandable. Times they are A' changing, as Bob Dylan once said... I don't own this Forum. All I have invested here is my Time.

But I love The Stooges ! oh wait >>> what ?? LOL

[the_spookiest]

a stooge calling a stooge a stooge lmao

[erinarthur]

a stooge calling a stooge a stooge lmao

Jesus christ Dude >> give it a rest .. don't u have a JOB! Now I gotta see how to block u here . ughhhh

[Playerpiano72]

You just click on their username which takes you to their profile, and click Add Foe. Comes in handy.

[erinarthur]

You just click on their username which takes you to their profile, and click Add Foe. Comes in handy.

thank you .

[IndelibleDotInk]

You just click on their username which takes you to their profile, and click Add Foe. Comes in handy.

thank you .

[Removed. Do not accuse others of shilling.]

Well, you're welcome here if you are legit. I'm Mike, ntmy.

[NiqueKristan]

People aren’t following this rule and it’s honestly turning me off from commenting at all. I commented on a post about a vendor, letting them know about a sale and was accused by two members of shilling. Nevermind that was my only comment about that vendor and I’ve mentioned other vendors several more times.

[Jaredsurf]

People aren’t following this rule and it’s honestly turning me off from commenting at all. I commented on a post about a vendor, letting them know about a sale and was accused by two members of shilling. Nevermind that was my only comment about that vendor and I’ve mentioned other vendors several more times.

[mivanqua]

So THATS why the reviews have slowed down. That's the beauty of this platform. Even the vendors don't shill their shit usually, just answer questions and comment about "the industry" which...ok, I would trade a little product shilling for some industry info, you know? It's a f'ed up world out there. Especially for all of these guys that are quite literally KEEPING US ALIVE, FUNCTIONAL, and maybe even a little bit PRODUCTIVE? I love the vendor community here and I guess my point is, THEY don't even shill.

If someone is shilling it (and this is throughout life) you probably don't want it. How do people sell their shit product when they have it? They shill for it as THE BEST THING EVER! Discernment is where you put YOUR 2¢ in and decide what their motivation is.

WE NEED MORE REVIEWS AND IM SAYING THIS TO MYSELF TOO. I'm equally guilty of this if not moreso.

[MetalMamaRocks]

So THATS why the reviews have slowed down. That's the beauty of this platform. Even the vendors don't shill their shit usually, just answer questions and comment about "the industry" which...ok, I would trade a little product shilling for some industry info, you know? It's a f'ed up world out there. Especially for all of these guys that are quite literally KEEPING US ALIVE, FUNCTIONAL, and maybe even a little bit PRODUCTIVE? I love the vendor community here and I guess my point is, THEY don't even shill.

If someone is shilling it (and this is throughout life) you probably don't want it. How do people sell their shit product when they have it? They shill for it as THE BEST THING EVER! Discernment is where you put YOUR 2¢ in and decide what their motivation is.

WE NEED MORE REVIEWS AND IM SAYING THIS TO MYSELF TOO. I'm equally guilty of this if not moreso.

Lol, yeah, that's like I've always heard don't get a lawyer that has to advertise their services!

[Sabrown092]

Thank you for this post. I am new to this forum and was accused of shilling on Reddit. I had a new account and left two reviews for a company and was told I was a shill for it. All I wanted to do was put out a review on the strains that were working for me and I was brand new to Reddit. So I can appreciate this. Thanks again!