Twitch Tells US Army To Stop Sharing Fake Prize Giveaways That Sent Users To Recruitment Page (theverge.com) 35
Twitch has intervened to stop the US Army using fake prize giveaways on its esports channel to redirect viewers to army recruitment pages. From a report: The practice was brought to light by a report from The Nation on the use of esports as a recruitment tool by the American military. The US Army, Navy, and Air Force all field esports teams comprised of active and reserve personnel who stream on Twitch and chat with young viewers about life, video games, and the opportunities afforded by military service. "Esports is just an avenue to start a conversation," Major-General Frank Muth, head of the army's recruiting command, told ThinkTech Hawaii recently. "We go out there and we have a shared passion for esports ... and it naturally devolves into a conversation, 'What do you do?', 'I'm in the army.'"
This outreach included automated links dropped into the army's stream chat that told viewers they could win an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller in a "giveaway." But when anyone clicked the link, says The Nation, they were directed to "a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest, odds, total number of winners, or when a drawing will occur." Viewers, streamers, and game developers reacted with anger to the news, saying that any other channel would face repercussions for such behavior. Twitch itself has now apparently forced the army to stop these giveaways, according to a report from Kotaku.
This outreach included automated links dropped into the army's stream chat that told viewers they could win an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller in a "giveaway." But when anyone clicked the link, says The Nation, they were directed to "a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest, odds, total number of winners, or when a drawing will occur." Viewers, streamers, and game developers reacted with anger to the news, saying that any other channel would face repercussions for such behavior. Twitch itself has now apparently forced the army to stop these giveaways, according to a report from Kotaku.
Really funny article.. (Score:2)
I did the unthinkable and actually tried to read the article.. But as the thing starts with how the writer trolled on twitch I am not convinced on how serious it is.
The thing might be or might not be true and/or a problem but with a troll writing it I am waiting for other research.
It is a good thing (Score:2)
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Isnt the military a safety valve to siphon off folks too violent to work in the modern economy?
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That may have more to do with our educational system in the fly-over states.
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Foreigners can see US military personnel as 'button-pushers' rather than skilled employees. The US promotes military service as glorious even righteous, a confirmation of patriotism and a way to beat the civil disobedience out of dissidents. Those behavioural traits tend to a disinterest in seeking truths.
Re: It is a good thing (Score:1)
Explain the American gang tags found on destroyed enemy tanks in Afghanistan among other places
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
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Too bad they never seem to find any of those.
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I don't have the faintest clue what you are talking about.
Re: Comment removed (Score:2)
You can send an email to request to have your account deleted. Feel free to try it out at your earliest convenience.
perfect handle (Score:2)
Would be amazing if one of the player's handles was Yvan Nioj.
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It is worse than conscription.
The conscription is like: "It is a shitty job, but someone has to do it." Not really nice, but honest.
Tricking people to join it is just taking advantage of impressionable people. So a scummy tactic.
Evolution actually favors killing each other (Score:2)
You can't breed it out of people either. Because the moment you do, the fi
Even when it's not easier, humans do dumb stuff (Score:2)
> As long as you can get stuff easier by killing someone and taking it away from them, than by building/growing/working for the stuff yourself, there will always be wars.
Which also covers things like robbery.
What's even worse, people commit armed robbery amd murder for a pair used sneakers. It happens when there is *any* potential reward, even when the cost/benefit ratio very much says it's a bad idea! That is, people do dumb stuff.
People will continue to play the lottery and kill each other for *perce
we have opening for drone pilots if you are ok wit (Score:2)
we have opening for drone pilots if you are ok with killing people remotely
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Don't you know, the feds didn't do that. They helpfully reminded us that they didn't do it because that would have been illegal.
The army can give away guns* not be an fake prize (Score:2)
The army can give away guns* not be an fake prize
* needs 4 year sign up and passing of boot camp.
Re: The army can give away guns* not be an fake pr (Score:2)
Free PTSD*
* Treatment for PTSD not free.
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But you can buy 'shrooms online and have them delivered in a couple of days. So far it appears to be a fairly good therapeutic.
Remember. (Score:2)
If a boot brags about his tours (bad form btw) and smugly asks what you're doing, the proper answer is "Fucking your wife".
We live in the future, (Score:1)
Re: We live in the future, (Score:1)
They used to call the house (Score:2)
Recruiters used to call the house when I was in high school. I just told them no. Then I made the mistake of getting out of class by way of taking the ASVAB. I did well on the test and then recruiters would not leave me alone. One day I told them that the service was not in my future and it seemed to offend the recruiter, I hung up when he started getting aggressive and raised his voice. He was ready to kick my ass through the phone, which confirmed all my suspicions about the service. There is no way
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A few good twitch viewers? (Score:1)