What is a shill?  Is it someone who doesn't pay advertising fees at ar15.com or is it something more?  

-aimless wstte pit thread about shills and stuff

I like this definition of shill although others have generally taken over.  It seems today there is a narrow and gray line between a shill and a fanboy when in reality the difference should be somewhat clear.


-Shill - Merriam-Webster Online

So the person who came in with an Intacto arms rifle thread here was presumably a shill correct?  He came in completely new to the forum and was pushing a product.  We have seen shills in the past and I believe some members within the moderator staff keep hawk like eyes out for those people.

So what else is a shill?  What about someone who comes with a first look at a product that is not on the market yet.  If this person doesn't explain that they have gotten the item as a demo unit for the purpose of review does that make them a shill?  

An example of that would be in the night vision forum.  Member skypup regularly has the newest gear from flir industries while he has no official announced or claimed association with the company.  Does that make him a shill?  Flir does not have an advertiser account does that make the case a shill/nonadvert payer?  On the other hand flir sells product through companies like TNVC which is an advertiser and site sponsor.

What about small customization companies.  Say a member of your hometown forum is able to make a holster for a gun that another member needs a holster for by way of leather or kydex.  If you have gotten a holster from them in the past should you be able to promote or encourage them member to contact the holster maker or should this be wrong?

What if you create youtube videos for supplemental income and receive products for free or a reduced price with the promise of reviewing in front of your you tube followers.  If you create an account that regularly shares youtube videos that you also create and profit from should this be considered being a shill?  Should the owner of a youtube account that profits from the hits on that account be allowed to share videos without an advertiser account?

So is the act of being a shill a bannable offense or even a COC conflict?  The COC does not really cover this but instead says
final paragraph of COC

I tried to get a bit of clarity in a PM with a staff member but things were left slightly open ended so I figured rather than trying to contact each staff member I would ask it here.

So lets talk about it here!

That's a lot of words  and stuff.

Uh oh, in before the lock.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1706404_Any_tank_or_armor_owners_here_.html

^Isn't this a shill thread?

why?  Im curious what the hive thinks a shill is.  This isn't a negative thing at all it is about defining things.


eta



why would that be a shill thread?  If he later announced they were all for sale maybe but I don't understand.

The guy owns battlefield vegas isn't he advertising for his place in that thread?

Yup that is a great question then.  He is sharing info about his tank collection but it doesn't necessarily mean he is shilling the original post said nothing about the use of the tanks or the business surrounding them and would seem to be fine in terms of a shill.  The following comments might come around to an issue but as started seemed fine.

Example 1
Dude with sock puppet on left hand talking in internet forum: Wow, this is a really great product.  I really love this product, you should too.

Same dude with sock puppet on right hand talking on internet forum: Neato, you sure are right mister, thanks for the recommendation.  I can now safely recommend this to everyone, hooray for this product!  Boy howdy am I glad I have a huge audience that other people pay for and I can reap a benefit from.


Example 2
Dude dressed in nothing but a gigantic sock with holes cut out for his eyes talking on an internet forum: I just got this new thing and boy am I impressed, did you know it can be yours for the low, low price of $2,799.99.  It's also available with cerakote for another $349. Boy howdy am I glad I have a huge audience that other people pay for and I can reap a benefit from.

Don't do that shit here!

Is this another fleshlight thread?

I was thinking a combo Fleshlight and Sig Brace sales thread.

Well, hell.

IBTLAB

ETA: At least it's not a tranny thread. Not that there is anything wrong with those...

double

Big can of worms, but it would be an interesting discussion.

Lol.

Locked since the author can't reply anyway.