3 ms·

Sorry to double reply but where a lot of people switched on their thinking about Arrington was with Scamville - his expose on Farmville: http://techcrunch.com/

by bl4k 16y ago

Sorry to double reply but where a lot of people switched on their thinking about Arrington was with Scamville - his expose on Farmville: http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming... He was out-there and persistant with the story at the same time that other media outlets were praising Zynga for their performance figures. Arrington was mocked by developers at a conference when he made these accusations to Offerpal Media - and in the end the CEO ended up being replaced, Zynga apologized and Facebook changed their platform policies. It was easy for people to be critical of his initial claims because they didn't come back later when it ended up being true with an apology. There are blogs dedicated to covering the social gaming space, and when they covered these companies they painted a rosy picture and never questioned the offer system that was causing children to steal from their parents and be unfairly charged. We should be thankful that Techcrunch and some other bloggers are putting the truth ahead of any other interests and not only exposing these stories but forcing companies to change the way they work to benefit consumers. Old media are struggling and killing off the old style of investigative journalism - and it is great that somebody is picking up the mantle and challenging conventions. Stories like this shouldn't be written off just because they are from " a blog".

grovulent 16y ago
Is it bad to double reply? I'm enjoying the discussion. :) I think the example you've cited is quite a good one... He provides clear evidence for his claim that can be independently verified. And certainly props goes to Arrington for the effort. That doesn't make his current adventure any more respectable - each effort must be judged on its own merits. Also - it's not actually the central issue whether or not Arrington is right or not. I accept that he might be - after all, what would I know? The key issue is whether or not it's appropriate to publically air unsubstantiated, barside allegations of such a damaging nature without further evidence to back it up. That's the point I want addressed - and I'm not seeing anyone provide me with a decent justification of the behaviour.
- bl4k 16y ago
  "The key issue is whether or not it's appropriate to publically air unsubstantiated, barside allegations of such a damaging nature without further evidence to back it up." Well it is a tough call, I think most people cringed when they read the story and not in a bad way, more in a 'I can't believe I am reading this' sort of way. This story, by its very nature, is difficult to verify further - unless he can get one of the VC's on the record I think it will remain the way it is now, that is, a strong allegation and a series of denials. I was hoping for an update today from Arrington to keep this story rolling - right now it seems to be in a state of limbo. If I was keeping score, I think it is a tie except for McClure losing a few points with his response (and I am familiar with his writing style, I just think his response jumped around the issue a lot)

by bl4k 16y ago

grovulent 16y ago

Is it bad to double reply? I'm enjoying the discussion. :) I think the example you've cited is quite a good one... He provides clear evidence for his claim that can be independently verified. And certainly props goes to Arrington for the effort. That doesn't make his current adventure any more respectable - each effort must be judged on its own merits. Also - it's not actually the central issue whether or not Arrington is right or not. I accept that he might be - after all, what would I know? The key issue is whether or not it's appropriate to publically air unsubstantiated, barside allegations of such a damaging nature without further evidence to back it up. That's the point I want addressed - and I'm not seeing anyone provide me with a decent justification of the behaviour.

bl4k 16y ago
"The key issue is whether or not it's appropriate to publically air unsubstantiated, barside allegations of such a damaging nature without further evidence to back it up." Well it is a tough call, I think most people cringed when they read the story and not in a bad way, more in a 'I can't believe I am reading this' sort of way. This story, by its very nature, is difficult to verify further - unless he can get one of the VC's on the record I think it will remain the way it is now, that is, a strong allegation and a series of denials. I was hoping for an update today from Arrington to keep this story rolling - right now it seems to be in a state of limbo. If I was keeping score, I think it is a tie except for McClure losing a few points with his response (and I am familiar with his writing style, I just think his response jumped around the issue a lot)