6 ms·

Verifed GoDaddy Employee is conducting an AMA on reddit right now

37 points by kefs 15y ago

jimmyjim 15y ago
Go Daddy realizes it perfectly well the part Reddit played in this whole fiasco and how much of an effect it can potentially have in the future for its business, so it's very, very difficult to buy that this isn't a calculated PR move. Everything from a delicately created image of a conscientious, personable, diligent, innocent worker who is ... well, just reiterating everything that has been said in the past by Go Daddy's official blogs and elsewhere (a back story to Parson killing the elephant that you don't know about, assurances that Go Daddy doesn't support SOPA, an acutely indifferent, and sometimes slightly apologetic explanation for the sexist ads--'they work!') ... to being aware of all the nuanced mannerisms compatible with Reddit's culture and playing them the right way. This is really actually their best damage-controlling PR move on this thing.
- Selfcommit 15y ago
  So being able to mimic nuanced mannerisms on reddit is now a marketable social media skill...
  - dotBen 15y ago
    I'm sure there are PR flaks that would list that as a skill. It's not a million miles away from startups and tech companies encouraging their most personable employees to hang out on HN and other places to help increase the profile of said company.
- yuhong 15y ago
  FYI: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nrptu/iama_real_godaddy_employee_amaa/c3bejc9 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nrptu/iama_real_godadd...
est 15y ago
GoDaddy stories has been flooding Hacker News and technology.reddit.com for quite a while now. I don't think this will be their last PR move.
- billpatrianakos 15y ago
  Why is everyone so cynical around here? Even if the guy is from PR, which I doubt, his story checks out. I know we all pride ourselves on being smarter than the rest around here but I think popular opinion is wrong on this one. The backlash against them for supporting SOPA seems to have put blinders on us all. Their support was wrong and when they took it back it wasn't very convincing. But they really didn't help write the bill. After they came out supporting SOPA the media grabbed on to the narrative we helped create and now all the stories are focused on them which is leading to a lot of this misinformation we're taking as truth. What's worse is that our anger towards them for supporting the bill won't allow us to see past the hype, realize that yeah, all registrars are exempt, and no, they didn't help write the bill. I know these facts cannot and never will be excusable but I think we need to start putting this into perspective. Okay, GoDaddy are assholes, let's not support them but let's also quit obsessing over them and get back to SOPA itself. I don't think there's anything else we can discuss about GoDaddy that will help defeat SOPA. Why not focus on what the committee is doing now because I promise GoDaddy isn't the secret hand behind it all and watching them isn't going to help us one bit.
  - cdcarter 15y ago
    Why is everyone so cynical around here? Because they think that PR is evil and deliberate and not just a part of day to day life. PR encompasses everything a company does publicly, not just spinning bad situations.
    - yuhong 15y ago
      IMO, top-down control of the message is just fundamentally flawed nowadays. Moving away from it would go a long way toward allowing non-anonymous AMAs.
redthrowaway 15y ago
Maybe my tastes have just changed, but the quality of the discussion in that AMA is far worse than i remember them being. About half the root questions, and maybe 10% of the followup threads are decent. Maybe it's just because GoDaddy is a hot topic on reddit right now, and so drags out those without much to say, but it's sad to see.
- mkopinsky 15y ago
  Agreed. Usually on these kind of things I find that the crap gets hidden, but here it was very much present. Only thing worth seeing: Employee: "... everyone I speak to at GoDaddy either opposes SOPA or doesn't know enough to have an opinion." Redditor: "That's odd. Among redditors it's usually both."
billpatrianakos 15y ago
I'm so glad he came forward. Maybe now some of the hyperbole can stop. I've been reading stories of the following 2 types: 1. Blogs offering commentary on another story about GoDaddy's role in this and pretty much saying "GoDaddy wrote the bill and gave themselves a bunch of perks". 2. The actual sources of those original blogs. It's funny how the sources say no such thing and actually corroborate this GoDaddy employee's story. If you just read the original sources you'll see that he's right in saying that GoDaddy didn't write the bill and really did just ask to redefine a few points. It's also totally true that all registrars get the exemption. I've stopped commenting on these stories because the second someone introduces a little rationality into the discussion the downvotes and gang-up start flying. I'm no GoDaddy apologist. I think they're assholes for coming out in support of SOPA like everyone else. But why are we focusing so much on them? These stories aren't true. They simply mention GoDaddy and take on a life of their own. Ever since GoDaddy got brought up we've totally gotten distracted. Badly. I don't know why GoDaddy came out in support of SOPA. I'd guess it was so they could hedge their bets in case it passed. It's still wrong but I'm not about to go all conspiracy-theory and buy into any theory along the lines that imply GoDaddy is some sort of oppressive evil company for some mysterious reason. Come on guys, let's be reasonable here. What the guy says is true. I've been a long time GoDaddy hater but even I can't get on board with a lot of this misinformation floating around. Sorry if it's not the popular opinion but it's the truth.
- zabraxias 15y ago
  We can't say that everyone is posting misinformation about GoDaddy since the best source on their stance is their initial post on the pro-SOPA stance itself. A commenter on TC also linked to this http://t.co/HwNa8MEY http://t.co/HwNa8MEY post by VP Nima Kelly equating SOPA opposition to denying legal protection to "the established rights of fellow Americans" while ignoring the constitution and due process. The company certainly has other smears that have been bundled in the bashing but don't equate it to unfair treatment. DMCA is already unfair legislation but the idea that we should let the copyright lobby police the Internet is fundamentally absurd.
- wnight 15y ago
  > I've stopped commenting on these stories Really? Not very well. > If you just read the original sources you'll see that he's right in saying that GoDaddy didn't write the bill and really did just ask to redefine a few points. It's also totally true that all registrars get the exemption. Oh, no harm done then. They only refined it, they didn't create it from scratch. > I'm no GoDaddy apologist. I think they're assholes for coming out in support of SOPA like everyone else. But why are we focusing so much on them? There's more than one other person on HN, and people can do more than one thing at once. "We" are focusing on a bunch of things. > These stories aren't true. They simply mention GoDaddy and take on a life of their own. Ever since GoDaddy got brought up we've totally gotten distracted. Not all of those stories are true, you mean. Because they did support SOPA. And they did make some refinements to SOPA. Maybe their CEO didn't practice satanic rituals before killing the elephant but the verified portions of the story are still damning enough. > It's still wrong but I'm not about to go all conspiracy-theory and buy into any theory along the lines that imply GoDaddy is some sort of oppressive evil company for some mysterious reason. Of course not. They're an oppressive evil company because it's profitable.
gulbrandr 15y ago
Sorry for the dumb question: what is an AMA?
- asmosoinio 15y ago
  Ask me Anything discussion on reddit.com
  - gulbrandr 15y ago
    Thank you.

37 points by kefs 15y ago

Go Daddy realizes it perfectly well the part Reddit played in this whole fiasco and how much of an effect it can potentially have in the future for its business, so it's very, very difficult to buy that this isn't a calculated PR move. Everything from a delicately created image of a conscientious, personable, diligent, innocent worker who is ... well, just reiterating everything that has been said in the past by Go Daddy's official blogs and elsewhere (a back story to Parson killing the elephant that you don't know about, assurances that Go Daddy doesn't support SOPA, an acutely indifferent, and sometimes slightly apologetic explanation for the sexist ads--'they work!') ... to being aware of all the nuanced mannerisms compatible with Reddit's culture and playing them the right way. This is really actually their best damage-controlling PR move on this thing.

Selfcommit 15y ago
So being able to mimic nuanced mannerisms on reddit is now a marketable social media skill...
- dotBen 15y ago
  I'm sure there are PR flaks that would list that as a skill. It's not a million miles away from startups and tech companies encouraging their most personable employees to hang out on HN and other places to help increase the profile of said company.
yuhong 15y ago
FYI: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nrptu/iama_real_godaddy_employee_amaa/c3bejc9 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nrptu/iama_real_godadd...

est 15y ago

GoDaddy stories has been flooding Hacker News and technology.reddit.com for quite a while now. I don't think this will be their last PR move.

billpatrianakos 15y ago
Why is everyone so cynical around here? Even if the guy is from PR, which I doubt, his story checks out. I know we all pride ourselves on being smarter than the rest around here but I think popular opinion is wrong on this one. The backlash against them for supporting SOPA seems to have put blinders on us all. Their support was wrong and when they took it back it wasn't very convincing. But they really didn't help write the bill. After they came out supporting SOPA the media grabbed on to the narrative we helped create and now all the stories are focused on them which is leading to a lot of this misinformation we're taking as truth. What's worse is that our anger towards them for supporting the bill won't allow us to see past the hype, realize that yeah, all registrars are exempt, and no, they didn't help write the bill. I know these facts cannot and never will be excusable but I think we need to start putting this into perspective. Okay, GoDaddy are assholes, let's not support them but let's also quit obsessing over them and get back to SOPA itself. I don't think there's anything else we can discuss about GoDaddy that will help defeat SOPA. Why not focus on what the committee is doing now because I promise GoDaddy isn't the secret hand behind it all and watching them isn't going to help us one bit.
- cdcarter 15y ago
  Why is everyone so cynical around here? Because they think that PR is evil and deliberate and not just a part of day to day life. PR encompasses everything a company does publicly, not just spinning bad situations.
  - yuhong 15y ago
    IMO, top-down control of the message is just fundamentally flawed nowadays. Moving away from it would go a long way toward allowing non-anonymous AMAs.

redthrowaway 15y ago

Maybe my tastes have just changed, but the quality of the discussion in that AMA is far worse than i remember them being. About half the root questions, and maybe 10% of the followup threads are decent. Maybe it's just because GoDaddy is a hot topic on reddit right now, and so drags out those without much to say, but it's sad to see.

mkopinsky 15y ago
Agreed. Usually on these kind of things I find that the crap gets hidden, but here it was very much present. Only thing worth seeing: Employee: "... everyone I speak to at GoDaddy either opposes SOPA or doesn't know enough to have an opinion." Redditor: "That's odd. Among redditors it's usually both."

billpatrianakos 15y ago

I'm so glad he came forward. Maybe now some of the hyperbole can stop. I've been reading stories of the following 2 types: 1. Blogs offering commentary on another story about GoDaddy's role in this and pretty much saying "GoDaddy wrote the bill and gave themselves a bunch of perks". 2. The actual sources of those original blogs. It's funny how the sources say no such thing and actually corroborate this GoDaddy employee's story. If you just read the original sources you'll see that he's right in saying that GoDaddy didn't write the bill and really did just ask to redefine a few points. It's also totally true that all registrars get the exemption. I've stopped commenting on these stories because the second someone introduces a little rationality into the discussion the downvotes and gang-up start flying. I'm no GoDaddy apologist. I think they're assholes for coming out in support of SOPA like everyone else. But why are we focusing so much on them? These stories aren't true. They simply mention GoDaddy and take on a life of their own. Ever since GoDaddy got brought up we've totally gotten distracted. Badly. I don't know why GoDaddy came out in support of SOPA. I'd guess it was so they could hedge their bets in case it passed. It's still wrong but I'm not about to go all conspiracy-theory and buy into any theory along the lines that imply GoDaddy is some sort of oppressive evil company for some mysterious reason. Come on guys, let's be reasonable here. What the guy says is true. I've been a long time GoDaddy hater but even I can't get on board with a lot of this misinformation floating around. Sorry if it's not the popular opinion but it's the truth.

zabraxias 15y ago
We can't say that everyone is posting misinformation about GoDaddy since the best source on their stance is their initial post on the pro-SOPA stance itself. A commenter on TC also linked to this http://t.co/HwNa8MEY http://t.co/HwNa8MEY post by VP Nima Kelly equating SOPA opposition to denying legal protection to "the established rights of fellow Americans" while ignoring the constitution and due process. The company certainly has other smears that have been bundled in the bashing but don't equate it to unfair treatment. DMCA is already unfair legislation but the idea that we should let the copyright lobby police the Internet is fundamentally absurd.
wnight 15y ago
> I've stopped commenting on these stories Really? Not very well. > If you just read the original sources you'll see that he's right in saying that GoDaddy didn't write the bill and really did just ask to redefine a few points. It's also totally true that all registrars get the exemption. Oh, no harm done then. They only refined it, they didn't create it from scratch. > I'm no GoDaddy apologist. I think they're assholes for coming out in support of SOPA like everyone else. But why are we focusing so much on them? There's more than one other person on HN, and people can do more than one thing at once. "We" are focusing on a bunch of things. > These stories aren't true. They simply mention GoDaddy and take on a life of their own. Ever since GoDaddy got brought up we've totally gotten distracted. Not all of those stories are true, you mean. Because they did support SOPA. And they did make some refinements to SOPA. Maybe their CEO didn't practice satanic rituals before killing the elephant but the verified portions of the story are still damning enough. > It's still wrong but I'm not about to go all conspiracy-theory and buy into any theory along the lines that imply GoDaddy is some sort of oppressive evil company for some mysterious reason. Of course not. They're an oppressive evil company because it's profitable.

gulbrandr 15y ago

Sorry for the dumb question: what is an AMA?

asmosoinio 15y ago
Ask me Anything discussion on reddit.com
- gulbrandr 15y ago
  Thank you.