Some responses:
1. I’ve seen your Windows threads. They are fair, not mindless corporate cheer leading like a paid marketer would post. For your fair, objective treatment of subjects, I respect you.
2. The Apple threads that Swordmaker posts are fluff. It’s either “Rah rah, Apple is great,” or a public service announcement along the lines of “Something is wrong, but - have no fear - Apple is on it!” They lack any objectivity at all. Just the kind of stuff you’d expect a paid social marketer would post, and he avoids negative press like the plague. (As demonstrated on previous threads with multiple links.)
3. Prove the assertion on “paid social marketer?” Easy. If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Swordmaker acts in every way like a paid social marketer. He’s a duck.
4. “Trolling the *board*” vs “Trolling threads” - Swordmaker trolls the entire board with his Apple fluff. Some days, I can’t even find the important issues of the day without having to scan past several unpaid Apple ads on FreeRepublic posted by Swordmaker. Yep. The way he posts and the sources he uses makes most of his posts unpaid Apple ads on the site. So, this ridiculous assertion that I somehow NOT see this continuous stream of unpaid Apple advertising on our site by our resident paid social marketer is just that - ridiculous. It’s in our faces, constantly. At least the posts I make on his threads aren’t visible to everyone scanning articles.
5. “False persona” - We’ve already caught Swordmaker in several blatantly obvious inconsistencies that he later tries to weave into some BS story. So, yeah, he’s a fraud.
6. As far as the unwitting comment is concerned - I just think that some people don’t see it for what it really is: a paid social marketer trolling our boards. They get something from it, but it’s the most insidious kind of brainwashing. The kind that Apple thrives on.
7. Finally, on the “Ignore” suggestion: I do, for the most part. I mean... seriously? Who could keep up with his paid social marketing activities. I don’t get paid to point out he’s a paid social marketer, so it’s not my full time job like it is his. I jump in occasionally to call him out. The fun part is that he COULD ignore me... but he can’t. Why? BECAUSE HE’S A PAID SOCIAL MARKETER! He has to protest being called that to appear legit. But...
The lady doth protest to much, methinks.
He has outed himself. Quack, quack.
Thank you for your kind words regarding my Windows threads. I do endeavor to play fair and appreciate your seeing that. I have no grudges, and I'm nobody's fanboy.
While I agree that the majority of Swordmaker's threads are very pro-Apple, I will offer the observation that he has indeed posted threads and comments quite critical of Apple as well. I recall some regarding delayed response to some security issues, their social stances on homosexuality/LGBT, and particularly the damage done by their gay activist CEO to the company that Steve Jobs built. So I'll offer the opinion that if Apple's marketing -is- paying Swordmaker, they must be awfully tolerant of his pointed criticisms. You may dismiss them as carefully planted "cover" to pretend a sort of "balance", and there's no resolution possible to that argument. Just my opinion.
I can't say for sure, not having done a count/survey, how many pro-Apple threads get posted per day (the ones you characterize as unpaid ads). For what it's worth, I don't have any trouble avoiding them if I'm not interested in the thread topic, and I am on that ping list so I guarantee you I see them all. Maybe my eyeballs are less sensitized to Apple-related content than yours.
Regarding your comment "We’ve already caught Swordmaker...", this suggests that there really is a contingent of anti-Apple (or anti-Swordmaker) FReepers whose purpose it is to harass him at every opportunity. Swordmaker has expressed the belief that he's being targeted... Well, as they say, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. :-)
One of the ways Swordmaker and I differ is that I'm far less likely to get caught up in the flame wars. He seems to always get right into the thick of it, and keeps going long after I would have bailed and ignored the taunts and assorted fecal matter. Granted, I did that kind of battle for a while many years ago, and was peripherally involved in the godawful Apple-flavored mess that JimRob finally stepped into in July 2010 and quieted down. Since then I've stayed out of the interpersonal fray for the most part (although I occasionally comment as I did on this thread).
I'm having a nice quiet evening and so I'll go now, give my 17-year-old orange kitty a scritch behind his ears, grab some much-delayed dinner, and wish you a similarly pleasant evening.
LIAR. You haven't even the decency and civility to include me in a comment in which you are denigrating me, asshat. . . as you lie about me more. You've been repeatedly doing that. I have been on this forum for 14 years. . . but only been keeping the Apple Ping list for about 11 of those. You and others lie repeatedly about me and stalk me. You've been told by me and several others but YOU'VE appointed yourself as more important that 700 plus other Freepers who have asked me to keep them informed of things about Apple . . . some are NOW telling you to butt out, but you still won't listen, putting YOUR biased and delusional opinion over theres. You are an unwelcome intruder in these threads whose only purpose is disruption. YOU ARE A SKUNK AT A PICNIC. Listen to what others are telling you and quit acting like an asshat.
Fun part? What makes these threads or even FreeRepublic your personal playground to trash as YOU see fit? What gives you the right to insult fellow Freepers just because it's FUN??? Incivility and rude behavior is what Liberals, DEMOCRATS and juvenile delinquents do.
The owner of FreeRepublic is well aware of these threads so it is not your place to second guess the content of what the owner of FreeRepublic allows. He has in fact personally ZAPPED Apple thread trolls in the past. YOU are not the censor.