How To Detect Undercover Schills and Trolls

[Melvin- Admin]

6 hours ago, sl said:

I am just a random dude, an average joe, a run of the mill guy who knows nothing, then writes an Encyclopedia of terminology and dissects results they do not like, bumps what they don't like of a particular clinic and go AWOL when there is an update that doesn't suit their narrative on the case they bumped! Gives compliments, yet always peppered with a negative...It is hard for them to have longevity because posting history is evidence and they all have to use the same routines to a degree..usually faceless also and no surgery ever comes...

🤣🤣🤣🤣 omg I’m literally laughing, you hit it dead on 

[gillenator]

The love of money is the root of all evil or maybe it’s the love of free grafts in exchange for surgery!

[Sean]

For the common poster, Easy to detect trolls based on posting behavior- esp if you track the history of those posters to study the habits and commenting techniques. 
 

Just need to stay alert really-

1) previous patients may have deals for free and discounted surgeries for sharing results- so always take some opinions carefully as they may be skewed

2) amount of rancid defense towards a surgeon that screwed up some patients hair, then you see the trolls downplaying those patient(s) on their threads across forums

If you can criticize a result of the doctor you went to just as you can praise one, you may have some credibility.  

There are so many factors to this, but when you are in the game for a while, you can sniff out trolls.  

On the information technology side, certain agencies have expensive software that can detect IP on servers— that can translate and actually see the IP of who is posting to compare.  Normally, it is very easy for mods to see and compare IP on their forums with the UI Modal they have access to, but agencies equally have excellent interfaces thats can track- even down to the email and address level based on IP hits.  Based on the software they use,  algorithm, and access to other web services, they can pull amazing data and details.  Edward Snowden and team made a killer program for the military.  Still being used today and enhanced considerably.  It is pretty neat but some contracting firms and agencies that help with investigations have those tools as well.  
 

Best way to avoid any troll is to ask to see the person in public and view their results.  Obviously, due to covid, some folks may be reluctant.  But if they praise a surgeon and have nothing to show for it, well there is your answer.  
 

The benefit of showing some folks in person as to what a scalp looks like after surgery can actually help a lot of folks make decisions.  They can see the real extent of surgery and/or concerns.  Especially, if their hair type and goals are similar to yours.  

[gillenator]

The real challenge is finding enough past patients that are willing to meet in person and the proximity of these past patients.

[baalloss]

Another thing I've noticed about shills on another forum is this : whenever the salesman for the clinic posts a wonderful YouTube video of the latest success from the clinic, a handful of the regular posters, including the owner of the site, immediately pipe in with comments like :

"Dr XYZ is really knocking out some great work."

"Remarkable looking transformation."

"Really high quality work by Dr XYZ."

And these comments only come when a review of a 'recommended' clinic is posted. The site is just a thinly disguised advertising portal where the clinics pay a monthly fee for subtle but constant promotion.

 

 

 

[gillenator]

Yep, that’s been going on for years!

[NARMAK]

I don't quite know where to post this, but it seems to sorta fit. 

Where do you guys stand on clinics that appear to use their own employees to pose as a customer.

They do get a HT but there's little to no disclosure these are clinic employees. They're presented as independent patients getting their HT and showing off their results. There's one really well known and respected clinic i've now seen do this in their YouTube videos and i like their work, but i found it a little underhand. 

Thoughts? 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 1/11/2022 at 6:53 AM, NARMAK said:

I don't quite know where to post this, but it seems to sorta fit. 

Where do you guys stand on clinics that appear to use their own employees to pose as a customer.

They do get a HT but there's little to no disclosure these are clinic employees. They're presented as independent patients getting their HT and showing off their results. There's one really well known and respected clinic i've now seen do this in their YouTube videos and i like their work, but i found it a little underhand. 

Thoughts? 

That is a classic shill. 

[gillenator]

Looking forward to progress pics!

[stockrider]

On 1/6/2022 at 1:28 PM, baalloss said:

Another thing I've noticed about shills on another forum is this : whenever the salesman for the clinic posts a wonderful YouTube video of the latest success from the clinic, a handful of the regular posters, including the owner of the site, immediately pipe in with comments like :

"Dr XYZ is really knocking out some great work."

"Remarkable looking transformation."

"Really high quality work by Dr XYZ."

And these comments only come when a review of a 'recommended' clinic is posted. The site is just a thinly disguised advertising portal where the clinics pay a monthly fee for subtle but constant promotion.

 

 

 

It is very easily noticeable... I get that the forum needs advertising so they are trying to promote those who pay, but it certainly doesn't make things fair as the same doctors are being "pushed" as the best. Some of these have a lot of bad reviews or hardly any..  so after spending 2 weeks reading this and other forums, I am still quite puzzled and concerned as to who I can trust. The forum is a great resource, but it is taking a lot of time  trying to weed things out 

[gillenator]

It's the day and age we are living in, with so much fake news, social media, and commercialism...you just have to do your homework which is going to take lots of time and energy.

[NARMAK]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:03 PM, stockrider said:

It is very easily noticeable... I get that the forum needs advertising so they are trying to promote those who pay, but it certainly doesn't make things fair as the same doctors are being "pushed" as the best. Some of these have a lot of bad reviews or hardly any..  so after spending 2 weeks reading this and other forums, I am still quite puzzled and concerned as to who I can trust. The forum is a great resource, but it is taking a lot of time  trying to weed things out 

I think with this forum in particular, what seems positive to me is that we have a selection of real people posting their experiences and including a mixture of good and bad from across the various hair transplant clinics and the mods like Melvin are putting their head on the chopping block so to speak and have procedures from these places. 

I guess you are right that sometimes maybe the advertised promotion and such isn't always as transparent as it should be. Even in the video descriptions on YouTube when you check, they don't declare it as to which part is being paid promotion unless its 100% obvious. 

Paid promotion particularly by people that claim to be promoting transparency and recommending on neutral checklists is an icy slope imo. 

[gillenator]

It’s greed!

[Rolandas]

Just found this thread.
I'm not usually posting on this forum simply because there are LOADS of knowledgeable people on here to help newcomers. Hence why I always recommend for others who are serious about hair restoration to go here. I'm spending my free time on either my YouTube comments, or Facebook/reddit where are less knowledgeable people are frankly, more shills.

I came across a bunch of them, especially on Facebook. The one category I hate the most, are the people with Survivorship Bias.
They usually had subpar surgery themselves. Whenever someone else goes to the same place they praise it, as if they pretend to care about others, but whenever someone goes to a better surgeon they say "you can get better result for much cheaper".
I've had a fair amount of arguments with such people as their responses are ALWAYS illogical. You present them factual evidence of good/poor work, and instead of addressing it, they simply "bash" you personally while completely ignoring the subject.

If someone ignores the subject and goes on a personal attack, move along. It's a troll & likely shill.

I'll go even further - NEVER TRUST ANYONE. Do your own research and trust your own judgment.

[Melvin- Admin]

Doing your own research is critical. You always have to question motives for those who vociferously recommend certain clinics. At the end of the day, I always say look at the reviews and ask verifiable patients. Then, draw your own conclusions. 

[gillenator]

Research, then verify!