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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Sunny@slrpnk.net to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

In todays episode of "Plex enshittifies" Plex employee breaks ToS.

Source: https://forums.plex.tv/t/fake-reviews-on-play-store-by-plex-staff/917736

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[-] midori_matcha@lemmy.world 50 points 1 week ago

This review would have had a lot more credibility if he at least disclosed his affiliation with Plex. Instead, he posed as some unbiased rando while advertising Plex Pass. This is textbook gaslighting.

If you look on Plex's review page in the Play Store, it's receiving overwhelming amounts of negative reviews over the new UI changes, reliability/performance problems, and how the Lifetime Plex Pass purchase is a lifetime of regrets as they watch Plex getting worse every month by enshittifying itself.

If Plex is resorting to leaving fake reviews to save face, then this company is in deeper trouble than I thought.

[-] vaccinationviablowdart@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 week ago

This is textbook gaslighting.

Well if I spent 5 minutes instead of 0.5 minutes I might be able to find an actual text book but I think APA Dictionary of Psychology: "gaslight" is a pretty good definition:

to manipulate another person into doubting their perceptions, experiences, or understanding of events.

And it provides an example, from the original source of the term:

a wife is nearly driven to insanity by the deceptions of her husband

It is tres shitty to minimize actual abusive behavior by applying a term associated with intimate partner violence it to this minor thing which is someone posting a comment on some software he works at using an account which goes to zero effort to obfuscate that.

In penance I decree you should watch the movie https://archive.org/details/gaslight-1944 and tell me if it's any good, I haven't seen it yet.

[-] Machinist@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Damn skippy. Gaslighting and basic ass lying are different things. But hey, it's trendy right now. Next, we'll find out how he's a malignant narcissist.

Dude posted a shill review. It's called shilling. It's a form of lying for profit. He likely did it to advance his career or because he was afraid not to. His employer likely encouraged the action without directly ordering it.

[-] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

This is the type of pedantry that annoys me and yet I admire. Bravo, good fellow, I salute you

[-] emeralddawn45@discuss.tchncs.de -4 points 1 week ago

Its literally a false review, designed to counter the multiple negative real reviews that have been left recently. Its a false narrative designed to induce the reader into doubting the ture narrative of the other genuine reviews, or possibly even influence a potential reviewer by coloring their actual experience with the app. Definitely fits the definition you posted, even if its inconsistent with the example they gave.

this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
939 points (94.4% liked)

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