There's been a lot of complaining as the contest
came to a close from various voting blocs and contestants pussyfooting around accusations like this gem: "Yes, it is quite impressive to gain 25% of your total votes in 1 nite (from 2,000 to 2,500 in the middle of a california nite)." No one wants to come right out and say, "I think this group is cheating" for fear of being chastised by TAT or being labeled as "bitter" or a "sore loser."Do I think some groups cheated? Most definitely. I was frankly disgusted to see how Ben & Brian moved up like they did at the end after sniffing at view counts and for claiming the moral high road. Having friends and relatives coming out of the woodwork to suggest the move was all hard work was a bogus rhetorical strategy. I really thought they were better than that. I think Alex complaining about this is laughable. The way his group shot from 4th to 1st in two days weeks into the contest is just as suspicious. We all know Robert & Kelly cheated, and I referenced this in a wall post on the UTE Facebook page. Of course, all the Filipinos freaked out even though I wasn't talking about their token representative. Sure it was suspicious when Michael Paul & Jennifer jumped up like that, but they're professionals with lots of media contacts and a rabid fanbase voting for them simply based on their ethnicity. (Right, Melona?) Finally, the way Curtis & Mark roared into first after treading water for weeks is more than friggin' shady.
But the important thing to remember is that TAT allowed this to happen. By publishing vote counts just as they did views, they incentivised the process. Teams had a target, and they knew if they just got 40 more votes here and 24 votes there, they could vault into first. You also had a virulent voting bloc organized by Frank and Melona threatening teams to grovel before them to earn their votes. "Any team is cordially invited to present itself here, 250 daily votes are at stake :) Just let us know, why we should vote for your team." Their endorsements were not placed on value, but how well you curried favor. Rana & Sherri were picked for their "good looks" and Michael Paul & Jennifer were chosen because of Frank's anti-American resentment, "We definitely want to see non-Americans in this heavily US dominated game!" By hijacking the contest, they upped the ante.
Then halfway through the contest, TAT changed the rules, allowing anyone to plug an email in with no confirmation. I'm surprised more cheating didn't occur. Robert & Kelly egregiously blew from 5th to 1st having never made a Tweet, a status update, or a blog post to do so.
Meanwhile, TAT stayed silent. When I engaged them on a variety of topics on the UTE Facebook page, they deleted the discussions. In the waning days of the contest, they finally spoke to the reasons for the rule changes, and the way in which voters were confirmed. It was too little too late, as many posters had clearly formed their opinions. Had TAT been as effective communicators as Theo and Amber, perhaps the open hostility could have been avoided.
We voted for the same people every day. We supported them on the UTE page and our fan page, as well as our blogs and tweets. Sadly, it appears none them shall move on, unless TAT surprises us again, "TAT reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and select winners from among all eligible online entries received." Huh, maybe Amber and Theo still have a chance! See you next time.
theo, our path into first wasn't out of place or suspicious. it tooks us about a week and half, and the voting patterns and voting history weren't anything out of the ordinary, throughout the competition. the numbers don't lie. up until 3 days ago, it was always a race within 50~350 the entire way. search for our cahn & yang facebook page, and there you will find a healthy amount of our dedicated voters. that and an international family network (korea, israel), you'll understand our voting population.
ReplyDeletei commented on the jump from ben and brian, because well, it was a shocking and dramatic jump. their jump was unrealistic, and was incongruent to their voting history and patterns throughout the entire competition. in the Pattaya race, the maximum increase in a single day was 250~ if you were lucky. no one got above that at any timepoint. maintenance gains were generally 150-ish.
to jump 500 and then over 600 overnite is simply ridiculous. the reason i'm not outright calling them cheaters is not the fear of being ostracized or being called bitter. it's because i'm not 100% certain, more like 90%. i just made a comment about their numbers. again..they don't lie.
i e-mailed the TAT asking them if they would consider asking the webmaster to check for outstanding votes within the same IP address. they declined my request, stating exactly what i stated in a post that got deleted promptly by the TAT...saying they cannot do such a thing, because many of the votes will come from the same IP such as family members, offices, flatmates, etc. i asked for OUTSTANDING votes from the same IP, and i'm fairly confident those would be found immediately.
as a general comment about you, i think it's safe to say that you are extremely bitter for not being a semi-finalist. you have invested so much time, thought, and energy since the beginning of the competition. your 30 reasons of why you should go to thailand are sad and pathetic. a passive aggressive, seemingly under-the-radar form of brown nosing to the TAT. and do you know why you weren't a semi-finalist, despite what you think in your fantasy world? your video wasn't creative. it was forgettable and cringing to watch. the common sense video production and content of it were just an abomination.
good day
Alex,
ReplyDeleteUsually I don't engage myself in a battle of wits with an unarmed man, but you came on my site, and spouted your vitriol, so in defense of this blog, I'll rebuke you in kind.
"our path into first wasn't out of place or suspicious." Yes, it was. After going NO WHERE for weeks, you shoot to first without so much as an appearances on the UTE Facebook page or anywhere else? I didn't search for Cahn & Yang because I'm not interested in your crappy music. I am interested in people interested in going to Thailand, and your lame singer-songwriter routine did nothing to do that. The guys from FreeCreditReport.com called, and they want their schtick back.
So you commented on the jump from Ben and Brian, because you're only 90% they're cheating. So instead of putting on your big boy pants, you decided to use subterfuge and innuendo. So besides your intellectual incapacity, you're a coward. You've made two appearances on the UTE page, none of which added anything to the contest, and you want to start pointing fingers? Zero credibility and no board cache. If you'd actually read the blog, you'd see I agree with you. But you have the intestinal fortitude of a sea cucumber, you sniveling little man.
I like how you go to the sad "attack Theo playbook." Who's lacking creativity? Calling me bitter does nothing for your argument, it's just childish name calling. We've never said we should have gone ahead of anyone else in our category. We suggested that your lame @$$ shouldn't have gone since you've added nothing, absolutely nothing to the contest other some last minute b#@%&ing about cheating that you don't even have the cajones to say.
I doubt you actually have the intelligence to read all 30 reasons. I've heard your song lyrics. And what makes you think I'm a friend of TAT? We're not going to win anything, even though we should win most active, but hey that makes two of us since you're walking away with nothing too.
"your video wasn't creative." Ouch... what a hurtful criticism. Ha... we knew our vid wasn't good, the contest wasn't about that you moron. Who gives a @#$% about common sense video production? If that were the case, any one of Christopher & Clair, Jacob & Adam, Evren & Thomas, Ryan Rouel & Mary Bianca, Robert & Susan, Jonathan & Steve, Joe & Kaitlyn, Raphael & Emma, Curtis & Amanda, Steph & Rachel, and Lauri & Isaac would have been selected in Chiang Mai over three at least three of the finalists from Chiang Mai. We know why we didn't go on, and it wasn't the video. TAT and I already talked about it. But hey, if your Cali-stuck behind wants to think you're smarter than me, go ahead and live in that "fantasy world."