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"Today a Reddit user by the name of\u00A0MistySilver\u00A0accused Microsoft of employing a local agency to commit &amp;quot;reputation management&amp;quot; in favor its of forthcoming Xbox One console by influencing voting patterns on the social site.\r\n\r\nBusinessInsider reported on the accusation, stating that the comment indicated that &amp;quot;[r]epresentatives of Microsoft may be hanging out on the social news site voting up positive comments about the Xbox One, voting down negative comments and adding pro-Xbox comments of their own, Misty Silver says.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThe article went on to say that &amp;quot;Obviously, we can't confirm this story. We asked Microsoft for comment on if they have people on their payroll using Reddit and will update when they reply.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nTNW reached out to Microsoft directly on the issue, and was told the following by a company spokesperson:\r\nThere is no coordinated or sanctioned effort by Microsoft Xbox employees, or the agencies we work with, to unduly influence Reddit or other online forums.\r\nThat comment left a loophole open, specifically that it did not indicate that non-Xbox related Microsoft employees were not taking part in such actions. TNW returned to Microsoft asking for clarification, which the company provided:\r\nThere is no coordinated or sanctioned effort by Microsoft Xbox employees, or anyone paid by Microsoft, to unduly influence Reddit or other online forums.\r\nThat statement wasn't precisely what I wanted, which was a plain, clean 'no Microsoft employees are doing this.' So, I asked again, and was then given the following, which is the firm rebuttal I was looking for:\r\nThere is no coordinated or sanctioned effort by Microsoft employees, or anyone paid by Microsoft, to unduly influence Reddit or other online forums.\r\nFrankly, I would be surprised if Microsoft was so damned foolish that it would undertake such a blatantly obvious, and discoverable folly. There appears to be nothing here. Let's get back to PRISM.\u00A0\r\n\r\nTop Image Credit:\u00A0Luke Hayfield"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2013/06/08/microsoft-flatly-denies-astroturfing-reddit-to-bolster-its-coming-xbox-one-console/>