The Facebook debacle & other issues

6 hours ago, DollyDearest said:

i have another question, why do people in fb groups consider this forum, & oursleves  entitiled?

Because it's how Danny spins every PR disaster he has. He frames us all as being entitled babies who can't read the fine print instead of people with real, valid criticisms and issues, and so many of his supporters have little interest in backtracking to find the truth. After all, he's exceptionally ban-happy and always has been, so even acknowledging that he might screw up from time to time runs the risk of them never being able to get replacement parts for the dolls they already have, let alone new ones or option parts.

He's built a cult-like following by convincing his most ardent supporters through unfounded slander and unspoken threats that they are the Chosen Few who deserve his time/effort/product and all others are the Entitled. Frankly, I'm almost glad he's chosen the doll hobby as his playground. If this is what he can do with a luxury good like dolls, I can only imagine the damage he would cause if he were into, say, fringe politics or religion.

EDIT: Hell, someone in one of the fb groups literally said there is no constructive criticism that could help Danny grow, we're all just entitled. If that doesn't prove my point, I don't know what does.

Edited August 5, 2022 by fishbuttz

Fwiw, I've heard from more than one person that he didn't delete the original post and that it was removed from IG for hate speech. 

2 hours ago, fishbuttz said:

EDIT: Hell, someone in one of the fb groups literally said there is no constructive criticism that could help Danny grow, we're all just entitled. If that doesn't prove my point, I don't know what does.

I don’t get it. I could never dream of being so popular and I don’t say or do a fraction of the offensive stuff he does. How does someone like this amass a following of devotees?!

2 hours ago, AlmySidaKay said:

Fwiw, I've heard from more than one person that he didn't delete the original post and that it was removed from IG for hate speech. 

I'd be very skeptical of that. I'm not seeing anything that rises to that level in that post, and even if the post was reported for hate speech and removed it most likely wasn't even reviewed by a human being. All those social media sites rely on computer automation to handle all the nonsense that goes on in their systems, and their "algorithms" aren't very sophisticated. 
 

2 hours ago, fishbuttz said:

and so many of his supporters have little interest in backtracking to find the truth.

I think that's true of most of the people who fall into that kind of fandom. Accepting that the people they follow aren't good people, or worthy of their respect, would require a level of self-examination that isn't comfortable. 

48 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

even if the post was reported for hate speech and removed it most likely wasn't even reviewed by a human being.

You are probably not totally wrong. 

The post being flagged/reported and auto-deleted would explain the extra salt in Danny's "apology" some 😆 so interesting if true.

4 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I'd be very skeptical of that. I'm not seeing anything that rises to that level in that post, and even if the post was reported for hate speech and removed it most likely wasn't even reviewed by a human being. All those social media sites rely on computer automation to handle all the nonsense that goes on in their systems, and their "algorithms" aren't very sophisticated. 

There was talk about essentially mass-reporting it on another specific platform, by a certain person and their friends. As such I find it believable; mass-reported posts do tend to get taken down.

It would be deliciously ironic if the social media's he loved turned against him like that.

5 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I'd be very skeptical of that. I'm not seeing anything that rises to that level in that post

I suppose we are getting a bit jaded as to the subject matter, but I wouldnt be surprised if it was deleted by IG staff, since the overall combo was facepalm worthy from the start, and if someone just happened to focus on certain key points, they might go: "Congratulations Mr Choo. You have my attention."

 

20 minutes ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

It would be deliciously ironic if the social media's he loved turned against him like that.

I was sort of starting to wonder if this would be the Artesian Builds moment for him.

He's turned off commenting now in his instagram. Typical narcissistic behaviour: if I cannot block/report all those people with genuine concerns, I will make them unable to even respond to me. 

 

Quote

-Commenting has been turned off for NPC and bot control, but humans can turn it on by doing the following on your mobile phone. Position the main photo of this post in the middle of your screen. Then...
Swipe up
Swipe up
Swipe down
Swipe down
Swipe left
Swipe right
Swipe left
Swipe right
And then open your keyboard and press "B" followed by "A" (has to be all caps).

 

1 hour ago, Suiseiseki said:

There was talk about essentially mass-reporting it on another specific platform, by a certain person and their friends. As such I find it believable; mass-reported posts do tend to get taken down.

Sure, but mass reports can be used to take down or ban people maliciously, and often the process is automated as opposed to reviewed by people. IMO that wouldn't be a legit take-down even if it really happened; it would just be a form of harassment.

On 8/3/2022 at 7:06 AM, finnleo said:

(yes, I am a haruhi nerd ... so apologies for that)

as was i, once.

even so, a certain lovely little Redheaded crybaby from the franchise still means a quite lot to me, and seemingly always will;

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Tasuke

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Sure, but mass reports can be used to take down or ban people maliciously, and often the process is automated as opposed to reviewed by people. IMO that wouldn't be a legit take-down even if it really happened; it would just be a form of harassment.

I'm not disagreeing, I honestly feel the same. Just stating what I've been seeing happen. IMO the post was maliciously taken down. 

11 hours ago, fishbuttz said:

Because it's how Danny spins every PR disaster he has. He frames us all as being entitled babies who can't read the fine print instead of people with real, valid criticisms and issues, and so many of his supporters have little interest in backtracking to find the truth. After all, he's exceptionally ban-happy and always has been, so even acknowledging that he might screw up from time to time runs the risk of them never being able to get replacement parts for the dolls they already have, let alone new ones or option parts.

He's built a cult-like following by convincing his most ardent supporters through unfounded slander and unspoken threats that they are the Chosen Few who deserve his time/effort/product and all others are the Entitled. Frankly, I'm almost glad he's chosen the doll hobby as his playground. If this is what he can do with a luxury good like dolls, I can only imagine the damage he would cause if he were into, say, fringe politics or religion.

EDIT: Hell, someone in one of the fb groups literally said there is no constructive criticism that could help Danny grow, we're all just entitled. If that doesn't prove my point, I don't know what does.

amen

15 hours ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

What I'm really hoping for is for them to bring the DD Dream Choice system to Volks USA as an online custom preorder every few months like they have for the resin dolls.

I'm sure some people like the Volks USA Full Choice Service, but it's such a far cry from the real deal.  Honestly, Dream Choice is more accessible than Full Choice.  At least any westerner can get their very own Dream Choice at Doll Point on vacation (if tourism ever opens again in Japan...), but even going to Tenshi-no-Sato IN PERSON is not good enough to place a FCS order.  You have to have it delivered to your own, personal address (not a forwarding service).  And FCS is the ONLY way to get the Ever Beauty skin, and the FCS outfits, most of the sculpts, order made faceups, etc. 

But the best thing that all these companies have is their professionalism.  You're never going to see Obitsu, Volks, Fairyland, or anyone else's CEO out on social media blasting their customers as entitled, or monitoring what you say about their dolls, etc.  The front of the company is strictly business.  And that's because they are all real businesses, not personal hobby projects funded by inheritance. 

33 minutes ago, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

the best thing that all these companies have is their professionalism.  You're never going to see Obitsu, Volks, Fairyland, or anyone else's CEO out on social media blasting their customers as entitled, or monitoring what you say about their dolls, etc.  The front of the company is strictly business.  And that's because they are all real businesses, not personal hobby projects funded by inheritance. 

To me, it keeps coming back to the Bezos/Musk money argument:


With Danny's following/fans, he could use his influence to spread positivity, acceptance, and such. Instead he wants a "us vs. them" world. Even if there are a-holes and entitled people about, wouldn't it be better to focus on those who aren't? Both for his own sake, as well as the rest of the world. Don't give them attention. And certainly don't start spewing about eradicating people!
He's got the chance to be a good role-model.
What a waste

2 hours ago, Suiseiseki said:

I'm not disagreeing, I honestly feel the same. Just stating what I've been seeing happen. IMO the post was maliciously taken down. 

I'm not surprised it was a malicious takedown. Though part of me feels it's kinda justified, as Danny has been stirring up hate on instagram for ages, even if it is under the oh-so-hilarious guise of fiction. It was only a matter of time that someone would organise against him. And this time, the combo of everything was just too much. I wouldn't be surprised if people had flagged it independent of any organised action.

57 minutes ago, Yumeiro said:

He's got the chance to be a good role-model.
What a waste

Truly, I think Danny would be much happier if he focused more on his inclusivity and his charity (for want of a better term) than he currently does. He's already got some good things going for him as far as disability merch and benign but noticeable skin differences, so lean into that. With permission, talk about the disabled people who love the free prosthetics that match their own, or the children with port wine stains/cleft lips that feel valuable because he has beautiful dolls with those same conditions. When things like the cochlear implant come up, discuss the competing views without judgment and show your commitment to being open to anyone, both the culturally deaf who take great pride in their lives and the children with implants who will grow up never knowing any different. Hell, do some outreach where some part of the profit margin of his disability dolls gets donated to medical research charities every few years. It's not much, but it's something. He gets praised, his dolls sell, the wider community learns to trust him again, everybody wins.

Wallowing in how much your "haters" drive you nuts 24/7 isn't good for your emotional health. Focusing on what you have achieved, not out of spite but out of genuine love and passion for the people you serve, is so much more rewarding.

I don’t give much credence to rumors of the takedown being anything other than Danny deleting it himself…because I’m positive that if it *had* been taken down thru those other possibilities he’d have something to say about it.
 

If his post was auto taken down after people reported it I feel he’d spin it as a mass harassment campaign, akin to the phantom “don’t make cocoa/birthmark dolls” people that have it out for him. In fact, I hope he doesn’t get the idea to play it that  way now after seeing us talk about whether the post was taken down involuntarily.

Edited August 5, 2022 by ebil

1 hour ago, Katsudon said:

I'm not surprised it was a malicious takedown. Though part of me feels it's kinda justified, as Danny has been stirring up hate on instagram for ages, even if it is under the oh-so-hilarious guise of fiction. It was only a matter of time that someone would organise against him. And this time, the combo of everything was just too much. I wouldn't be surprised if people had flagged it independent of any organised action.

From what I saw on discord and instagram, people were encouraging each other to report it as hate speech, including the person who started the accusations, and their friends and followers. They were mostly Dollfie Dream owners. Doesn't seem to be a good look for them or Danny in this whole saga. 

Honestly (even ignoring this cartoonishly heinous incident) I think the world would be a better place if Danny permanently disabled comments on his posts; he clearly has a strong investment in what people say about him and his product, and it is clearly having a negative effect on the brand and consumers as a whole. If nobody can comment, it's harder for him to ban and block people for making innocuous criticism and even harder to identify customers and cancel their orders.


It would also be much better for him as a person imo. I'm trying to be as understanding as possible and I know it can't be easy to read so many comments from so many people at all hours of the day, and I think it would be a good idea for him to create that extra layer of separation. If he's not going to get a PR team, the second best option is to remove the need for one entirely. 

 

Quote

The problem has never been DC doing accidentally controversial things, because other companies/influencers have done that as well. The problem has always been his reaction to someone pointing out that he accidentally did something offensive; no matter how polite or justified they are, his first reaction is always banhammer followed by passive aggressive non-apologies and deflecting. He's allergic to admitting mistakes.

This is my take as well. Even if this was completely unintentional, even if there is a legitimate explanation based on cultural differences (both of which are true imo), it would have been very easy to provide a simple, polite explanation, acknowledge the feelings of the people making a very understandable critique, and take a different photo of the outfit without such a suggestive pose and caption. It really did not need to be like this.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Mizuumi-no-Otome

I suspect Danny thrives off of, please excuse the expression, "ass kissing" and so he's probably not at all happy about disabling comments. 

And clearly he has no interest in the health and success of his brand, because many people on this thread have stated multiple times "why not hire a PR person?" Clearly he doesn't want that because he likes to feed off of the responses himself (or he has someone set aside just to tell him when there's a "hater" in the midst, which is rather pathetic as a whole.) He has to be able to point to someone and go "here's another hater" and get everyone else on his side. 

In regards to him not "using his powers for good", well...that would just make too much sense. You'd have to already have that intention in your mind, and in my mind, I don't believe that was ever his intention in even starting this brand. Of course anything has the potential to be great and anyone has the potential to do good. But if it's more about using that money to seek validation through your hobby or interest instead of considering the customer and sharing in the hobby with other enthusiasts and collectors (and you know, just being mature enough to handle constructive criticism)...honestly, this is what you get. I'm not really interested in sitting around, begging and pleading someone to do the right thing or be considerate of others if it's not who they are. If a person is self interested, it's going to reflect in what they do. 

A little off topic from the current discussion, but I'm a little suspicious Choo is digging for information for his ban list. FabricFriends just told me, after I inquired about something, that I was on his hammer list. Yet the only time I've purchased from him was at the beginning, under someone else's name and have moved since then and am contacting under a different email. And I don't have my information online. So now I'm curious if information is being shared, which I'm pretty sure is illegal? I know we've talked about this a lot, but the direct confirmation that something fishy is going on was interesting. Welcome to the club, me lol

Edited August 6, 2022 by littlebirdzoom

7 minutes ago, littlebirdzoom said:

that I was on his hammer list.

I still think this is absolutely unbelievable.  He doesn't like something you say, or a criticism you have, and you're permanently banned from purchasing from the store (even for parts for dolls you already own!).  He even makes sure to give his ban list to his reseller!  It's just too much. 

The only "ban" you're going to get from Volks is a lottery ban if you enter and then don't pay.  But it's not like you can be banned from preorders or in stock items, certainly not based on social media posts!  Good grief. 

Just now, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

I still think this is absolutely unbelievable.  He doesn't like something you say, or a criticism you have, and you're permanently banned from purchasing from the store (even for parts for dolls you already own!).  He even makes sure to give his ban list to his reseller!  It's just too much. 

The only "ban" you're going to get from Volks is a lottery ban if you enter and then don't pay.  But it's not like you can be banned from preorders or in stock items, certainly not based on social media posts!  Good grief. 

 

It's beyond ridiculous. I'm almost certain this dude is violating some sort of privacy laws. Obviously I don't know and can't say he is or not, but it's very suspicious. I'm still ???? at the reseller ban. His dolls are SO unavailable now anyway. Part of me wonders if in a few years he'll just give up on the company entirely and shift somewhere else, or only sells what he feels like at the time to throw the cult members scraps. It's weird.