Carol is a Pick Department associate and a process trainer at an Amazon warehouse in Kent, Washington. To Carol, “family is everything,” and she loves classic rock and classic cars.
Jeremy is into “cats, sports, anime, and video games,” and he works the overnight shift for Amazon in San Marcos, Texas.
Misty is an Amazon inbound dock problem solver in Etna, Ohio. She has two grandkids, and she proclaims that “crochet is my calm.”
What do all these Amazon employees have in common? They’re all completely new to Twitter and a part of Amazon’s ambassador program that is trying to make the mega-company more relatable to the public. They’re extolling the company line in virtually every tweet they write, and they’re trying their best to give off a vibe that working at Amazon is an amazing experience. Meanwhile, these Twitter accounts have given off a dystopian world/Stepford Wives vibe that has made the internet a little uneasy.
The @bornwithatail_ Twitter account might have been the first to notice that Amazon has initiated more than a dozen of its workers into the Twittersphere in an attempt to defend the company against everything from poor wages to not allowing its employees time to use the bathroom.
So Amaz*n has set up an army of bot accounts, allegedly from workers at various fulfillment centers, whose sole purpose is to jump on tweets critical of their benevolent overlord with the same stale cant about great pay & benefits pic.twitter.com/Z7lJWUb7A0
— FLAMBOYANT SHOES GUY 👟👞🌴🍍🥥🌹🌵 (@bornwithatail_) August 23, 2018
I’ve seen more believable hostage videos pic.twitter.com/lTDj5QAlJ8
— FLAMBOYANT SHOES GUY 👟👞🌴🍍🥥🌹🌵 (@bornwithatail_) August 23, 2018
While these accounts might act a little like Twitter bots—all of these accounts were created this month—actual people are tweeting from these accounts.
Do you folks realize this is becoming a PR disaster? The Guardian says none of these accounts will talk to the media or is that “Fake News”.
— Jason Rigden (@mr_rigden) August 23, 2018
Here you go! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/dyl8xVfUma
— Caleb – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCCaleb) August 23, 2018
And what are they tweeting? That life at Amazon is pretty great.
The financial competition is pretty great.
That’s awesome that you do. But, the median pay for the average user is $28k, more or less. Some make more than that, & the other half less.
The concensus is that many of the Twitch streamers are not fans of Prime users losing ad-free viewing. https://t.co/jRrmkcKftZ— Brandon Rodriguez (@TheycallmeBRod) August 24, 2018
I love being honest, & I can honestly say that every employee gets a raise every 6-months of employment. On top of that a couple times a year Amazon checks local wages to make sure they’re staying competitive when it comes to pay. Last year everyone here got a $1.50 pay increase.
— Jeremy – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCJeremy) August 24, 2018
I guess pennies are better than peanuts, but with the cash, stocks, and bonuses that I receive it adds up to be a pretty nice amount of pennies to spend. Not to mention I am respected from Sr. management and everyone in between.
— Misty – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCMisty) August 24, 2018
I am compensated quite well, here in the FC. Not only do I receive a fair base wage, but I also get a monthly bonus (and stocks in the co.) And there always seem to be OT opps if I want extra $$$. For someone who is used to working 5 days/week, that’s fantastic!
— Carol – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCCarol) August 23, 2018
I love getting swag bucks! H2O bottles, ball caps, t shirts, tank tops, hoodies, jackets, back packs, Amzn echo dot, I think even gift cards to other retailers. But they can only be bought with that SWAG $$$. It’s just a little fun way to say, “Hey, great job today.”
— Carol – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCCarol) August 24, 2018
I feel pretty great about working at Amazon FC….good wage, benefits, 401k, and career choice programs. The work is challenging and I like the fact there are a lot of different jobs to do. I hope that helps you to continue shopping at Amazon. 😉
— Leo – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCLeo) August 22, 2018
Hey did you know? Amazon pays FC associates 30% more than regular retail stores. 🤔
— Cindi – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCCindi) August 22, 2018
Did you know that Amazon pays warehouse workers 30% more than other retailers? I feel proud to work for Amazon – they’ve taken good care of me. Much better than some of my previous employers.
— Shaye – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCShaye) August 21, 2018
The bathroom breaks are pretty great.
I can confirm, I too get to use a real bathroom!
No word yet on when the fake bathrooms will be installed, but I’ll keep you posted! 😁— Jeremy – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCJeremy) August 24, 2018
I can assure you this ole chick isn’t pissing in a bottle. I get 3 breaks per shift and potty breaks when duty calls.
— Misty – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCMisty) August 24, 2018
Air conditioning ✔️
Clean environment ✔️
Huge break rooms with T.V.’s ✔️
OH !!! Did I mention a crap ton of Bathrooms?— Misty – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCMisty) August 24, 2018
Who would have ever thought that Positive Potty Practices would make the headline of an article. 🤣🤣🤣 #IgowhenIneedto 🤣🤣🤣
— Carol – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCCarol) August 24, 2018
Benefits package doesnt include piss bottles because we have bathrooms with running water, toilet paper and soap. I’m sure our “quotas” are just like any other company that also has quotas.
— Leo – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCLeo) August 23, 2018
And the fact that nobody is dying on the job is pretty great.
Well, I can assure you that the whole living wage thing is covered. I have absolutely no problem taking care of my lifestyle without skimping. My FC is climate controlled and kept very clean and they make sure we know how to do our job, safely, to avoid personal injury.
— Carol – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCCarol) August 23, 2018
Cant say Ive seen ambulances come daily to my FC 🤔
Matter of fact I dont know if I ever seen anyone faint from exhaustion..
Not only do we get 3 breaks but the pay is more than double the national minimum wage~ at about $15/hr on avg for US FC workers. Not too bad if you ask me.— Jeremy – Amazon FC Ambassador 📦 (@AmazonFCJeremy) August 18, 2018
According to TechCrunch, there are at least 15 of these accounts who are being paid to spout the company line.
It’s been previously reported in the past few years that Amazon warehouse workers are often tasked to do intensive, laborious work in intolerable conditions and to move as fast as humanly possible.
There’s little doubt the company needs continuously good PR. In February, Amazon was granted patents for a tracking device that could show management exactly where their workers are and what they’re doing—again, it’s another look into a possible dystopian worker landscape. There was a troubling report earlier this year that a number of Amazon workers have to use food stampsbecause Amazon’s wages are too low, and there was another report that stated workers urinate in water bottles because they feared facing discipline for taking a bathroom break.
Amazon didn’t answer Daily Dot questions about how often and what these ambassadors are supposed to be tweeting about and if the company was worried about them being labeled Twitter bots by other internet users. But in a statement, a spokesperson told the Daily Dot that the ambassadors are employees who have worked in Amazon fulfillment centers.
“The most important thing is that they’ve been here long enough to honestly share the facts based on personal experience,” the spokesperson said. “It’s important that we do a good job of educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers, and the FC ambassador program is a big part of that along with the fulfillment center tours we provide.”
So far, though, much of the internet is skeptical.
H/T TechCrunch