Amazon workers are being accused of being ‘robots’ who are ‘spreading propaganda’, after praising the company’s working conditions on social media.
Amazon hired the army of unnerving Twitter ‘Ambassadors’ in August 2018 to share upbeat tweets about life working inside one of the firm’s infamous warehouses.
But the concept went viral last week when Amazon ambassadors rushed to defend the company from negative comments in a tweet advertising tours of its Fulfillment Centers (FCs).
One woman called Wren from South Carolina wrote: ‘I like Amazon. We offer such amazing goods and services! And me and my coworkers are ALWAYS happy. Why wouldn’t we be when we work for such an AMAZING company like Amazon?’
Another said praised the company for having sanitizer in the restrooms, which she’s able to use at any time ‘without permission’.
After a series of responses from the Ambassadors, one person asked: ‘Are you a robot, did they make a bunch of AI to lie for them instead of helping real workers?’
Social media users were left questioning whether Twitter accounts held by Amazon workers were real last week, after a handful of the ‘Ambassadors’ posted ‘robotic’ responses online (pictured, Rafael, an Amazon Ambassador from Washington)
Tweets by the Amazon Ambassadors like Dylan from Pennsylvania, who work in warehouses across the US for the company, quickly went viral as other social media users accused them of being robots
Amazon FC Ambassadors often defend the company online, but many have been left confused by their bizarre robotic tweets
Amazon’s fulfilment centres were branded one most dangerous places to work in the US by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health in a damning report published in April 2018.
Later that year, Amazon changed the name of its warehouses to Fulfilment Centres and launched the ambassador programme, which sees employees praising the company’s working conditions on Twitter.
Each account is eerily similar in its look and tone, with users only using their first name, and including ‘Amazon FC Ambassador’ in their Twitter handle.
The recent Twitter thread began when one social media user questioned the working conditions of Amazon works after spotting the company was offering tours of their Fulfilment Centers.
Diana Wilde’s original tweet in response to Amazon quickly went viral, drawing the attention of the company’s ‘Ambassadors’ who swooped in to praise the workplace
She posted: ‘Really like? Cause your workers are liars?
‘You’re not going to convince the working class that everything is fine by telling us where to avert our eyes. We already know what it’s really like. Why don’t you really treat your workers better, you can afford it.’
As other users quickly flooded Diana’s post’s with comments, Amazon’s FC Ambassadors were quick to respond to defend the company.
Ambassador Dylan tweeted: ‘Everything is fine, I don’t think there is anything wrong with the money I make, or the way I am treated at work.’
Meanwhile Amazon worker Hannah from Florida revealed she had suffered from depression and said she had realised ‘it was my fault for the problems I was dealing with and not Amazons’
Amazon FC Ambassador Audra was one of those defending the company online, writing: ‘I’m not a drone’
And when another social media user suggested working at Amazon had given them depression, Amazon FC Ambassador Hannah from Florida responded: ‘I suffer from depression too, and at one point I wanted to quit Amazon.
‘But I realized it was my fault for the problems I was dealing with, and not Amazon’s. I’m allowed to talk to people, but sometimes I don’t want to. Now I have some great coworkers to pass the nights with.’
As the thread quickly went viral, other social media users couldn’t help but mock the accounts and questioned their validity, suggesting the accounts had been ‘paid’ to say they liked the company, or were ‘drones’ or ‘AI’ who were ‘preaching propaganda’.
Diana questioned: ‘Are you a robot, did they make a bunch of AI to lie for them instead of helping real workers?’
Amazon FC Ambassador Rafael, from Washington, responded: ‘Nope, I am not a robot, mam. I was just sharing something from the FC that are all from me and my experience.
‘That would be a crazy technology to artificialize thoughts. I am actually a picker inside the FC, and was given a chance to be an ambassador here in social media.’
A recent tweet from Rafael’s ambassador account reveals he’d been absent from work for over a week, but was able to ‘cover it up using my time bank. (Personal, Sick, and Vacation).’
It prompted further comments that he must be a ‘robot’, while one follower replied: ‘Let me translate this for you: they eliminated sick days and forced you to use up vacation days when you are too sick to come into work.’
Another ambassador called Cindi, from Ohio, posted: ‘We’re not paid to say that we like our job. The FCA role is to educate others about what we do on our day-to-day at Amazon. Its just happened that we enjoy what we do.’
Meanwhile, worker Audra from Texas posted: ‘I’m not a drone and I don’t have any time constraints going to the bathroom where I need to earn time to go pee.
In a separate post, she praised the company’s restroom facilities, saying: ‘We have restrooms all over our FC and we’re free to use them whenever we want without permission.
‘Besides automatic toilets, sinks, and paper towel dispensers, which really help cut down germs, Amazon also provides sanitizer, feminine products, and lotion, all for free.’
Social media users were left stunned by the series of responses from the company’s ambassadors, which were all written in a similar tone
‘Give us a break, we are real people trying to tell our experiences. Just because you don’t agree with us doesn’t make us less real or that we are spreading propaganda.’
She went on to suggest she did not want to unionize as her working conditions were ‘good’ and she received ‘great benefits’.
Another worker, Amazon FC Ambassador Brittany said: ‘These are real accounts. My job is to give out our experiences of working for Amazon.’
A spokesperson for Amazon told MailOnline: ‘FC ambassadors are employees who work in our FCs and share facts based on their personal experience.
‘It’s important that we do a good job educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centres, and the FC ambassador programme is a big part of that along with the FC tours we provide.
They added: ‘Thousands of guests across the world have come to see for themselves what it’s like to work inside one of our FCs. If you haven’t visited, we recommend it.’