“Marketing Communications professional insight:
Everything, and I mean everything, you see online related to products or services and reviews and comparisons and “best of” or “gift guide” lists is pay-to-play.
Every article in Wire Cutter, Forbes, etc. and even smaller publications like Food & Wine or Mind Body Green was paid for or curated by the marketing team for that product/service. Every IG reel, TikTok, or YouTube video review of the product/service was preceded by a contract negotiation between the influencer and the company being promoted, as well as several rounds of edits from the marketing team.
It’s all bullsh#t. Trust nothing that you read or see about a product. The only reliable info is real-world experience from people you actually know. Other than word of mouth, you’re just being fed the exact info the corporate overlords want you to see.”
When I did IT support this was always our first question before someone would be dispatched deskside, always got assurances that computer was shutdown every night and had just restarted and they didn't know why they always had issues. Get deskside check uptime (in front of user) and find it had been running for 45 days with no restart, restart computer and suddenly everything is working fine (always made sure to document in ticket resolution)...
When I did IT support this was always our first question before someone would be dispatched deskside, always got assurances that computer was shutdown every night and had just restarted and they didn't know why they always had issues. Get deskside check uptime (in front of user) and find it had been running for 45 days with no restart, restart computer and suddenly everything is working fine (always made sure to document in ticket resolution)...