The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility
The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility
Just finished watching and GN is totally valid on calling out a lot of bullshit that LTT is doing.
Either you are light entertainment that’s not to be taken seriously or you are a serious reviewer and are held to higher standards of testing.
LTT are becoming corporate shills and are trying to have their cake and eat it too.
I think stepping back and taking a breath and not engaging in the online rage machine is warranted (not directed specifically at you, just all of us who rage, myself included).
GN, and Hardware Unboxed have very valid concerns, and Linus I think missed the point of this video by taking a defensive and emotional stance. I dont totally fault him for that. External, and especially public criticism is hard to accept.
Steve is asking LTT to do better, take more time, fix things in production rather than with text notes, and pinned corrections.
What I did not take away is that LTT are shills, and im not sure that the suggestive way Steve implied impartiality is fair. If he has evidence that Gary or Terran are being influenced by their previous rolls thats one thing, but just implying that they could be leads to assumptions without evidence.
Its the same tactic used by bad faith news and interviewers and probably is not intentional on Steves part but his message would have been better without it. "Im not saying Linus takes money from Noctua for positive reviews, but they sure talk it up and have a close partnership" is very different from "here is the email from Noctua to Linus asking him to change his conclusion before publication"
It felt less like implying they were shills and more pointing out the numerous instances of apparent conflicts of interest. It would be one thing if all they did was hire people like Gary and Terran, but they also have several close business relationships with companies whose products they are still reviewing. Both of those combined harm LMGs credibility as impartial reviewers.
Looks like there is some new Youtube drama
Edit: I should of said controversy not drama. I’ll leave it for the replies.
Okay. But GN is not wrong about LTT in the video. If LTT were smart, they would take a long look at themselves and learn from this.
I think this is the real takeaway from this so far. LTT is being called out on errors that even they acknowledged (via pins, edits, wan shows, tweets, and forum posts) and the best thing for them to do is step back, remove emotion from the public criticism, and evaluate if the number and frequency of errors benefits them, their brand, and trust.