A little guide for the false prophet who saw himself as an insider

Foreword: XboxSquad editorials are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire team. Good reading.

This week the Twittosphere ignited with the release of a message announcing the postponement of Halo Infinite until 2022. Although the tweet came from a more than dubious report and despite the approach to the dangerous date 1^is Even so, in April information was disseminating at breakneck speed. Within minutes, the fake ad was found on many forums and even on popular websites like Kotaku.

It was no longer before I was about to take out my keyboard to start a little editorial telling you about the unsettling ease with which it is possible to manipulate information. So I was involved in the game of writing a slightly special guide: How to become an insider in five steps ? Before doing this, however, remember a few basic rules for verifying the reliability of information.

A brief guide for the enlightened reader

Before getting the keys to erasing your false prophet status and fully assuming your role as a well-known and recognized insider, there are a few principles that will allow you to sort through the information contained in the media and social networks Networks.

Source reliability: Twitter account @ 343Industries announces postponement of Halo Infinite ? If we stick to it, we might think we have information that is making a lot of noise! Yes, but here it is, with a few clicks we find that the account in question only has a hundred subscribers and has never been published before. A fake account? Without doubt ! In fact, it’s so big that we still can’t understand how Kotaku got trapped. In short, you got it. Verifying the reliability of the source is important before considering it to be true. And even if the media are well-known and recognized, it is helpful to find out about their source and to assess for yourself whether they are trustworthy or not.

Opinion and absolute truth: More and more insiders whose information has been proven in the past are now playing dangerously with words. Because of their status, players stay alert to every statement and hope for new and juicy leaks. Often, however, their messages, which only translate their personal opinion (“I think”, “I want”), are presented as absolute truths and are taken up again by all media with all gears. So be careful.

When likelihood strengthens credibility: Certain unverified information circulating on the internet plays on the likelihood of gaining momentum. For example, as summer approaches, you will see a lot of people claiming that a new Xbox conference is coming soon. Is that wrong? Probably not. Is it based on reliable and verified information? Certainly not either. However, because the information is believable, it is considered “true” by some who do not hesitate to share it.

Become an insider? Simple !

If you play with the few tricks mentioned above, it is easy for some to become an “insider”. Here are some steps you can take to become an insider without access to sensitive information. The fame, the money and the success are yours!

Step 1 – Find out about what’s new

Do you want to become a dynamic young insider and enjoy the fame of a likes counter that keeps popping up after reading your tweets? You then need to check for the slightest explanation, the slightest change in the position of a developer, or the slightest announcement of a hiring. These elements are real gold mines that serve as the raw material for building tweets that appeal to the most gullible.

Step 2 – Share your “information” with ease

Now that you have the material to make your first insider claims, it’s time to do it all. Small simple example that you can implement quickly:

It has been three years since the last one Forza Horizon is over and it is very likely that Playground Games has prepared a new work for us this year. Sprinkle your statement with a few things that are unlikely to be wrong (the last three) Forza Horizon published in September) and you have a little inside tweet ready! Another one for the street?

In short, you got it, questioned the rumors, picked up the clues, and returned them with serenity in your own way. You are the source. You are the best, you are an insider! No?

Pro Tips: Write some tweets in English, you will reach more people internationally and this will build your credibility with your French speaking goal.

Step 3 – Flood the world with your statements

Whenever a message is posted from an official account or media outlet, you owe it to yourself to be there to share your analysis and “inside information” with the world. Like everyone else, you will start out with a few subscribers. However, by interacting with the community and cherishing the sweet dreams of some, you will quickly gain valuable “followers” ​​who will make your statements visible through likes and retweets.

Be careful, but don’t overdose! Your new top secret information should be distilled sparingly. But don’t panic, there is a lot to attend to while you wait. During this downtime, focus on messages and graphics that praise the brand (in our case, Xbox). The fans love them and are sure to share them. Enough to give you a little extra visibility while you wait for your next inside statement.

Step 4 – Promote Your Insider Achievements

You have so flooded the web with more or less probable predictions that some will soon be correct. It’s time to shine! Do not hesitate to spam all the accounts giving the official information by sharing your messages that announced a few months before what ultimately happened. Don’t worry about your tons of predictions that haven’t come true (yet). People will have forgotten about them and will only remember what you want to remind them of. And yet a little pirouette of the style “The Covid finally had more influence than the teams expected” or “The communication plans may have changed with the arrival of Bethesda” is in your pocket!

Step 5 – Congratulations, you are now a web guru

There you are, you are now a well-known and recognized insider! Of course, you’re not yet fooling the media, used to sorting out true and false, but you have the merit of convincing certain internet users who prefer to be simply by consuming the content given to them. Suggests without taking the time to try to review. And if the information makes you dream, who won’t believe it?

Speaking of insiders, I personally advise you to follow Klaw on Twitter, a French insider who recently stood out for the reliability of his information about Xbox. He also works for XboxSquad.fr, that can only appreciate what he said, right?

HM okay. I therefore announce for this afternoon:
– a date for EA Play on PC
– the continuation and end of the GP schedule for the next 2 weeks
– the official release of the “Xbox Services” event on March 26th.

And that would be a lot, especially if we consider yesterday

– Klaw (@ Kl4wed) March 16, 2021

You will understand, whether it is Klaw with his tweet or me with this guide, we are having fun with this concept from Insider that is getting more and more advocated. Yes, there are insiders, people who through their relationships or influence manage to get their hands on confidential information and share it in the eyes of the world. But many play with the same codes to fool people on social media. Sometimes it is even these insiders themselves who manipulate the words so that we can attribute statements to them that they ultimately did not say.

Make no mistake, I’ll be the first to plan ahead and dream about what our favorite developers might have in store for us. Video games are everyone’s passion, after all. But please be careful when it comes to appreciating the information circulating!