Ninja May Have Given out His Number on the Internet, but it’s mostly a Marketing Scheme

Ninja’s outreach program is being carried out through a company named Community. However, checking the terms of service for Company makes it pretty clear just what kind of setup fans are participating in. The response one receives from Ninja upon texting him is a crafted, predetermined message that asks fans to sign up for Community. The message comes with a link for exactly that purpose, taking you to Ninja’s hub on the Community website.

By
Timothy H.
-
Ninja

On August 11th, previous Twitch and popular Fortnite streamer Tyler Blevins, more commonly referred to as Ninja, gave out his phone number on Twitter. Ninja asked his fans to text him and fill out some info so they could stay in contact, through a video that he posted alongside the tweet. He claimed that he would personally respond to some of the fans, and that he would team up with some of them to play Fortnite later in the week.

 

Ninja’s outreach program is being carried out through a company named Community. However, checking the terms of service for Company makes it pretty clear just what kind of setup fans are participating in. The response one receives from Ninja upon texting him is a crafted, predetermined message that asks fans to sign up for Community. The message comes with a link for exactly that purpose, taking you to Ninja’s hub on the Community website.

The site will ask for a varied amount of info from you; including your gender, age, city, and name, as well as your optional email. Naturally, this isn’t the kind of info that would be needed unless it was a marketing scheme looking to pull some demographics. And of course, the terms of use that are listed a little lower on the page make it clear what kind of scenario this is.

When you do sign up on Community, you agree to receive automated alerts and texts from Ninja’s public relations team, which includes marketing materials. And if you read the print very carefully, you’ll find that Community can pretty much impersonate the celebrity you are supposedly agreeing to be in contact with.

“Additionally, you understand that a message sent by a Client may appear to come from a celebrity or other famous individual or influencer but may actually be sent to on his/her behalf by the public relations or other social media representatives.”

The terms even go on to say that the messages aren’t private at all, and that the interactions are purely intended as advertising and promotion. The number Ninja provided is actually for Community, so it isn’t like you could call him up whenever and see what he’s up to on a certain holiday.

And of course, Community gathers other info on you as well, such as your IP address, browser info, and the device you’re doing everything on. In short, it’s an obvious marketing strategy and it is pretty clear that you likely won’t bet getting too close to Ninja in this fashion. Even so, some hardcore fans may get a chance to play a game of Fortnite or two with him, so it isn’t all bad. Just be aware that this scheme is mostly that and probably won’t result in personal communication with your favorite streamer.

Ninja then followed up with another video thanking people for sending him texts: