While people teasing or bullying each other over physical appearance is nothing new, it’s quite the low blow, especially when made at a child. As cringey and ridiculous as it might sound, the official Microsoft social media team decided to do a little bullying of their own on TikTok by targeting a North Carolina teenage girl. On their verified Microsoft Edge account, a member remarked that they knew the comments on the girl’s post about her face and hair would be toxic, implying they too agreed the TikToker was “ugly.”
Plenty of people caught wind of what the Microsoft social media team was implying and called them out for it. “Woah is Microsoft edge bullying?” said a commenter, stunned. “The admin probably forgot to switch accounts before commenting,” remarked another on Reddit. “It’s super pathetic,” added a third. “This is what happens when companies try to be hip and relatable,” agreed a fourth. One of the top commenters joked about how this could just be the AI chatbot that Microsoft developed back in 2016, Tay.
For those who might not remember, Tay was notorious for its unhinged behavior, which came off as both controversial and downright offensive to many. Things got so bad that Microsoft had to apologize and suspend the chatbot, which clearly was not ready for the internet. And while this comment from Microsoft Edge on TikTok is likely not AI-generated, many still feel like it’s strongly reminiscent of Microsoft’s failed attempts with its “hip” attempts for better PR. “Microsoft is absolutely stupid enough to have not learned from the last time this happened,” the commenter remarks.
Fortunately, the young girl publicly shamed by Microsoft Edge on TikTok didn’t seem too taken aback by their comment; actually, it’s possible she might not have seen their insult at all. She made a response video right after the initial post, discussing the debate on who she looked like with her single-bang hairstyle, completely ignoring Microsoft’s statement. Rightfully so, after all, no one should be taking mega corporations too seriously, as they are as far away from human as you can get, even with their phony attempts at being edgy or hip.
