The Gen Z Pyramid Scheme Sweeping Instagram • Hacker News Board

Re: The Gen Z Pyramid Scheme Sweeping Instagram

#51

Post by JamesLeonis » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 7:02 PM UTC

trhway wrote: post #47

JamesLeonis wrote: post #30

There are a lot of judgment posts in the comments here. Let me ask a few questions of the HN crowd: * When were these kids educated about pyramid schemes and other scams? When were they taught the patterns to look for? * Who is responsible for teaching them? Most of you will say "Parents", but are they equipped to understand and teach? The old cliche is Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it but who is…

>* When were these kids educated about pyramid schemes and other scams? When were they taught the patterns to look for? >* Who is responsible for teaching them? Most of you will say "Parents", but are they equipped to understand and teach? learning by getting you own bruises seems to be the learning way of choice of human species. Beginning of 199x pyramids of all sorts and at all scales swept across former USSR - pr…

MMM is alive and well in Africa, unfortunately, ICOs make me feel like Chicken Little.

> pretty much everybody was a "kid" back then

The Universality of the blindness is what bothers me the most. What am I blind to? When does Caveat Emptor bleed into paranoia? My hope is to inspire more people to speak up to others so somebody can warn a future me away from a mistake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM_Global

Re: The Gen Z Pyramid Scheme Sweeping Instagram

#52

Post by conradev » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

JamesLeonis wrote: post #30

There are a lot of judgment posts in the comments here. Let me ask a few questions of the HN crowd: * When were these kids educated about pyramid schemes and other scams? When were they taught the patterns to look for? * Who is responsible for teaching them? Most of you will say "Parents", but are they equipped to understand and teach? The old cliche is Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it but who is…

I knew a few people in my high school engaged in multi-level marketing schemes. One of them tried to sit me down and sell me on joining, and I flipped it into trying to explain to them why it was a bad idea. It was a new concept to me at the time!

The best part? They're legal in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing#Legality...

Re: The Gen Z Pyramid Scheme Sweeping Instagram

#53

Post by wink » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 7:49 PM UTC

Trying to understand the "rich" part in "get rich quick" in this.

So let's assume I'm the one who started this thing - if I just start it I only get 1200$ out of it. How often do I have to "rejoin" the tree to cash in more? I'd have to pay 150$, so I can't randomly do that - or do I see that as an investment? Only thing that comes to my mind is keeping a whole "lineage" to myself with my fake accounts, so I only ever pay myself and cash in from the sidelines?

Maybe I'm just not smart enough to pull a pyramid scheme...

Re: The Gen Z Pyramid Scheme Sweeping Instagram

#54

Post by pasta_strainer » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 8:04 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #48

QuarterReptile wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing parent's bigger point. Nothing is big for almost any teenagers, because at the end of the day they don't have to pay rent or buy groceries or that type of thing. Plus, a good percentage of them are about to be saddled with 100-1000X that amount in debt. $150 is water under the bridge.

It's cheap compared to losing your life savings, but consider that being saddled with debt that's an investment(†) in college is different from losing $150 that you could spend on lunch tomorrow - in addition to the fact that they're likely not earning anywhere near as much as you and I are. When I was in high school, losing $150 meant that I'm out of gas money for the next two weeks, which means that I'm riding the…

So...not a big deal?

Re: The Gen Z Pyramid Scheme Sweeping Instagram

#55

Post by pavel_lishin » Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 8:42 PM UTC

pasta_strainer wrote: post #54

pavel_lishin wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cheap compared to losing your life savings, but consider that being saddled with debt that's an investment(†) in college is different from losing $150 that you could spend on lunch tomorrow - in addition to the fact that they're likely not earning anywhere near as much as you and I are. When I was in high school, losing $150 meant that I'm out of gas money for the next two weeks, which means that I'm riding the…

So...not a big deal?

Yes, my point was certainly that losing the ability to interact with your friends and peers in high school, as well as shifting your sleep schedule for half a month, is no big deal.

Can I have $150?