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But other people are more "authentically" doing paid product placement, still without necessarily disclosing that to those they "influence"?
I am unimpressed.
It sounds like they're saying that only some people truly have earned the right to get rich scamming the rubes.
Christ, I hate social media.
The OP is suggesting that some "influencers" who get paid to say/show they like something on instagram are "fake" because... they mislead the people who pay them about how many 'followers' they have? But other people are more "authentically" doing paid product placement, still without necessarily disclosing that to those they "influence"? I am unimpressed. It sounds like they're saying that only some people truly hav…
The use of the term "merit" in this context feels fraught with issue. One could say that, almost by definition, the individual with the most ability to game the system has the highest merit. If a poker player is able to read the opponents' faces where no-one else can - they win based on merit. The losers may well disclaim this as being some sort of 'hack'. We are speaking here about some pictures on a small, rectangu…
You seem to be arguing that there is no such thing as cheating unless you get caught.
I've spent about $1,200 so far building an Instagram following -- albeit it's quite small. I'm shooting for 5,000 real, engaged followers, and willing to spend $5,000 getting it. I think it will be an asset that will easily throw off more than $5,000 of value for me. We'll see!
I think there's a deeper truth that most people, including us here on HN, don't want to admit: humans are at not rational, logical beings; rather we are emotional decision makers who largely don't understand our own opinions and preferences, where they come from, or how much "influence" comes from sources outside ourselves.
The next time you decide on a particular brand of product, or vote for a particular politician, ask yourself: why do I think this? Why do I have these beliefs about how the world works, about how society should be organized, or about why people should act this way?
At this point it's almost a truism to say ads work. How is the "influencer game" different from ads? A trusted source shows a product or service, and some percentage of the followers buy it.
A platform has hundreds of millions of users. Some do anything necessary to capture as big a slice of that audience, and monetize it.
This may be a revelation for Joe Average who knows nothing of the ad-driven-startup world, but it shouldn't be a surprise to us.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those seem like really low figures for bribes considering the average salary of a facebook employee.
It's pretty common for bribes to be pretty cheap compared to the gain. Same in DC. The ROI for lobbying is enormous. Spend a few million to get billions in subsidies or tax cuts.