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Even then, can you guarantee that the person behind the account isn't being paid to say things they wouldn't otherwise say?


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And how do we know he's not paying you to say that?! /s

Yes, as noted there are a few exceptions.

Being paid a whole lot of money to not talk about something isn't remotely similar to paying someone a few dollars an hour. It's not morally similar, it's not legally similar and it's not treated similarly by anyone who deals with these matters and has a clue what they are doing.


Interesting idea. Nothing to stop people being paid to voice another person's or company opinion though.

paying people to promote your message is normal if they disclose that they're being paid (even if the disclosure is implicit)

paying people to tweet nice things about you as if it's just because they like you is dishonest.


What if someone is paid for an opinion they already have?

Anecdotically, accounts whose speech I find valuable have not paid, and accounts with negative-value speech have.

Rationally, it makes some sense, as people willing to pay $8 for being published consider their publication to be worth -$8.

I agree though that verification (which is not what is done here) would be valuable. Not sure why they didn't go for a KYC.


I think there is a common fallacy that people who you disagree with need to be paid by someone, otherwise they wouldn't be as they are.

I disagree with the poster but I'll grant that he may completely believe what he says and doesn't need to be paid in any way.

The same phenomenon works for pro-Russia trolls, for instance. I don't think they are "paid", particularly paid with money.


No, on the chance that they are getting paid by the amount of traffic they/you generate.

Does he pay you to say that?

That’s not the argument either. Again, it’s just that they need to disclose the fact of having been paid to promote it, if and when they talk about it in another context.

Why do people keep inventing these strawman?


If I’m paying them to answer me, yes.

True. I was referring to the specific context of pay as an inducement to break confidentiality agreements, as opposed to paying to interview a famous actor or something like People magazine.

Trust me

Why? You have the rose colored glasses of getting paid by someone. I don't doubt that your first hand interactions have told you plenty about who he chooses to socially signal that he is. But that can be even more misleading than 2nd and 3rd hand accounts.


On the net your default assumption for someone promoting something is that its paid. Its not always true but its far more often the case than not.

Only if they're being paid to show it - which I'm not sure is the case here.

They could be simply paid opinions.

I do assume. But my point is I think most people would probably sacrifice their credibility for a lump sum, especially if they knew the person wasn't going to be able to convince the public.

Does there need to be money changing hands to refute promoted content ?

Companies providing perks, quid pro quo services, pre-written news stories and other non financial advantages are part of the game. None of those would trigger any of what would be labled as paid placement, but are still promoted placement.


If that's a concern for companies, they can bake measurable minimums (referrals, converted referrals, etc) into their endorsement deals. Any person with a bevy of fake-ness won't meet them and thus won't get paid.
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