A sensible unpacking of the issues in play here, instead of the fear-mongering you see from the tech libertarians.
Personally, I think a ban would backfire spectacularly on the US.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/tiktok-ban-bill-us-what-to-know-1234985795/
Larry Ellison's fingerprints are all over this.
A sensible unpacking of the issues in play here, instead of the fear-mongering you see from the tech libertarians.
Personally, I think a ban would backfire spectacularly on the US.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/tiktok-ban-bill-us-what-to-know-1234985795/
Jesus is the (land)lord
#OldMemesNeverDie
When you make a joke and might as well pre-book yourself into hell
#OldMemesNeverDie
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I'm actually serious about that! I'm going to ask to buy the account and see if I get a response. Or maybe tell them that I'll be interested in buying it once they hit 1500 followers, and how much would that cost?
I love baiting scammers.
If I get a good response, I'll post screencaps.
nostr:npub145umrlfuf9cppkgkzf08438peevqs8lqrswsu27w3txkeh4n2yysathq7w Don't know exaxt current prices, but $5-$10 should be enough. They're using a lot of AI and chatbots these days, so that's 100% profit for them. Wholesale, you could get 1000 newish accounts for under $100.
nostr:npub1cne6gvqcju47v4uw80ps2ksctxncrw8mq8t07ksmjf4pqmsh7uaqxlmuve
Oh, now this makes complete sense. With an algorithmic timeline that puts random people in your feed, you may not even realize that you are following the JoeSchmoe account.
I think this also explains the obvious bot followers I've been getting tons of lately on Twitter and Instagram, despite not posting there. E.g. "40567Claire" (usually with a cute Asian woman pfp) who has 756 followers, but only 8 posts and follows only 17 people (i.e. the ones who haven't been unfollowed yet).
Sometimes they also send a personal message like "hi, can we be friends?" I've wanted to see what their grift was so I've tried writing back with "hello, let's be friends. What do you like to do for fun?" expecting to be told about how much fun they're having investing in NFT's or Dogecoin. They never responded, probably because the point was just to use a personal message to increase the likelihood that I would follow them back.
Next time I'll write to @ 04557Claire and ask how much to buy the account. 😂
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Can you explain the last step, about the elite ratio? I'm trying to get my head around this. Also, once they have it all built, how/where do they sell it?
I guess it's not surprising that it would be happening on the fedi too, since clout chasers gonna clout chase no matter where they are, but I wonder what the relative values are of buying one of these accounts on the various platforms? Like, is there a dark web marketplace somewhere to comparison shop 😂
I also wonder what all the people who followed "@ toads every hour" or whatever think of suddenly noticing that they're following "@ Joe Schmoe" instead.
nostr:npub145umrlfuf9cppkgkzf08438peevqs8lqrswsu27w3txkeh4n2yysathq7w The last step is a hangover from the Twitter algorithms, which - thanks to a litany of stupid small decisions originally designed to help all real users - gave an advantage to those who had far more followers than those they followed.
A high ratio was also seen as a status symbol because it resembled that of genuine celebrities.
The algorithmic feeds hid those changes from Toad to Schmoe. You got to see Schmoe's tweets because you were following them, but you thought it was because they were popular.
Yes, there are several marketplaces for such accounts. The more public-facing side is for big ones - 25k followers and up - but there are plenty that are used as sock-puppets for misinformation that have a few thousand followers.
The biggest cottage industry on BlueSky is building accounts to be sold to "Twitter elite" who don't want to go through the drudgery of, you know, earning followers.
These spam accounts usually take the form of "cute animal picture" aggregators, though I recently got one focused on bonsai - which is a hilarious first for me.
They mass follow new arrivals to the platform, hoping to get a followback from people grateful for the attention.
Then they "follower-farm" - weeding out those who haven't followed back and following more.
Once they've achieved the desired number of followers - still low as BlueSky doesn't have 100k DAUs yet - they start unfollowing until they have the "elite" ratio, then sell.
Don't laugh - something similar is happening in the fedi
Those who have never had to deal personally with fascism are the mouthiest gobshites on the topic.
Mine
#caturday
You thought your puns were bad? Just wait until you sea mine.
#OldMemesNeverDie
The right hand very much knows what the left is doing.
This pic, from "Maybelline Presents 1991 Look of the Year" at Plaza Hotel in New York, was taken when Ivanka was just 10 years old.
Photo: Ron Galella/Getty Images
Purebred vs inbred
I'm really doing Mastodon wrong. I shouldn't merely pour scorn on the BBC's announcements that it's looking at the fedi, and I need to do more than roll my eyes if Aunty Beeb shows up.
No, I need to put pressure on all the admins to fedi-block the BBC because "it is transphobic".
Anyone starting to see what I was warning about re Meta?
The shrews and scolds of wingnut purity politics want to control all your access. If you don't like it, fuck off.
This event always looks like it was born out of a lie that got out of hand
#OldMemesNeverDie
