[AQuantized]

I think this underestimates how much exploitation of this idea of comments as unbiased is currently taking place. There's a reason you can sell a Reddit account with a ton of karma and activity for a decent buck. Tons of PR firms now utilize faux accounts on almost all social media.

[JoshTriplett]

> There's a reason you can sell a Reddit account with a ton of karma and activity for a decent buck.

What does "a decent buck" amount to, these days? How much does it take to get people to sell their reputation to an unethical marketing firm?

[MattGaiser]

$16-$20.

https://www.playerup.com/accounts/redditaccount/

Not a lot for Westerners, but that is a week of wages in a place like Ghana. Decent pay for re-posting popular content.

[ImaCake]

I think that is just enough to make it worthwhile even for a poor American. If you can coordinate and plan ahead a little you would break minimum wage.

[xwdv]

Any similar place where you can buy or sell hackernews accounts? Trying to figure out how these downvote farms get accounts at scale.

[xwdv]

Those however are a small portion of total comments.

Pretty much whenever you see a blog you can bet it's being monetized somehow or used for some financial gain.

When you see a comment, it's unlikely there is any motive behind it beyond expressing an idea.

Now imagine the world where every comment is also some kind of ad or invitation to buy or subscribe to something. Hell.

[kansface]

> Those however are a small portion of total comments. When you see a comment, it's unlikely there is any motive behind it beyond expressing an idea.

I haven't read or seen any studies. I'm really curious what percentage of the average reddit thread's comments are from companies, nation states, and paid for power users.

> Now imagine the world where every comment is also some kind of ad or invitation to buy or subscribe to something. Hell.

That would be product reviews!