[dylan604]

that's the part that I love love love. society has gotten to this ridiculous follower stage that people seem to think it is a personal connection. maybe i've just spent too much time too close to the ad agency world to see how nasty they are, but anytime i see some random person on the internet that i do not personally know recommending anything, i immediately assume they are paid for that "recommendation". too much "inside baseball" to know that nothing you see in an ad is real even if you don't consciously recognize the fact what you are looking at is an ad.

[throwaway2037]

Hell yes. +9000 for your post. To me, the solution is much transparency around paid product placement through strong regulation.

See "Parasocial interaction".

    Parasocial interaction (PSI) refers to a kind of psychological relationship experienced by an audience in their mediated encounters with performers in the mass media, particularly on television and on online platforms. Viewers or listeners come to consider media personalities as friends, despite having no or limited interactions with them. PSI is described as an illusory experience, such that media audiences interact with personas (e.g., talk show hosts, celebrities, fictional characters, social media influencers) as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them. The term was coined by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in 1956.

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction

[eropple]

I'm currently noodling on a blog website and I'm thinking about adding a "recommendations" page largely in an anti-influencer sort of way--any affiliate marketing money is pretty incidental to somebody working in tech, but I want companies that make stuff that's good and valuable to stick around and continue to make stuff, so I want a way to spread the good news in a credible manner.

[dylan604]

Then don’t use sponsored links. If you’re making money off of the recommendation in any form, it loses credibility for people that care. Otherwise, you’re just like all of those listicles that exist for no reason than a way to use affiliate links.

[JohnFen]

> anytime i see some random person on the internet that i do not personally know recommending anything, i immediately assume they are paid for that "recommendation"

Yes, and doubly so if they say something like "this is not sponsored".