
Amazon hired employees to tweet nice things about it - doener
https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/amazon-fb-ambassadors-program-pay-nice-things-13182172.php
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taurath
Astroturfing is a big problem because it poisons the entire well - people stop
trusting the entire system and then eventually move on to something else.
Without strong moderation or social mechanisms ("Prove you're not a cop!") all
anonymous or near-anonymous social networks eventually run into the problem of
getting flooded with bad actors, all the reasonable people leave, and then the
network is left with nothing but bad actors playing in the muddy remains.

A well crafted post in HN can make a lot of money, and it is happening every
day. Its only because of the strong moderation here that those posts are
either taken down, or are already indistinguishable from being a regular post
from a well-meaning person.

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dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17831943](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17831943)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17835871](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17835871)

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kartan
"While Jeff Bezos' wealth has increased $260 million every single day this
year, he continues to pay many Amazon employees wages so low that they're
forced to depend on taxpayer-funded programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and
public housing to survive"

Privatice profits, socialize loses. Amazon has a PR problem with its
employees, but the rest of the citizens should be also worried because they
are paying for it.

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6cd6beb
Not surprised in the slightest.

Political candidates already do this to minimize their weak points and
capitalize on their opponents'.

Countries already do this to save face when they're doing something that
purchases bad will, like killing folks at a border wall.

There's no way to tell whether a comment on the internet came from a hireling,
an outsourced firm, a bot, or a real person who genuinely feels or believes
what they're saying.

