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From one media manipulator to another: when you pay the premium price for a long-standing hacker news account, it's usually more convincing to let people find t
by 420basteit 7y ago
From one media manipulator to another: when you pay the premium price for a long-standing hacker news account, it's usually more convincing to let people find the comment history for themselves.
- Nition 7y agoLooks suspicious enough anyway if users check their history, considering that user posted for the first time in a year just to make that comment.
- mirimir 7y agoTrue. But they've never posted very frequently. So maybe this is just an important issue for them. Also, are baseless allegations OK here?
- Nition 7y agoWell, personally my guess is that it's actually a legitimate user since the username is based on their real name, and they've linked to their Twitter account in the past. It'd be pretty silly to sell an account so closely linked to your identity. Unless it was hacked and sold without the user's knowledge I guess.
- solarkraft 7y agoPlus it'd be really stupid for the buyer to mention it. How about stopping this thread derailment?
- pkfrank 7y agoThis. I just don't post here frequently or check HN. Rest assured I am a real person. I have mentioned my Twitter in previous comments (https://twitter.com/peterkimfrank https://twitter.com/peterkimfrank) and you'll see my submission history maps pretty well to my role at my company (https://dev.to/peter https://dev.to/peter). This was a weird comment thread to wake up to...
- mjkornbl 7y agoTouché. If I need Hacker News "influencer" services going forward, I will turn to you.
- xwdv 7y agoIs it really that much of a premium price? I’ve found a few HN accounts with downvote privileges for sale for reasonable prices compared to what people usually spend on marketing.
- mancerayder 7y agoWait, just how what are points worth in an account resale? It can't possibly be worth it for first world adults to sell.
- propogandist 7y agoThis sort of activity and behavior is common on sites like reddit. It's used by media companies and brands, especially as the reach is much bigger than HN comments. Astroturfing is big business and can be very profitable. An account itself isn't worth much, it's the overall execution that matters.
- neilv 7y agoI'd love to see HN or Reddit or someone work with the feds on how to investigate and prosecute astroturfing/sockpuppets/shilling, perhaps as unauthorized computer access and/or fraud.
- dang 7y agoWe detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20160672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20160672 and marked it off-topic.