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Buying likes and buying ads are both ethical and unethical. By buying ads you are trying to game a users newsfeeds without providing any value to the user (if

by wolco 7y ago

Buying likes and buying ads are both ethical and unethical. By buying ads you are trying to game a users newsfeeds without providing any value to the user (if highly liked content provides value, ads do not provide this value). Buying likes is the same. It games a user's newsfeed but doesn't provide value. To the user they are the same. To facebook they unethical because they are not paying them. To the point around harmful the newsfeed itself is untrustworthy. Links were never trustworthy.

throw_14JAS 7y ago
Ads provide value because they pay for it all. Isn't that valuable?
yesenadam 7y ago
>Buying likes and buying ads are both ethical and unethical. Sorry, in what way is buying likes ethical?
- wolco 7y ago
  In what way is it unethical? No harm is done to anyone. Facebook decided how things work and create this system with side effects. Finding a way around the rules facebook made does not make it unethical.
  - atq2119 7y ago
    Likes are supposed/believed/intended to be a form of social proof by most people. Buying likes destroys that. So harm is done.
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    > No harm is done to anyone. I disagree. I think harm is done to everyone who uses the site.
  - yesenadam 7y ago
    >In what way is it unethical? No harm is done to anyone. I'm not sure what to say to you if you can't see it. No harm is done? Maybe you only imagine physical or financial harm. These aren't meaningless numbers in a vacuum; likes/followers are taken by people to indicate social importance or approval, they show how other people in the world feel and think about things (comments, pages, issues, opinions). A large part of the public sphere is in this form nowadays. Faking likes/followers/comments is deliberately misrepresenting yourself, fraudulent deception - lying. Seems to me your argument would apply to faking or buying votes in an election, or TV ratings, or referendums or..faking corporation profits, buying fake stories in news media, or anything in the world where the numbers are diddled. "In what way is it unethical? No harm is done to anyone. There's this system with side effects. Finding a way around the rules does not make it unethical." Imagine if voting and ranking on HN stories and comments was entirely determined by bought upvotes, downvotes, flagging, abuse reports etc. The site would be destroyed. And if the same thing happened on every forum of any kind online? "No harm done?"
atq2119 7y ago
It's mildly amusing in a frustrating way how we just assume that ads provide no value these days because ads and marketing in general have become synonymous with hostile psychological manipulation. In theory (and ancient, pre-internet historical practice), ads can provide genuine value by informing people about the availability and properties of products.

by wolco 7y ago

throw_14JAS 7y ago

Ads provide value because they pay for it all. Isn't that valuable?

yesenadam 7y ago

>Buying likes and buying ads are both ethical and unethical. Sorry, in what way is buying likes ethical?

wolco 7y ago
In what way is it unethical? No harm is done to anyone. Facebook decided how things work and create this system with side effects. Finding a way around the rules facebook made does not make it unethical.
- atq2119 7y ago
  Likes are supposed/believed/intended to be a form of social proof by most people. Buying likes destroys that. So harm is done.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > No harm is done to anyone. I disagree. I think harm is done to everyone who uses the site.
- yesenadam 7y ago
  >In what way is it unethical? No harm is done to anyone. I'm not sure what to say to you if you can't see it. No harm is done? Maybe you only imagine physical or financial harm. These aren't meaningless numbers in a vacuum; likes/followers are taken by people to indicate social importance or approval, they show how other people in the world feel and think about things (comments, pages, issues, opinions). A large part of the public sphere is in this form nowadays. Faking likes/followers/comments is deliberately misrepresenting yourself, fraudulent deception - lying. Seems to me your argument would apply to faking or buying votes in an election, or TV ratings, or referendums or..faking corporation profits, buying fake stories in news media, or anything in the world where the numbers are diddled. "In what way is it unethical? No harm is done to anyone. There's this system with side effects. Finding a way around the rules does not make it unethical." Imagine if voting and ranking on HN stories and comments was entirely determined by bought upvotes, downvotes, flagging, abuse reports etc. The site would be destroyed. And if the same thing happened on every forum of any kind online? "No harm done?"

atq2119 7y ago

It's mildly amusing in a frustrating way how we just assume that ads provide no value these days because ads and marketing in general have become synonymous with hostile psychological manipulation. In theory (and ancient, pre-internet historical practice), ads can provide genuine value by informing people about the availability and properties of products.