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There is a general problem with platforms and fake entities of various kinds posing as friendly, relatable individuals. This problem surfaces far less deeply th

by Zigurd 7y ago

There is a general problem with platforms and fake entities of various kinds posing as friendly, relatable individuals. This problem surfaces far less deeply than you have to dig to find a well-crafted fake portrait. Is that really a crafty artistic person turning out handmade items on Etsy, or is it a front for a factory in China with dozens of pseudonymous identities on Etsy? They take on multiple fake identities in order to appear to be humans handcrafting their items in small batches. If one identity gets their cover blown, it is shut down and replaced. Is your AirBnB host with a woman's first name really renting out some family-owned cottages, or is "she" a BPO messaging contact center who won't talk to you on the phone? AirBnB's UI makes you sift through tens of pages of reviews to glean hints. And that usually happens after you have suspicions due to a foulup with a rental. I haven't yet tried one of those "sharing economy" car rentals. But I suspect they, too, have attracted aggregators posing behind multiple fake identities to escape bad reputations if need be. Social media and all kinds of other platforms need to look for and mitigate damage to their brands from fake identities. These fakes are made, in part, to game the platforms, and, in doing so, reduce their value.

vertis 7y ago
Etsy does take their identity verification for sellers fairly seriously, though it's hard to combat if you have a workforce of people whose ID you can use.
strbean 7y ago
> Is that really a crafty artistic person turning out handmade items on Etsy, or is it a front for a factory in China with dozens of pseudonymous identities on Etsy? Ran into this when my fiancé was browsing Etsy to get an idea of how to price some of her stained glass work. There was a particular listing that was ridiculously cheap, which raised my eyebrows. I looked at their sales history, and they had sold tens of thousands of this item. Clearly factory production in China.
- code_duck 7y ago
  It's been a problem for Etsy for 10 years. Rather than keep trying to stamp it out, they instead tried to find a way to roll those people into their platform.

by Zigurd 7y ago

vertis 7y ago

Etsy does take their identity verification for sellers fairly seriously, though it's hard to combat if you have a workforce of people whose ID you can use.

strbean 7y ago

> Is that really a crafty artistic person turning out handmade items on Etsy, or is it a front for a factory in China with dozens of pseudonymous identities on Etsy? Ran into this when my fiancé was browsing Etsy to get an idea of how to price some of her stained glass work. There was a particular listing that was ridiculously cheap, which raised my eyebrows. I looked at their sales history, and they had sold tens of thousands of this item. Clearly factory production in China.

code_duck 7y ago
It's been a problem for Etsy for 10 years. Rather than keep trying to stamp it out, they instead tried to find a way to roll those people into their platform.