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"Click farm" expose

by PhilippaWrites
13 replies
It looks like there's going to be an expose on UK TV about "click farms", used to fake Facebook likes and Twitter followers:

How low-paid workers at 'click farms' create appearance of online popularity | Technology | The Guardian

It will be no surprise to people here at Warrior Forum that social signals can be faked, but it might be somewhat surprising that it has moved beyond bots to people doing the clicking, for incredibly low wages.
For the workers, though, it is miserable work, sitting at screens in dingy rooms facing a blank wall, with windows covered by bars, and sometimes working through the night. For that, they could have to generate 1,000 likes or follow 1,000 people on Twitter to earn a single US dollar.
It's interesting to see that there are legal issues around buying fake clicks, too.
Sam DeSilva, a lawyer specialising in IT and outsourcing law at Manches LLP in Oxford, says of the fake clicks: "Potentially, a number of laws are being breached - the consumer protection and unfair trading regulations. Effectively it's misleading the individual consumers."
I'll be interested to see the documentary, anyway, to see what it brings up.
#click farm #expose
  • Profile picture of the author Marketing Fool
    Wow...kinda weird. Wish I could watch that!
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  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    Originally Posted by PhilippaWrites View Post

    For the workers, though, it is miserable work, sitting at screens in dingy rooms facing a blank wall, with windows covered by bars, and sometimes working through the night. For that, they could have to generate 1,000 likes or follow 1,000 people on Twitter to earn a single US dollar.
    The working conditions may be miserable, but the work itself is not exactly rocket science or back-breaking labor.

    There are many worse ways to make a paycheck than sitting at a computer clicking some buttons all day.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Curtis2011 View Post

      The working conditions may be miserable, but the work itself is not exactly rocket science or back-breaking labor.

      There are many worse ways to make a paycheck than sitting at a computer clicking some buttons all day.

      LOL

      It is not like these people don't have a choice. They were offered a job and accepted it.

      If they want to be paid more, they should try to offer more value.
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      • Profile picture of the author muffty
        Originally Posted by tpw View Post

        LOL

        It is not like these people don't have a choice. They were offered a job and accepted it.

        If they want to be paid more, they should try to offer more value.

        Bit Harsh Maybe!!!!

        I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that they don't have a choice!!! I think we sometimes forget how lucky we are!
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      • Profile picture of the author PhilippaWrites
        Originally Posted by tpw View Post

        LOL

        It is not like these people don't have a choice. They were offered a job and accepted it.

        If they want to be paid more, they should try to offer more value.
        I think you may be overestimating the degree of true choice available in certain areas of the world, when poverty is devastatingly high.

        However, whether or not fake followers turn out to be against UK law will be interesting to watch, too.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Not any different from Chinese labor being used to mine virtual gold at WOW. Nothing really new here.
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  • Profile picture of the author wordpressmania
    I geared about this type of business last year. Fiverr has a lot of gigs like tha
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by PhilippaWrites View Post

    It looks like there's going to be an expose on UK TV about "click farms", used to fake Facebook likes and Twitter followers:

    How low-paid workers at 'click farms' create appearance of online popularity | Technology | The Guardian

    It will be no surprise to people here at Warrior Forum that social signals can be faked, but it might be somewhat surprising that it has moved beyond bots to people doing the clicking, for incredibly low wages.
    It's been done for a while. From what I understand, they are high wages for the areas.

    For the workers, though, it is miserable work, sitting at screens in dingy rooms facing a blank wall, with windows covered by bars, and sometimes working through the night. For that, they could have to generate 1,000 likes or follow 1,000 people on Twitter to earn a single US dollar.
    It's interesting to see that there are legal issues around buying fake clicks, too.
    Sam DeSilva, a lawyer specialising in IT and outsourcing law at Manches LLP in Oxford, says of the fake clicks: "Potentially, a number of laws are being breached - the consumer protection and unfair trading regulations. Effectively it's misleading the individual consumers."
    I'll be interested to see the documentary, anyway, to see what it brings up.
    Laws ARE being broken! It is fraud.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author lastreporter
    Watched it and wasn't surprised. Some on this forum espouse fake likes. It games the system, opens the door for open fraud and, or course, undermines consumers' trust in online information. This makes it more difficult for legitimate online marketers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    It's a shame really, they may opt not to do it, but some money is better than no money. They could work the rice fields from sun up sun down for the same pay. People will always look to make money off of others misfortune.

    What these click farms are doing are no different than what some warriors do on craiglist, by posting fake jobs and preying on people looking for work. Atleast these people make $1 compared to nothing these people get from scammers on craigslist.
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    • Profile picture of the author lastreporter
      Originally Posted by Alex Blades View Post

      It's a shame really, they may opt not to do it, but some money is better than no money. They could work the rice fields from sun up sun down for the same pay. People will always look to make money off of others misfortune.

      What these click farms are doing are no different than what some warriors do on craiglist, by posting fake jobs and preying on people looking for work. Atleast these people make $1 compared to nothing these people get from scammers on craigslist.
      All true. Craiglist has been savaged and totally ruined by spam and scammers, some of them have sold WSOs on this forum teaching others how to flood the community-based list with phoney ads.

      A few destroyed it for all. Same thing over and over again; happens to each innovation.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
        Originally Posted by lastreporter View Post

        All true. Craiglist has been savaged and totally ruined by spam and scammers, some of them have sold WSOs on this forum teaching others how to flood the community-based list with phoney ads.

        A few destroyed it for all. Same thing over and over again; happens to each innovation.
        I personally use Craigslist to buy stuff all the time, I love it, but being an IM'er I see all the scams people post just to get someone who's down on their luck, to fill out some punk ass cpa offer.

        One thing I've learned, is that people will always prey on others misfortune.

        These people get $1 for 1000 clicks, on Craigslist they get $0 for filling out some clowns cpa offer.
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        But I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried. "

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