social network doping
TRANSCRIPT
Social Network Doping: Buying Influence Online
and Its Cultural Implications
Dr. Hsin-Yen YangDepartment of Communication Studies
Member of the Institute for New Media StudiesFort Hays State University
A short bio….• Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan• Ph.D. in Media Studies, University of Iowa• Have taught Media and Society, Public Relations, Advertising, Oral
Communication, Intercultural Communication, etc.• Research interests: Critical Cultural Studies, Critical Discourse
Analysis (of online fan discourse), Pop Culture and Politics, etc. Currently conducting research on the Commodification of Likes/ Social Network Doping with Dr. Douglas Schules, Rikkyo University, Tokyo.
Discussion
• How many of you own social media accounts?• What do you do to boost your likes and
followers?
New York Times Articles
• Friends, and Influence, for Sale Online by Nick Bilton, April 20, 2014 • Fake Twitter Followers Become Multimillio
n-Dollar Business by Nicole Perlroth, April 5, 2013
How Facebook Likes Get Bought And Sold
• “How Facebook Likes Get Bought And Sold” by Martha Mendoza, AP, March, 2014• Italian security researchers and bloggers Andrea
Stroppa and Carla De Micheli estimated in 2013 that sales of fake Twitter followers have the potential to bring in $40 million to $360 million to date, and that fake Facebook activities bring in $200 million a year.
In China
• In China, micro-communication dominates the new media markets. • Sina Weibo, a microblog platform
and WeChat, an instant messaging service are the two most popular social media platforms in China • The “zombie(-like) fans”
A seller provided his menu• Buying followers on Sina Weibo ( 新浪微博 ):• Zombie-like fans: 1,000 for 5 CNY ($0.81 USD) 僵尸粉5 元1000 个；• Regular fans: 500 for 11 CNY ($1.77), 10,000 regular fans for 180 CNY ($29.00) 普通粉11 元500 个， 180 元1 万个；• Premium real-person fans: 100 fans for 4CNY ($0.64), 10,000 fans for 250 CNY
($40.25). 顶级真人粉 4 元100 个， 250 元1 万个；• Superior active fans: 100 for 5 CNY ($0.80), 10,000 for 320 CNY ($51.52) 特级活跃粉：5 元100 个， 320元1 万个；• Active regional fans: 100 for 15 CNY ($2.42). 活跃地区粉15元 100 个。
The business of fake-followers
This menu indicates a hierarchy in the faking business: the more “lively” and relevant (the regional) the accounts appear to be, the more expensive they become. In contrast of the zombies, the active fake followers are called “living fans”.
The Chinese government• In 2015, the Chinese government tried to crack down
the zombie accounts by enforcing real-name identification for all new and existing social media accounts (Loras, 2015). • This new regulation aims to eliminate the fake accounts
and is welcomed by marketing experts in China for its potential to enhance the quality of online conversations about brands and customers’ experience.
In the United States
• Federal Trade Commission provides guidelines• While the Federal Trade Commission and
several state attorney generals have cracked down on fake endorsements or reviews, they have not weighed in on clicks. Meanwhile, hundreds of online businesses sell clicks and social media accounts from around the world.
The US State Department• In 2013, the State Department, which has more
than 400,000 likes and was recently most popular in Cairo, said it would stop buying Facebook fans after its inspector general criticized the agency for spending $630,000 to boost the numbers.• In one case, its fan tally rose from about 10,000
to more than 2.5 million. (Mendoza, AP, 2014)
Social Network Doping
• Lance Armstrong Oprah Interview: Doping Confession to Winfrey After Years of Denial
• 2:04 (Is this cheating?)
Social Network Doping• In discussing his reasons for doping in an interview with Oprah, Lance
Armstrong argued that he was not cheating “because cheating meant to gain unfair rival over a foe, implying that all his rivals were also cheating” (Carroll, 2015).
• A similar theme is expressed in certain elements of the discourse about buying metrics. In particular, there is the belief that because others are buying metrics it is perfectly acceptable to purchase them as well; doing so is the only way to stay competitive or relevant online.
• Because of these parallels, we will call the purchasing of social media metrics such as followers or likes, retweets or favorites, “social network doping.”
The Need to Cheat
• According to Bell and Whaley (2009), “the need to cheat arises out of the nature of power” (3).
• Book: Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames by Mia Consalvo
Is This Cheating?
• Two general perspectives on ethics include: • Teleology: focuses on outcomes of actions as the
basis of moral reasoning. “Ends justify the means.”• Deontology: a system of rights, obligations, and
duties. This approach is dependent upon certain obligations between actors
Challenges and Opportunities to Existing Theories
• Redefining Credibility• Social Capital• Social Trust• Ethics?
Do you rely on online reviews?
• Amazon cracks down on fake reviews
Cultural Implication
• Social Media Star Essena O'Neill Takes a Stand Against Living Life Online (Video)
New Media Philosophy• “New media do not take us into uncharted waters,
but rather confront us with the deepest and oldest questions of society and ecology: how to manage the relations people have with themselves, others, and the natural world.”- Book description from John Durham Peters’ The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy of Elemental Media (May, 2015)
Trust in Modern Society
• Anthony Giddens (1990) has argued that trust is the foundation of the institutions of modern society.
Social Network Doping and Democracy
• Status People: Fakers List. https://fakers.statuspeople.com