But in an age of bots/agents, that's just kicking the can down the road by making it easier to fudge regular activity of practically zero importance. Even worse for the ecosystem than paid like counts.

"Britain's digital services tax, imposed on U.S. companies like Amazon, Google and Meta, will not be changed under the terms of the trade deal agreed between the two countries on Thursday"

Welcome to 2025's take on 1984.

My comment today on a YT video;

"Trump never apologizes or shows contrition (Roy Cohn's 'always deny' doctrine) as it shows weakness, similar to Putin perceiving appeasement as weakness. He then sets up a scenario (he called it "great television") where he expects Zelenskyy to apologize and say thankyou for the 100th time. He told Zelenskyy he had no cards, so apologizing or showing appreciation-on-demand (for nothing in exchange) would be submitting to being a loser in Trump's own mindset, which is the point of the whole fake deal on offer. No different to the "deal" he made with Afghan government for natural resources, before he sided with the Taliban to withdraw US troops in betrayal of that very agreement. When Zelenskyy pointed out that Putin can't be trusted for any ceasefire, Trump then raised his voice cos his own betrayals (nearly everyone who worked for him that wasn't paid, or went to prison by following instructions, or was summarily fired as per his catchphrase) are viewed as his favorite playing card."

Treachery has been his default modus operandi throughout his personal life (cheating and divorce) as well as in business and politics ("hang Mike Pence"). Reality TV then normalized it to the level of mass-entertainment as he suggested.

Asianometry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsL6JAUZFiQ

A YT video speculated (wildly one would say) about someone's recent death simply because the cause was not announced by the family as it was under (UK) inquest. In some jurisdictions it is inappropriate (or even illegal) to state or speculate on a cause of death when it is under investigation as a suspected suicide, even just to limit the possibility of copycat or revenge cases: Only since 2016 is it legal (in NZ) to report, broadcast or even post on the internet that a death is a suspected suicide before the coroner releases their findings. AFAIK, posting any details about _the method_ is still not allowed in NZ.

This may sound antiquated (and frustrating) in an age of instant news, but jumping to conclusions can have real consequences, at least legally in some edge cases.

The success of the "nightclub app" is that people feel they are a match only as long as they "drink", and by morning they are thirsty for more. Growth comes from the heartache of loneliness, failed relationships, and divorce. A worse product (poor matching, and stifled communication) is the actual goal of a more profitable dating app, not simply being a consequence of having more users.

Unless he aims for influencer branding and consumption of curated content [1] and not the free expression of unpopular opinion, then it's a very cold and one dimensional target market. It's the opposite of what Twitter once was - brief musings thrown into the wind. Instead, people will consciously and deliberately pander to an audience for subs, views, and income. It'll no-longer be a platform for casual, jokey, sarcastic fluff, or raw, honest, and radical perspectives.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-dead-instagram-...

Plus: History of the Earth: https://www.youtube.com/c/HistoryoftheEarth

It's almost inconceivable to go so far off track, but finally conclude a freelancer would have been better when that was their first step. WTH is "WebAgency" who doesn't have time for small clients doing in a freelancer thread??

They should be outed here for wearing sheep's clothing. But the client is happy cos it's all free advertising, so who are the sheep?

Neither side said bots, but bots _should_ be a subset of "false or spam" accounts. They basically used "our judgement" and give themselves complete discretion. And 5% is a nice round number plucked from nowhere which sounds awesome! Providing proof of that to a Banker or Backer (or Elon or a future Jury) isn't therefore possible or intended. It's marketing spin in an SEC filing.