The really funny part being of course that there is an actual business out there out of fb likes, instagram followers and retweets

https://blog.saleslayer.com/selling-on-tiktok#influencers They tell businesses to partner with tiktok influencers for direct advertising, so that some people are actually able to turn internet points into money (by analogy: maybe there is a point for businesses to partner with any one on this list: https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders ?) Also a lot of stuff on youtube contains some form of direct advertising as part of the video.

I'll upvote comments on HN for $0.03 each.

don't know about upvotes, but if you post a comment that is praising some product then you might try to sell it based on the number of upvotes on that comment (disclaimer: i have no idea how direct marketing is actually done)

That's very true, and reminds me: reading HN can be thirsty work, and when that thirst comes calling I reach for an ice cold Coke. Nothing goes down better with the smug satisfaction of becoming a quick Google expert on a topic you only knew existed 5 minutes ago than the classic taste of Coke. So the next time a front-page post on the successor technology to CRISPR comes across your screen and you franticly go down the rabbit hole of what the heck CRISPR was in the first place, don't try one of those other cola's, go for the one and only Coke.

this one got my upvote, it seems to work.

That means it worked for ineedasername, who makes money that way, but did it work for the Coca Cola company? What did you drink while upvoting? Are you out buying Coke now?

It's my understanding that for major brands like Coca Cola, the goal of their advertising is not to convert users but instead to remain ubiquitous in the users mind when thinking about cola, so that you basically "coca cola, and then the others".

That's why they blast so much advertising even in place when the people are obviously already converted, they want to keep the status quo of them being the real cola, and the others being, well, cute alternatives but not the real thing. It seems to work, even the popular joke "pepsi, for when there is no coke" shows it. People in a restaurant don't ask "do you have a cola ?" they ask "I'll have a Coke" because obviously they have a cola and obviously it's Coke (which is funny since Pepsi rules b2bn while Coca Cola rules b2c).

So for Coca Cola, a victory is not for him to be out buying Coke right now, it's him thinking "Coke" when he should think "cola".

> What did you drink while upvoting? Are you out buying Coke now?

Vodka, only vodka, my son (and parent post by Someone got an upvote from me too)

I am actually, but not the kind from the coca cola company ...

(This comment was brought to you by that one guy on the corner)

what's the difference of making money off of fb, insta, and twtr rather than off radio or tv ads?

Anyone can get followers on social media. But to get on radio or tv, you need connections and money. Also not a lot of people listen to radio or watch tv anymore, especially the younger generation. So if you want to target them, you need to advertise on social media.

I'm not sure how much tracking Twitter does, but in the case of fb and Instagram it's the amount of privacy violating data harvesting they gather and use to target, which has lots of negative uses. That aside, I don't think there's a lot of difference between a fb display ad or tv commercial. If data harvesting and hyper targeting went away I would have much less of an issue with them.

I guess we can expect the karma devaluation.

It's really a strong case in point for why karma needs to be mined in a PoW blockchain. I think if HN did an Initial Karma Offering (IKO) there would be plenty of takers. Airdrop some to Elon at the same time and we'll be all set.