My thoughts on Paypal Honey
Added 2025-01-19 20:27:14 +0000 UTC
Comments
glad I finally watched this. been missing how explosive it felt when this story first dropped lmao. And as much as I think the scripts are prime, I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking the "..anyway, all this to say" format is forever unmatched. Also really like the MLM angle and would love a full video. Both it and the concept of increasingly limited corporate liability can probably speak to the greater "atomization" of society, but I'm also thinking about any subsequent "re-molecularization" within society. I've thought about modern influencer/artist sponsorships as a contemporary version of the mid-century American "traveling salesman" figure but MLMs is probably a better comparison that might actually be more real to some of us (myself included). Specifically how they or that sort of exploitative impulse has adapted onto the internet. "neo-MLMs" developing via new online parasocial dynamics instead of old neighborhood-type ones. Some geographical/cultural contrast mapping to where "traditional" MLMs are more/less common too? Coastal&Great Lakes US vs the deep South maybe, or indeed, the traditionally LDS Mountain West, haha. Hard not to think about the anti-feminism or at least odd version of feminism+entrepreneurialism surrounding much of the practice historically. Lots of directions to go ig more importantly tho the intersection of musical theatre, machine learning, and pyramid-esque schemes has given me an idea for a YT comment I think is funny, and I desperately need to ascertain its true upthumb value in the marketplace of ideas.
Josh Brooks
2025-04-09 22:08:13 +0000 UTCI spent years working in data analytics solutions for advertising firms. I would be shocked if they aren't aggregating browser history, specifically consumer behavior on client manufacturer sites. They also could bundle the data and sell it themselves or to data brokers.
Trey Dempsey
2025-01-22 02:29:46 +0000 UTCMoney well spent already, loving this rant format. Having friends infodump at me is one of my favorite things and this feels exactly like that. Regarding honey I was always skeptical because of the classic "if the product is free, you're the product" adage, I just always figured they were scraping and selling people's browsing and shopping history. It was almost refreshing to find out it was more original than that for a change.
ruse.mp
2025-01-21 20:22:06 +0000 UTCI think I've heard it phrased as "Set fines are laws that only apply to the poor"
ruse.mp
2025-01-21 20:14:35 +0000 UTCSee also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto#Cost%E2%80%93benefit_analysis,_the_Pinto_Memo
ruse.mp
2025-01-21 20:13:12 +0000 UTCI liked that more unscripted kind of video. I like me a little ramble. You even had room for a minute of silence for our fallen brothers and sisters of the honey wars
bxtcher
2025-01-20 15:45:07 +0000 UTCThe whole kick back model is what I find fascinating. Honey's value proposition to end users, content creators, and goods manufacturers is very, very different. They didn't even try to hide the fact that their main selling point is offering control to coupon issuers. It reminds me a lot of car dealerships, who have similar kick back and incentive models with the car manufacturers. Also of the phrase, behind every successful business is a crime(s). The whole calculus of will we make more money than the cost of litigation is very common in US business. The car insurance scene from Fight Club also talks about this.
Trey Dempsey
2025-01-20 06:07:15 +0000 UTCPatreon subscription already paying off. Keep up the great work!
Ruaidhrí O’Chionnaigh
2025-01-20 03:43:11 +0000 UTCThere's a creator on tiktok you might already know - but if not yet I think you'd like her content: canadian kels - she's been making great content about MLMs / pyramid schemes https://www.youtube.com/@canadiankels
Tamás Deme
2025-01-20 02:34:44 +0000 UTCSomeone who I no longer remember told me that if something is illegal and has a set fine for doing it, that it's not illegal just expensive. E.g if Google wants to train on voice data from users, but knows that the EU might fine then up to X billion euros for it, then it's not illegal just costs at most X billion dollars. So long as what they do is more profitable than that, they earned money. Fines are dumb because they don't usually correlate well for the actual money that was earned from the transgression. PayPal probably earned money
Roddy Rappaport
2025-01-19 23:16:53 +0000 UTCHoney is yet another instance of creators being shafted by a big company. I don't like this trend one bit. Youtube already barely pays people, especially smaller creators. People not being able to make a living from their work will just keep lowering the diversity and quality of content and puts the responsibility of sustaining creators on the viewers directly through platforms like this one. Glad to do it in this case though ;)
Lars Constantin
2025-01-19 22:07:39 +0000 UTCThere is one major important difference, MLMs are all about recruitment and getting a "downline" for passive income. But there are a lot of interesting parallels. I think a big one is how the experience differs based on if you're "Big" or not. Like big channels have their pick of sponsors, and people high in the pyramid can threaten to leave to another MLM with their downlines so have some leverage. It's the people on the other end of the exponential falloff that really get a bad deal. If you're desperate to make money you become exploited prey. Like with my channel right out the gate I started getting tons of emails for "affiliate sponsorships" that are probably just straight up scams.
Hendry
2025-01-19 21:39:06 +0000 UTCIt had never occurred to me to think of Honey as an mlm, but thinking about it, I guess the term could easily apply to a fair few other Youtube sponsorships, huh I'm not very well versed in big business things, so I'd never really thought about the whole opportunity cost thing, but it makes a lot of sense and it explains a lot about how and why companies operate weird/bad/scummy practices that will make them a lot of money, it's all about the risk vs reward The fact they directly screwed over the affiliates that were working to advertise for them is definitely what makes it different for me, and it's a thing that may have worked better in a traditional mlm, where say, the affiliates don't necessarily have much connection between each other, and don't have much reach outside of their small circle. On Youtube, one person notices they're being screwed with, it's easy to warn everyone else (Also I don't mind the off-script ramblings, that's what these informal videos are supposed to be after all)
Adrien D
2025-01-19 21:32:14 +0000 UTCThis is what you paradoxically get for actually paying me money. Even less quality control! Hooray!
Hendry
2025-01-19 21:28:30 +0000 UTCI was kinda hoping there would be an Easter egg somewhere in that last minute of video.
ArtsComment
2025-01-19 21:14:01 +0000 UTC
