Pay for Performance

I got this notification on my Instagram account where someone was offering me followers and likes. A guaranteed 100% to grow the account with “premium quality” followers or likes. All for the low, low price of $10 for 1k followers. Want more? Well you can get volume discounts. $45 for 5k, $80 for 10k and the best deal is $150 for 20k.

Makes me wonder what a “premium quality” follower is? I’m assuming most are just bot accounts. Or else there are people just willing to randomly follow and/or like Instagram posts. If there are, do they get paid? Could you sell your own service? I’ll follow your account and like all your posts for a certain fee. Might even add a comment or two to prove I’m actually following.

Not sure how they locked on to my account since I don’t post that much. It is really just for shots of the birds and other animals around the house when I think they are doing something worth showing. If we ever travel, I do toss in a few photos of the places we visit but there isn’t much there. Don’t think I’m their target demographic.

In a way, it seems kind of sad to have to pay for likes/follows. I assume people do or there wouldn’t be places like this offering up the service. Oh I’ve got 20010 followers (not going to mention that 10 were actual followers and 20000 were paid for).

I don’t really get the whole “influencer” culture. I’ll admit to checking reviews before we go to a restaurant we’ve never visited. But it isn’t like I’m going to seek out some “local guide” or whatever they call the people who rack up a lot of reviews. It is more to just get a general vibe and to look at the trend. If a place starts out great but the last set of reviews tend to be negative, that’s probably a sign that it can be skipped.

I guess I’ve just never thought there was a lot of value in any type of review (movie, music, food). I know people make a living doing these things but we all have different tastes so why would I outsource my decision process to someone else? I guess it does make it easier. “Want to go see this movie? No, the critics hated it.” Decision made. Or it can give you cover if some place turns out to be bad. Like you try a restaurant based on a friend’s recommendation and if it stinks then neither one of you are to blame for the bad call. Of course, if your friend asks, you’ll probably just agree with them rather than saying you hated it.

In my case, would my bird pictures suddenly become better because I’ve got a whole bunch of likes? “Well it must be a great shot because look at all the people who liked it”. Maybe it is that there is safety in numbers. It doesn’t take much to add a like to a pile of them.

Sorry Instagram account. You are going to stay small cause I’m not buying any followers for you.