Social Media Influencers who sell knives

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Danke42

Joined
Feb 10, 2015
Messages
32,218
So this thread here has me thinking.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/testing-knives.1785163/

This LTK site sells knives on their YouTube channel and on Facebook.

Their followers come here and to be clear it's not just this one group and they post and run the video links etc. All in the "just thought you guys should know" kind of vibe.

The influencers make money off their clicks and likes and views. Every time a Blade Forums member follows one of those likes the influencer gains something. Blade forums is in essence a place for them to advertise their channel. Most of them don't contribute here beyond linking to their content.

When the rules here were written Social Media influence like this was't even on the radar. Now it's big business. I would say any of those posts should be treated like links to ebay or non-supporting dealers and further if those big guns on YouTube and Facebook etc. want to post here they should be required to hold a membership just like the dealers and the makers that pay to advertise their business.



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I don't know what the answer is, but here is what I think the issue is -

Dealers and Makers with paid memberships on this site see Bladeforums as their Community. They behave as though they belong, and have a responsibility to contribute. There are consequences, because they have 'skin in the game' on Bladeforums. They contribute, are respectful, don't abuse the system, etc, and it's fundamentally in their interests to do so.

Social media influencers will NOT see Bladeforums as their community. By definition their community exists on their own social media (youtube, instagram, etc). Their main mission is to use Bladeforums to channel people to their community where they can be monetized. If they are making a meaningful contribution here, why wouldn't their supporters just stay here?

So if they were encouraged to take a special class of paid membership, with all the implication of rights that implies, would we just be giving permission to a group of people fundamentally at odds with the Bladeforums community to parasitise the site?

Like I said, I don't know the answer.

Great issue to raise btw.
 
Totally agree, those posts should be treated EXACTLY like links to auctions or non-supporting vendors, and it should be stopped.

These links/videos/etc that are monetized upon being clicked are much like something that's already against the forum rules, Solicitation. (Link to rule. Very bottom of page.)

  • Asking a member to click on a link, subscribe to a channel or website, provide feedback, donate money or goods, sign an online petition, or “Like” a page on Facebook is considered solicitation. Our members should not be subjected to this type of spam especially under the guise that they may win something.
 
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