this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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Influencers are disgusted with Amazon's paltry $25-per-video endorsement offer | It looks like full-time Amazon UCG creators are getting a 90-percent cut in pay::undefined

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[–] [email protected] 93 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s possible for influencers to be garbage and Amazon to be garbage at the same time, it’s not mutually exclusive

Pretty simple.. if you are an “influencer” don’t do their shit work for them

[–] Carvex 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Seriously, quit and get a job which contributes to society if the pay is too pitiful playing MLM for Amazon.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

If you take your sentiment all the way, then marketing companies and internal marketing roles should be done away with.

At the end of the day, influencers are nothing more than outsourced freelance marketers.

[–] totallynotarobot 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I mean... Yes.

I understand that if you have cool stuff you want to sell it to people, but on balance marketers and marketing companies are overwhelmingly trash selling us trash, compromising our privacy and autonomy, and exploiting "influencers" and customers instead of benevolent and useful to society.

[–] captainlezbian 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think there’s value to marketing, but the societal benefits of advertising are significantly less. Some use cases are beneficial, such as informing the public of a new thing that brings social benefit, but that’s a small minority of it. Marketing though is also researching and finding what people want. Even in a centrally planned communist society that is beneficial. It means that as more people want wheat than potatoes you plan your agricultural decisions accordingly (and use advertisement to manipulate demand for what exists or is more ecologically feasible). Similarly it can help guide which features engineers should be adding to products.

Now what it shouldn’t be is this over bloated system in which everything is controlled by advertisements and your every action is spied on to determine how to sell better to you.

[–] totallynotarobot 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This is very true and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise (hazard of text based comms like this), but I do think that our current "marketing" reality is overwhelmingly the gross creepy one, not the useful one. And I think the system incentivises that kind of behaviour, so we'll always trend toward that.

[–] captainlezbian 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Oh absolutely I just don’t want us to wind up like we got as a culture with lawyers.

The fact is being advertised to constantly is really bad for us mentally. I don’t want to be constantly reminded who made my soap or something. I don’t want designs that are intended to catch my eye in a store everywhere in my home. And that’s just labels and logos. Then I come on the internet and am coated in ads. I go for a walk and there are ads around the city. It’s hard to get away from people trying to get you to consume more more more. And it combines with shitty business practices. So now the prices are high, if something can be a subscription or nickel and dimed it is, and wages in my career have been basically the same since I started high school over a decade ago. But no I need to consume more with less for more money and by the way the world is dying from overconsumption but I can’t have public transit because that’d hurt care sales and I’m some sort of hippie weirdo for not eating meat and using FOSS software and you can go fuck yourself for demanding bike lanes that are curbed off and actually go far enough out from the city that middle class people can get them. And while we’re at it, no the bus doesn’t go to the affordable apartments regularly.

[–] totallynotarobot 4 points 1 year ago

Well said, and thank you for taking the time to articulate something I was lazily taking for granted when I commented.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

They absolutely should as well. Influencers are relatively worse though, because they are usually much less transparent in their advertising than marketing companies. Influencers pose as entertainers and often disguises their advertising as part of that entertainment. It doesn't help one bit that a lot of influencers have channels that are directly aimed at children, who are even less prone to know they are being advertised at.

[–] gaylord_fartmaster 3 points 1 year ago

Won't someone think of the poor marketers?

[–] Jackthelad 74 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"One commenter pointed out that the amount of work needed to complete such a contract equates to a full-time job."

Oh, the humanity.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A full time job that paid $12500 without benefits for roughly 5.5 months of work if they release 3 videos a day, 7 days a week with sponsored content. No one should take that.

Edit: fixed missing 0.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

3 videos a day for 5.5 months (about 167 days). That's 500 videos. 500 x $25 = $12500, not $1250.

I have no clue if it's feasible to make three videos a day for 5.5 months, but I guess if the length of the video doesn't matter then It must be doable.

It could be worth it if they can also make money through other companies for the same videos. Plus if they're popular enough that Amazon is paying them then they must already be making ad revenue or something.

I don't know. I'm not a pro, just spitballing.

[–] echo64 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

People don't tend to work weekends. So, 5 days a week, not 7 days a week. These are sponsored videos, so they are not making money through other companies.

Do the weirdo simp for Amazon all you want, the maths don't add up in your favour. It's still crap.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

I said I'm no pro and just spitballing, your last line about being a simp is pretty strange.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Regardless. That’s less than 25k/year for full time work. And no, 3 videos a day is really not feasible. Those things take serious to put together if you want anything with any quality whatsoever.

[–] hark 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

US federal minimum wage is still $7.25 and if that's worked for 40 hours a week for a year, that's 15,080. Those people working minimum wage tend to do much more important work than shilling some stupid product online.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I have no clue if it's feasible to make three videos a day for 5.5 months, but I guess if the length of the video doesn't matter then It must be doable.

It's definitely a feat to do that. Some youtube channels are able to do it but they're working with a team of people generally. With the amount that Amazon is offering, it's not going to be viable to hire people to help and doing it on your own is an enormous amount of work. Even for short form content.

[–] [email protected] 67 points 1 year ago

“Influencing” should never have been a thing, and as it is, it should have died a grisly death a long time ago. I’m disgusted with them being enriched while trying everything they can to get me to part with my money. I did very well before they were a thing, and I’ll do just as well when they’re gone.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago

Can you imagine people getting paid to go around social media to "influencing" people to say, go watch my latest movie?

How is that even a real job?

[–] AlmightySnoo 36 points 1 year ago (4 children)

How about influencers look for a real job instead?

[–] Kbobabob 18 points 1 year ago

That's exactly what they're bitching about. It is too much like a real job.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because they already have a real job, and now they're being screwed by their employer, just like a real job

[–] Phoenixbouncing 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Technically it's their client that's putting the thumb screws to them.

If that's the case the logical solution is to put your commercial hat on and find another client. Amazon aren't the only ones paying.

If Amazon was your only client that'll be tough, but speaking from experience if you don't diversify your client base, you're living on borrowed time anyway.

This doesn't mean Amazon are not being abusive, but the solution isn't to moan on the internet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

That's pretty silly; moaning on the Internet is a good way to raise awareness and support. No one can do anything about these structural issues as individuals

[–] echo64 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm honestly sickened by the simping for Amazon in this thread. Pathetic.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Is it really dumping for Amazon? Or just dunking on influencers?

[–] totallynotarobot 1 points 1 year ago

PQNLD, two dopamine hits for the price of one!

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

More like everyone taking Zucks side in his cage match with Elon. We hate them both, a lot, but you’ve got to choose someone to root for.

For me it’s a bit like slime mold. I can mostly avoid contact with Amazon if I choose to; influencers just spring up organically around me an no amount of bleach can get rid of them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’m not rooting for Zuck, I just know he’s kick Musks ass. And even if it’s just another billionaire, I always wanna see a billionaire get their ass kicked.

[–] echo64 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

All labor deserves a livable wage. I don't care if it's something I personally find annoying. Fuck amazon for screwing people over, even if I find those people annoying, it doesn't matter.

[–] AbidanYre 7 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Not all jobs need to exist. I think everyone here is saying they're fine with "influencer" not being an option anymore.

[–] teruma 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd love for that to extend to professional sports, but I understand that's probably a bit too radical, even for Lemmy.

[–] AbidanYre 1 points 1 year ago

As someone who doesn't really watch professional sports at all, I'm in no position to argue.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I don't really understand what an "influencer" is. Seems like a made up term to justify unemployment,plus they should be called "IMHOs", cause that's exactly what they are: " in my humble opinioners". IMHO of course.

Edit: autocorrect.

[–] Madrigal 12 points 1 year ago

Influencers are narcissists monetising their pathology.

[–] totallynotarobot 3 points 1 year ago

It's rarely humble, and rarely their opinion

[–] Coolcoder360 2 points 1 year ago

I suspect many of them aren't humble at all though.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't mind if influencers disappeared for good.

[–] HollandJim 20 points 1 year ago

Remember when being called an “influencer” was a suspicious and generally bad thing?

Pepperidge Farms remembers.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm disgusted with "influencers".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Hard agree.

[–] alnilam 10 points 1 year ago

What I get from the article is that only is the pay lower, there is no longer an "up to" part in the contract. Meaning you don't get paid anything until you've created the full 500 videos. Meaning you can't use it as a side hustle, it is a full time job.

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