Technology @lemmy.world Lee Duna @lemmy.nz 12mo ago

Is that $35 Apple Watch real? How misleading TikTok influencer videos could be the next big headache in e-commerce

www.businessinsider.com Is that $35 Apple Watch real? How misleading TikTok influencer videos could be the next big headache in e-commerce

As TikTok influencers begin selling products, misleading videos pushing knockoff goods could be the next big headache for e-commerce companies.

46 comments

The older I get the more I tend towards blaming the people being scammed for being stupid enough to be scammed.

$35 Apple watch, really?? You thought that was real?? Well boy do I have an exiled African prince to introduce you to!
- Idk, this new generation is growing up without games like RuneScape and EvE. I don't know where they're supposed to learn about scams like we all did.
  
  Instead they get scammed directly from the game companies! So many kids’ games that have gambling features (look at loot boxes, for example)
  
  Hey, runescape is still going strong friend
  
  I got scammed on trade wars as a kid. Saddest day of my young life. Taught me a lesson about Internet security though.
- Why yes, I am a bridge salesman!
  
  While we're here, take a look at this little vial. Actual tears of the Holy Madonna Herself, the Blessed Virgin Mary. One sip will heal all maladies.
  
  $20.
  
  Would you be interested in buying an airport?
  
  Ah yes, there's a really interesting bridge in Lake Havasu Arizona, could you get me a price?
And for only 12.95USD a month I can continue reading to find out about this $35 watch.
- The fuckin irony here is staggering
Pro tip : Any apple product without a 3 digit price tag is fake.
- Hey, I bought a monitor connector adapter from them once and it only cost me $25.
  
  1990s were a magical time indeed
- Rip new apple pencil, fake AF apparently.
I believe Tik-Tok just shows off the stupidity of humans as a race.

People will do anything for likes or money, like they are a bunch of uncivilized monkeys in the jungle.
- but they really are
- The tiktokers are not to blame, the people following them is. If audience were not so dumb, tiktokers would not be a thing to begin with.
  
  Though, the output is the same, it shows off the stupidity of humans as a race.
TLDR: Avoid TikTok as it's new shop is Wish2.0
- Not even remotely close. There is a ton of interesting content on there. Most of it is non-shopping stuff.
  
  This is also what people say about 4chan
  
  There ARE good people making good content that use the platform. A lot of people are on the platform, so there's an argument to be made about reaching people with your work and message
  
  But that also means we should continue to highlight issues so that we can fix them / build something better
OK I refuse to read the article because it's behind a paywall, but I can tell you it's 100% fake. As for TikTok, people tell me constantly "oh you just have to watch it for a while so it tailors to your interests". No, fuck that.
Oh great, just what I want! Another projectile vomit stream of advertising. And not just “real” advertising (quick, load another blocker), but a platform where everyone is financially encouraged to scam everyone. What could go wrong?

Thankfully, advertising is apparently against Lemmy's ToS (although I’ve never seen that specifically stated). When I see a post that is directly selling something, I immediately report it. Fuck TikTok and the rest of those greedy slimeballs.
- lemmy doesn’t really have a TOS afaik (and even if the software had something in its license, it’s the fediverse: people can interact with you on lemmy without using lemmy!). your instance might, but other instances might have totally different rules… there’s nothing stopping a just-ads-lemmy.com instance, other than it’d probably get defederated pretty quick
This is the best summary I could come up with:

TikTok said in September that it had over 100,000 registered creators sharing products via its Shop affiliate program where it pays out a commission to influencers for sales generated via their videos.

"Obviously TikTok has to answer to some of this if they've got counterfeiters selling on their site or their app, but as far as I can tell from the ads and the options, they appear to be the legitimate thing," he told Insider a few days after his video took off.

The TikTok Shop listings for many of the items don't explicitly claim to be from Lululemon, with some merchants describing the bag as a "Lululimonn," "Lululemoon," or "Lololemons" accessory.

As large tech platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest as well as a flurry of startups try to push social shopping into the mainstream in the US, policing influencer content could pose a major challenge.

Influencers are poised to become a bigger part of the online shopping experience as traditional e-commerce platforms like Amazon introduce their own TikTok-style video feeds.

Amazon recently co-launched a program alongside brands including Glassdoor, Expedia Group, and Tripadvisor to crack down on fake reviews and elevate trustworthy user content.

The original article contains 1,194 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 84%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Working link: https://archive.is/hW7pT
paywall,fuck u
- Activating Reader Mode on Firefox appears to bypass it, lol.
I’m not going to lie, I like the widget UI in that photo.
there's ALWAYS a catch.
You all desperately want to blame the world's problems on TikTok so bad 🤣
- Yep, that is what posting a link to a news story indicates...
- TikTok is a symptom of the world's problem, not the cause. The cause is we are all so stupid

46 comments