I assume it means paid support... like hiring shills to talk up your product. There are a ton of people that have flat out admitted thats what goes on. And even if they had not, its so obvious I cringe every time i see the front page.
The fact that you wrap the paycheck in a vote doesnt change the fact that its a paycheck. And trying to dodge a manifestly obvious truth with a charade about voting. Well it makes the platform look scammy.
Exactly. But is Steemit really paying for people to talk up their products? Steemit in my opinion is offering pay for people to contribute to the overall value of the platform. The posts can be anything - related to anything. You see people posting introduceyourself posts that get paid a lot. Is that astroturfing?
I understand what you're talking about, but I don't think your point is completely valid. But I appreciate you taking time in discussing this issue.
I get what youre saying, but it seems to me exactly the way it will seem to everyone else: like youre arguing a technicality. When the whales at steem are referring to their writers as employees. When you have a guy who says "yeah the owners recruited me to the site thats why i made 20K on a post" thats not people talking about whatever they want.
And also, the fact that talking points get passed down to the main recruits could not be clearer.
So what you have a bunch of people, recruited to "add value to the site" being paid to hit specific talking points.
Now I don't have a problem with this happening, though i think it could be handled in a less hamfisted manner, but denying it when its obviously going on makes the platform look like a scam.