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Comment by bb88 | Hacker News Reader

If you had a monetized tiktok account and were getting millions of views, would you stop? Or would you think you're doing something right?

Bat Boy was created by a Weekly World News editor in 1992 to sell more papers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Boy_(character)

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For what it’s worth, TikTok monetisation is orders of magnitude less than other platforms (like YouTube) so her “millions of views” is likely to have generated a few dollars (certainly not hundreds of dollars). The viewership may have motivated her, very plausible, but the money is unlikely to have moved the needle.

Does monetisation just refer to money tiktok pays them? Or do these 'influencers' get most of their money through separate contracts with companies that are based on view count or something? That seems surprisingly meager to get a few bucks for millions of views.

Monetization = TikTok directly pays you a share of the ads / impressions of your videos.

Many influencers do of course receive external compensation (YouTube requires a direct mention of such compensation in the video, not sure about TikTok's views.)

TikTok's monetization can range depending on the types of ads they can put in front of your content (from personal experience, "family friendly" content gets much higher rates), but typically fall in the 2-3 cents per 1000 views range. So 1 million views ~ $25.

But first you have to be approved as a monetizable partner, which usually requires a certain threshold of regular content production, views, etc.

Some might even say it's not her, but the tiktok algorithm that deserves the blame. It's not like she marketed the video to everyone else in order to get more views. She just made it.

I didnt watch the videos, so I can't judge her, but if she's knowingly messing up these other people's lives for no good reason, aside from money-making or clout-chasing, that would seem pretty selfish to me.

I don't use tiktok, but don't these algorithms just show people things other people watched a lot of?

Bat Boy is a strange comparison, considering he's an obviously fictional character.

Lying for sales, page views, etc? I guess I could have made it more clear.

For me it's no longer in the territory of "lying" when it's as obviously ludicrous at face value as the whole Bat Boy mythos. At that point it's closer to deadpan comedy.

It's fine but then you're in "The Onion" territory. WWN has an "interesting" take on what is news, but weirdly gets some things right.

I thought he was Bruce Wayne's illegitimate son?

Bat Boy didn't libel anyone, and was the product of a tabloid known for its outrageously fictional stories.

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