Does this backfire? I don't want to have a fake relationship with a computer, and if "creators" on Meta's platforms are more likely to be fake than real, then I think I'm going to be not bothering too much with FB/IG anymore.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/latent-space-the-ai-en...
If you look at a earnings screenshot of, for example, Bhad Barbie, she earned ~ $40 million in 2022. $15m from subscriptions and the other $25m from paid messages.
There's also a Reddit AMA by one, but I can't find the link.
But honestly I think this is going to mess people up.
Consider the awkward teenager, who rather than do the hard work of learning to meet people and engage with the world, can sit at phone and have what their brains perceive as robust relationships with internet friends who are actually just bots.
I still hope it backfires, though. Are awkward teenagers really a lucrative segment? Perhaps they can spend their parents' money initially, but eventually I think they churn or become not very profitable.
https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/news-and-opinion/d...
BTW the problem you describe has been happening already for at least a decade. It's why many livestreamers effectively run a softcore channel, because they get more followers, interaction and gifts when they dress skimpy than when they don't.
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/01/1247296788/the-benefits-and-d...
A persona chatbot is one way for creators to benefit from the good and avoid the bad.
Imagine an internet where AI creators talk to AI fans. And no one knows what's real.
Until now, I didn't trust Meta, but I trusted the people & creators I connected with. Now I don't feel like I will trust anything at all on a Meta platform.
That makes me a lot less interested in using the platforms at all.