#user perception

[thepastisalreadywritten]

(CNN) — Jack Latham was on a mission to photograph farms in Vietnam — not the country’s sprawling plantations or rice terraces but its “click farms.”

Last year, the British photographer spent a month in the capital Hanoi documenting some of the shadowy enterprises that help clients artificially boost online traffic and social media engagement in the hope of manipulating algorithms and user perceptions.

The resulting images, which feature in his new book “Beggar’s Honey,” provide rare insight into the workshops that hire low-paid workers to cultivate likes, comments and shares for businesses and individuals globally.

“When most people are on social media, they want nothing but attention — they’re begging for it,” Latham said in a phone interview, explaining his book’s title.

“With social media, our attention is a product for advertisers and marketers.”

In the 2000s, the growing popularity of social media sites — including Facebook and Twitter, now called X — created a new market for well-curated digital profiles, with companies and brands vying to maximize visibility and influence.

Though it is unclear when click farms began proliferating, tech experts warned about “virtual gang masters” operating them from low-income countries as early as 2007.

In the following decades, click farms exploded in number — particularly in Asia, where they can be found across India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and beyond.

Regulations have often failed to keep pace: While some countries, like China, have attempted to crack down on operations (the China Advertising Association banned the use of click farms for commercial gain in 2020), they continue to flourish around the continent, especially in places where low labor and electricity costs make it affordable to power hundreds of devices simultaneously.

‘Like Silicon Valley startups’

Latham’s project took him to five click farms in Vietnam.

(The click farmers he hoped to photograph in Hong Kong “got cold feet,” he said, and pandemic-related travel restrictions dashed his plans to document the practice in mainland China).

On the outskirts of Hanoi, Latham visited workshops operating from residential properties and hotels.

Some had a traditional setup with hundreds of manually operated phones, while others used a newer, compact method called “box farming” — a phrase used by the click farmers Latham visited — where several phones, without screens and batteries, are wired together and linked to a computer interface.

Latham said one of the click farms he visited was a family-run business, though the others appeared more like a tech companies.

Most workers were in their 20s and 30s, he added.

“They all looked like Silicon Valley startups,” he said. “There was a tremendous amount of hardware … whole walls of phones.”

Some of Latham’s photos depict — albeit anonymously — workers tasked with harvesting clicks.

In one image, a man is seen stationed amid a sea of gadgets in what appears to be a lonely and monotonous task.

“It only takes one person to control large amounts of phones,” Latham said. “One person can very quickly (do the work of) 10,000. It’s both solitary and crowded.”

At the farms Lathan visited, individuals were usually in charge of a particular social media platforms.

For instance, one “farmer” would be responsible for mass posting and commenting on Facebook accounts, or setting up YouTube platforms where they post and watch videos on loop.

The photographer added that TikTok is now the most popular platform at the click farms he visited.

The click farmers Latham spoke to mostly advertised their services online for less than one cent per click, view or interaction.

And despite the fraudulent nature of their tasks, they seemed to treat it like just another job, the photographer said.

‘There was an understanding they were just providing a service,” he added. “There wasn’t a shadiness. What they’re offering is shortcuts.”

Deceptive perception

Across its 134 pages, “Beggar’s Honey” includes a collection of abstract photographs — some seductive, others contemplative — depicting videos that appeared on Latham’s TikTok feed.

He included them in the book to represent the kind of content he saw being boosted by click farms.

But many of his photos focus on the hardware used to manipulate social media —webs of wires, phones and computers.

“A lot of my work is about conspiracies,” Latham said. ” Trying to ‘document the machines used to spread disinformation’ is the tagline of the project. The bigger picture is often the thing we don’t see.”

Click farms around the world are also used to amplify political messages and spread disinformation during elections.

In 2016, Cambodia’s then-prime minister Hun Sen was accused of buying Facebook friends and likes, which according to the BBC he denied, while shadowy operations in North Macedonia were found to have spread pro-Donald Trump posts and articles during that year’s US presidential election.

While researching, Latham said he found that algorithms — a topic of his previous book, “Latent Bloom” — often recommended videos that he said got increasingly “extreme” with each click.

“If you only digest a diet of that, it’s a matter of time you become diabetically conspiratorial,” he said.

“The spreading of disinformation is the worst thing. It happens in your pocket, not newspapers, and it’s terrifying that it’s tailored to your kind of neurosis.”

Hoping to raise awareness of the phenomenon and its dangers, Latham is planning to exhibit his own home version of a click farm — a small box with several phones attached to a computer interface — at the 2024 Images Vevey Festival in Switzerland.

He bought the gadget in Vietnam for the equivalent of about $1,000 and has occasionally experimented with it on his social media accounts.

On Instagram, Latham’s photos usually attract anywhere from a few dozen to couple hundred likes.

But when he deployed his personal click farm to announce his latest book, the post generated more than 6,600 likes.

The photographer wants people to realize that there’s more to what they see on social media — and that metrics aren’t a measurement of authenticity.

“When people are better equipped with knowledge of how things work, they can make more informed decisions,” he said.

“Beggar’s Honey,” co-published by Here Press and Images Vevey, is available now.

[fauvester]

something something seeing things through different eyes

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[lordofshitposting]

I hadn't noticed that Inumaki has fangs until very recently. I'm definitely not the most observant person tbh. In JJK vol. 0 his fangs were OBVIOUSLY there like how the fuck did I miss that

I haven't read vol. 0, I've only watched the movie, but I have seen pictures, so I still should have noticed it. For some reason they just didn't add them?? I guess they thought he looks better without them, but still they took something that adds up to his uniqueness away from him #FuckYouMAPPA. Although in the movie he looks way more handsome, I gotta give them that

Now let's talk about the main series and manga. In the manga, Gege just?? Has them removed them in some panels and visible but way more subtle in others?? Maybe he too thought this way he's better

In the anime, as we know, they're non-existent (🙄), expect in a few scenes where they are noticeable but very subtle again.

Considering that in the JJK fanboook it's said that Maki's hair-length changes depending on how Gege feels like drawing her at the moment, and he's said that something changes about other characters depending on how he feels too (I don't remember what exactly or who he said that for, forgive me guys), it is not surprising. Anyhow, it's disappointing :( his fangs are so cool like oh my god, now that I'm finally aware of their existence I'm so obsessed. We won't see much of him in S3 so there's no hope of that changing. And he doesn't have them in any fanart either, which means is that there are artists that prefer him without his fangs too but I think it's way more likely that they haven't noticed them either. We can't change the world but we can change ourselves! Let's make it our duty to spread awareness!! 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

[here-there-were-dragons]

i have to wonder what super hardcore militant vegans think should be done about obligate carnivore animals, because in all my painfully-rapidly-approaching-30-years i've literally never actually seen anyone give a clear consistent much less halfway feasible answer on that

[vimbry]

this poor person who's on the radar rn fighting for their life in the replies about the characters they drew actually being firefighters because a bunch of people saw a vaguely similar uniform and came in like "umm, acab ://"

[volivolition]

after this [gestures at the deadline task] Thing is done i have to draw a cute pride icon with voli and chemi... its essential to my wellbeing as a skills fan hkjhg

[furby-organist]

// Alright, throwing this out there before I sleep: now that I've done with my exam and I may have access to my laptop soon, I'd like to get back into the swing of things and write with more people! Like this post (or reply) if you want me to make a mental note to check out your blog / reach out to you about RPing!

Also, for reference, since this seems to be a Hot Fandom Topic: I consider myself neither proship nor anti. My rules page is pretty up-to-date with who I will/won't interact with.

[end-orfino]

Me: Wow I love seeing this one person's analysis and rambles about this specific fandom that they're fixated on, they're making really interesting points and it's nice to read their posts. Also it's fun to see them talk about this specific character that's their fav, they clearly put a lot of thought into all this. Like a specialist on that one character or smth lol Me when I do the same kind of overanalyzis and fixate on a specific character: I should be stoned. with rocks

[vampylily]

it really is so curious bc there's like half a dozen korean fan accounts on twitter absolutely /furious/ about the official idkhow announcement, demanding answers and saying that dallon is letting people cyberbully ryan (which at least okay, what they're criticizing is the lack of clarification from official channels earlier when it all blew up. which, if it was all false allegations, then people would have been nasty towards ryan for nothing. but then, theres going to be legal issues so it makes sense why he didnt clarify anything sooner) and dallon & company being childish, etc.

i was idly searching bc it looks like those fanaccs has been fans of idkhow longer than I have so maybe I'm missing something; it's always interesting to see different fan perception and information varying on site (twt vs tumblr vs insta) and language/culture (larger english fandoms vs smaller groups in different countries), etc.

the main point of contention seems to be how people around dallon has responded online? like his wife/mother in law and all that, and arguing that dallon & company are the ones bullying/being unfair towards ryan, asking for specifics on why he's kicked out (confirm the money stealing rumour) and how it puts a sour taste in their mouths. and fair, in a better world where social media doesn't exist and information (whether real or not) doesn't spread this quickly, it would be nice to get succinct information from the band w/o unconfirmed rumors. the stuff about his mother in law, while a bit unprofessional, isn't really a grave sin and should be taken with a grain of salt anyways.

if they are simply ryan fans, at this point, there's nothing really to argue about. they're unlikely to believe anything dallon/idkhow announce and going to support ryan. they were like "well I don't want to see dallon's one man show" and if so, they aren't gonna tune in again. as fans, it makes sense people find it hard to believe it/want to believe the best as a fan.

(but then one of them was like "well r*nnie was all supportive towards ryan and gifted him a car, etc while dallon only said he supported ryan and did nothing" and the second I read that, all their credibility went out the window. r*nnie r*dke. are we being serious rn. also that mf is running his mouth rn so fuck that dude.)

it turned out to be more polarizing than i expected so 🙃

[fauvester]

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[desiredcrescent]

contemplatin and havin thoughts. do i giggle and talk abt a super protagonist flavour text aspects i project onto my guys. Do i discuss this on my blog?? Is is ok to???

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

2014 of "sally skellington will never exist" to 2022 "sally skellington EXISTS"

[composeregg]

"Fandom-defined appearances and ideas can deviate so much from canon. So many people give Jonathan Sims a cane when he is never said to have mobility issues and in fact does activities that imply he's quite mobile"

I mean, idk about everyone but if I were being chased by a thing that stole my friend's identity and wanted to kill me I could still move pretty damn fast without my cane, I'd just pay for it later.

Also I think having worms dug out of his legs might have some impact on the function of those legs! Just a little!

Jon is also very much the type to ignore all pain he is in and do a ton of things without the cane he should be using, and I see that often. Canes can be preventative, and an aid on the worse days. I think it goes well with his characterization to need a cane but not use it unless he's already pushed himself too far by ignoring his health

[coupleofdays]

A small headcanon: Different people that get digitized see the digital world differently, their brains struggling to make sense of what's happening. The first Tron film is seen from the eyes of Kevin Flynn, and Tron Legacy is seen from the eyes of Sam Flynn. If we were to see the Grid in Legacy from Kevin's eyes, it would look similar to the 80s version.