A Question Of Morality
A Bit of Background
Some years ago, a man came to a particular venue to sell particular glitchy software.
He brought his young son to the meeting and stood in the Lobby with his 'exhibit'.
As I entered, he raced to my side. He knew I was a geek and was more than aware of the 'quality' of his product.
Speaking fast and furious, as the usual con man, he begged me not to say anything. He told me he needed the money.
I was aware he had deliberately brought his son to get the sympathy vote and/or make me feel guilty.
The venue was a meeting of one of those Professional Groups you are virtually forced to belong to.
The majority of the members despised me, often refused to recognise me.
As I planned to sign the register, show my face and leave early, the question
to be phrased;
Do I embarrass myself fighting to be recognised by the audience
who despise me, to speak against this man's livelihood?
Or
Do I say nothing, leave early, and let him have his shot?
I left early.
Bubblews
If you wrote online you couldn't miss this site.
Bubblews was hawked on every publishing site in Cyberspace.
The most active shills posting the URL with their reference numbers, enticing people to join with their excited; "I received my 14th payout!!!"
Intelligent people would check the claims and learn via other people's experience.
Many people, thousands, were paid.
Some of the best online writers, front page people from Wikinut to Triond to here at Hubpages, joined and were not paid.
Those who complained about not being paid were attacked by Shills...
"You broke the Rules!"
This is because, the Shill, just like the con man, needs the money. The fact that you will be ripped off means nothing to them. They are paid, so who cares about you?
Living With Yourself
There are people who don't care about others.
You see them all the time.
They'll push in front of a crowd, they'll blast their music, they'll walk around as if they are the only ones who matter.
The fact they sell tainted baby feeding or glitchy software means nothing to them.
As long as they get their pay, it's fine. Perfect.
This is the mentality of those who lure others into online scams.
Sure there are those who may tout a scam, then, when they learn how many people were ripped off, stop.
They may feel shame that their promotion caused other people to work for nothing.
The majority of Shills have no morality. The fact they got paid 15 times is all they care about. That they are paid with the money another's articles have gained is insignificant. The only part of the sentence that concerns them is that they were paid.
Who cares about you?
If You Don't Want to be a Shill
When you join a publishing site, take your time before recommending it.
Being paid 1x doesn't mean the site is legit. Sites like Bubblews will pay that first time to 'prove' they are legit and then, not again.
Be alert to those who complain they weren't paid, and before shooting off your mouth about what you don't know, i.e. "You Broke The Rules!!!" watch and wait.
Do your Goggles Site Name+Scam and see what is turned up.
When you see dozens of posts, when you read them, and can satisfy yourself that these people weren't paid, appreciate you might be one of the 'priveleged' who somehow got lucky.
Don't recommend the site, don't lure others, and don't be surprised when you find yourself unpaid or locked out, for no reason.
