Buying a crowd is old school. Politicians and unions have been renting mobs of protesters since at least the 90's, when I first became aware of it. Probably longer. The only thing new here is getting the gig through an app instead of a flyer on a telephone pole.
"Although the practice mostly died out in Europe during the mid-20th century, it has continued in Russia, most famously with the Bolshoi Ballet,[4] and US presidential speaking engagements.[5][6]"
I'm dissatisfied the news never investigates the veracity of the crowd. It certainly is misleading. But I suppose pomp and circumstance helps the media inflate perceptions of the events they cover.
If these companies provided information more expensive than the advertising they sell, they would lose money. How many allergy and car ads does airtime cost for the reporter to talk to 10 people?
>They’ve even been hand-picked by a casting agent of sorts, an algorithmic one that selects each person according to age, location, style and Facebook “likes.”
>They may look excited, but that could also be part of the production. Acting disengaged while they idle in line could tarnish their “reputation score,” an identifier that influences whether they’ll be “cast” again.
That's a good episode but I don't see how it's relevant here. They're workers and the manager has a system in place to track their performance. Same thing has been around since ancient times, although not so formalized. When a system like that is in place for non-workers and you use it for friends and family is when we can start comparing the situation to Nosedive with a straight face.
Off topic, but man, I feel like the "Black Mirror" series is required viewing for anybody working in technology. Depressing yes, but also a good warning of what is coming.
A lot of it's an observation of where we already are, not a warning about what's coming.
[EDIT] in fact I'd class a solid 4 of the first 6 episodes as mostly about general human nature, or about where the interaction of technology/society is currently at. The new season's (well, also the Christmas special) kind of a departure in that it's latched more firmly onto the warnings about the future and Twilight Zone-ish aspects of the series, which had previously been more subdued. Be Right Back and The Entire History of You are the ones from the first 6 that I'd class as mostly about what future technology might do to us, though I'd be open to arguments against that classification for Entire History, certainly—I'd have to re-watch it to be sure, but my recollection of it is that it's only marginally in that category.
It's one of those stories where I'm glad I saw it, but the experience was pretty uncomfortable. I've seen a few of the other Black Mirror episodes but not all of them yet, because I've got to be in that right state of mind to steel myself against it.
Kinda masochistic!
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll try and remember that one next time I've got the groove.
The logical next step here is to write an app that lets you sell your place in line at a trendy restaurant. Take 50%.
There is a natural base of sellers (the people who are waiting in line) and buyers (assuming that paying people to wait in line actually works at creating demand).
> One group identified a problem common in a lot of college towns—the frustratingly long lines at popular restaurants on Saturday night. The team decided to help those people who didn’t want to wait in line. They paired off and booked reservations at several restaurants. As the times for their reservations approached, they sold each reservation for up to twenty dollars to customers who were happy to avoid a long wait. As the evening wore on, they made several interesting observations. First, they realized that the female students were better at selling the reservations than the male students, probably because customers were more comfortable being approached by the young women. They adjusted their plan so that the male students ran around town making reservations at different restaurants while the female students sold those places in line. They also learned that the entire operation worked best at restaurants that use vibrating pagers to alert customers when their table is ready. Physically swapping pagers made customers feel as though they were receiving something tangible for their money. They were more comfortable handing over their money and pager in exchange for the new pager. This had an additional bonus—teams could then sell the newly acquired pager as the later reservation time grew nearer.
It would be easy to do business development -- you could just target the app at exactly the same restaurants who are using Surkus. Everyone wins.
This is actually common practice in China. You pay people to wait for you in queues. However, there is a more sinister side to that as well. Highly demanded and free spots are grabbed early and then ransomed for money. This happens for example in Apple store Genius Bar appointments. Basically the same problem as with concert tickets.
What I don't get is that there is nothing that puts me off going to a bar or restaurant more than a long queue. And if I know of a place that systematically has a line in front, that's the one place I won't even consider.
I used to work as a DJ and club promoter and we worked our asses off to make sure there was a line when we opened. Whatever we could do to get people to show up, which was mostly free admission and free drinks. If you don't have a line when you open, people will just walk in, hang out for a few minutes and leave. And your whole party is dead. Clubs don't give you a second chance if that happens.
When you're throwing a party, the product is not the music or the drink specials, it's the crowd. If the crowd isn't there, you have nothing to sell.
Years ago I remember walking past a club in a very busy party of town at like 10pm. There was a huge queue of people. My friend said, "Let's go there!" Surprised, I asked why. "It must be really good, look at that queue!"
It really does happen.
But yep, like yourself, if there's a queue I have zero interest. I put it down to impatience and disliking noisy crowds in general.
Maybe extroverts are drawn to queues?? Too simplistic, I'm sure.
I really don't get the whole wait outside for 35 minutes to get marginally better ice cream thing. I feel like people want the tweetbrags about visiting the trendy ice cream shop more than they want the ice cream.
If you are talking about Bi-Rite creamery near Dolores Park, I feel you, but hear me out.
Three things:
1. I fucking despise lines. I will pay money, I will forgo comfort, I will give up on a thing I want, if a Line is an obstacle. I'm the jabroni paying VIP entrance to clubs not because I want to be cool, but because I can't be fucked to stand in a line. I won't do it. I'll go hungry before I stand in a line. I bought a motorcycle so I could skip car lines.
2. I'm a food snob.
3. I've traveled a lot. Combined with (2) this means I eat as much as I can all over the world because I have a passion for food and I want to eat the best before I die.
Bearing those things in mind, know this: Bi-Rite creamery is the best ice cream I have ever had in my life, and I will stand in line for an hour for it. It is worth the line and my god there are few things in life I will say that about.
EDIT: By the way protip, you can skip the line if you get a pint. So... I kind of cheat now, when I go I just buy like 5 pints of different flavors :P
+1 - San Franciscans love to wait in line.
EDIT: getting downvotes, not saying all of SF, but its definitely a "thing" - if you live here you've seen it
Having lived in both places, I honestly think NYC is worse. New Yorkers love waiting on lines, and every single week feels like a new stupid craze that people are standing on line for. I always like to just wait three months and then check it out. The hordes have moved on and the kinks have been worked out.
San Francisco: "If it's not sold out, why even buy a ticket"
To be fair, I have yet to have good brunch at a restaurant where there was no wait on a Saturday or Sunday morning. When there are more people who want brunch than there are places offering brunch, you'd posit that places without a wait don't have good brunch.
There's like a million places for good brunch though. And if you're willing to extend your reach into the Bay Area in general, those options increase exponentially :)
I think the last point about a comedian using it fill an audience is very interesting. Even though they are paid to be there, comedy and humor is a very natural response and not all that easy to fake or disguise. It's like focus group testing for standup comedy.
I tried to think of a realistic scenario where someone would be inclined to fake the existence of a restaurant: to make real estate look more appealing? If a RE developer built a development with several dozen houses, it could boost the values of houses enough to make it worth the cost of faking a few trendy bars/creameries/restaurants next door.
Readit News
Lining up outside a new restaurant is probably safer than participating in a protest or strike.
edit: I'm no way related to that company. It's just an example. Here's more
https://crowdsondemand.com/
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/crowd-h...
>They may look excited, but that could also be part of the production. Acting disengaged while they idle in line could tarnish their “reputation score,” an identifier that influences whether they’ll be “cast” again.
Oh boy, it's happening! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive
[EDIT] in fact I'd class a solid 4 of the first 6 episodes as mostly about general human nature, or about where the interaction of technology/society is currently at. The new season's (well, also the Christmas special) kind of a departure in that it's latched more firmly onto the warnings about the future and Twilight Zone-ish aspects of the series, which had previously been more subdued. Be Right Back and The Entire History of You are the ones from the first 6 that I'd class as mostly about what future technology might do to us, though I'd be open to arguments against that classification for Entire History, certainly—I'd have to re-watch it to be sure, but my recollection of it is that it's only marginally in that category.
Kinda masochistic!
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll try and remember that one next time I've got the groove.
There is a natural base of sellers (the people who are waiting in line) and buyers (assuming that paying people to wait in line actually works at creating demand).
Something like this business has been manually tested -- see https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creativityrulz/200908/t... :
> One group identified a problem common in a lot of college towns—the frustratingly long lines at popular restaurants on Saturday night. The team decided to help those people who didn’t want to wait in line. They paired off and booked reservations at several restaurants. As the times for their reservations approached, they sold each reservation for up to twenty dollars to customers who were happy to avoid a long wait. As the evening wore on, they made several interesting observations. First, they realized that the female students were better at selling the reservations than the male students, probably because customers were more comfortable being approached by the young women. They adjusted their plan so that the male students ran around town making reservations at different restaurants while the female students sold those places in line. They also learned that the entire operation worked best at restaurants that use vibrating pagers to alert customers when their table is ready. Physically swapping pagers made customers feel as though they were receiving something tangible for their money. They were more comfortable handing over their money and pager in exchange for the new pager. This had an additional bonus—teams could then sell the newly acquired pager as the later reservation time grew nearer.
It would be easy to do business development -- you could just target the app at exactly the same restaurants who are using Surkus. Everyone wins.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/What-Wish-Knew-When-Was/dp/0061735191
When you're throwing a party, the product is not the music or the drink specials, it's the crowd. If the crowd isn't there, you have nothing to sell.
It really does happen.
But yep, like yourself, if there's a queue I have zero interest. I put it down to impatience and disliking noisy crowds in general.
Maybe extroverts are drawn to queues?? Too simplistic, I'm sure.
Three things:
1. I fucking despise lines. I will pay money, I will forgo comfort, I will give up on a thing I want, if a Line is an obstacle. I'm the jabroni paying VIP entrance to clubs not because I want to be cool, but because I can't be fucked to stand in a line. I won't do it. I'll go hungry before I stand in a line. I bought a motorcycle so I could skip car lines.
2. I'm a food snob.
3. I've traveled a lot. Combined with (2) this means I eat as much as I can all over the world because I have a passion for food and I want to eat the best before I die.
Bearing those things in mind, know this: Bi-Rite creamery is the best ice cream I have ever had in my life, and I will stand in line for an hour for it. It is worth the line and my god there are few things in life I will say that about.
EDIT: By the way protip, you can skip the line if you get a pint. So... I kind of cheat now, when I go I just buy like 5 pints of different flavors :P
To be fair, I have yet to have good brunch at a restaurant where there was no wait on a Saturday or Sunday morning. When there are more people who want brunch than there are places offering brunch, you'd posit that places without a wait don't have good brunch.
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