I'm setting aside the question of whether it is illegal, but I think it is legally murky anyways.
The more interesting question is whether or not it is ethical to sell one's Reddit account.
I, for one, won't be selling mine. Why?
I think selling accounts contribute to the problem of trust in sites such as Reddit and Lemmy. Why would anyone buy a Reddit account anyways? To appear trustworthy, right? Because karma points and account age has been used as a proxy measure for an account's trustworthiness. An old account, with a fair amount of karma points is a valuable thing for misinformation and/or campaigns. Even if I hate Reddit to the point of wanting to see them literally burn, I still can't support misinformation and advertisements.
Another thing to consider is giving up control of your account. I'm one of those who scrubbed and deleted my Reddit posts and comments. Selling my accounts would mean that if Reddit undeletes my posts and comments, I no longer can do anything about it. Worse, someone else is in control. That's no good for me.
Welp. Reddit should've thought about this possibility before screwing over everyone.
But your last argument is reason enough to keep your Reddit account.
I would have gone straight to that if I also ignored the ethics of it all, lol!
You make some real solid points and yes the ethics of it is what I would struggle most with. Do you still use an active Reddit account out of curiosity?
I haven't been going there since last month (June 12). Since then, I've only gone to check on whether or not any posts or replies have resurfaced (undeleted by admins or otherwise).
Last night, however, I commented to inform people about the state of Lemmy apps in an effort to get one or two people on the fence to switch over.
Other than that, I no longer use my account.
Why would anyone buy a Reddit account anyways?
Presumably because all the good usernames are already taken.
Because karma points and account age has been used as a proxy measure for an account’s trustworthiness.
For the sake of moderation effort, that is pertinent, yes. It is true that a new account is more likely to spam than an old, active account, so some moderators will choose to only allow the latter to post to make their lives easier, and this circumvents that. But if someone is foolish enough to give their free labour for Reddit's gain, let them work like dogs. Why should anyone else care?
is a valuable thing for misinformation and/or campaigns.
Only if moderators stop doing their job. However, Reddit has made it pretty clear if moderators stop doing their job they will be kicked to the curb. It is doubtful that there is any material difference here.
Perhaps you are implying that the Reddit crowd doesn't have the wherewithal to avoid the fallacy of authority, but if you truly think they can't even work through a simple logic exercise, there is no hope no matter how hard you try to babysit them. At that point they are already certifiably braindead. Let them go.
Good point regarding usernames. I've forgotten about that.
But if someone is foolish enough to give their free labour for Reddit’s gain, let them work like dogs. Why should anyone else care?
I hate to say this, but are you willing to extend this reasoning to moderators here in Lemmy? They're also giving their free labor here, right? Or is it different because "no corporation gains" here?
I've never been a moderator over there, nor here, but I've gotten a close look at what it entails more than a handful of years ago, in a relatively small forum. The most surprising thing for me is that even there, content moderation already is a headache, and a thankless one at that. Whatever that could make that job a little bit easier will be used. Karma points and account age are, as I've pointed out earlier, used as a tool to make one's job as a moderator easier. Do I think it's warranted? No, personally, no. The best way to deal with each report, each person, is on a case-to-case basis. But when you're swamped with a lot of reports and untrustworthy people (to the point that the starting point is any one person being untrustworthy), I would understand why anyone would take a little shortcut here and there.
My argument against selling accounts is never really focused on Reddit, but I called it out by name because of its size and influence.
For a bit of a background, I am Filipino, living in the Philippines which has become a testing ground for the weapons of mass disinformation during the last few national elections. The report Architects of Networked Disinformation focused on Facebook, which is where most of the troll farms have operated on. However, I have no reason to believe that the same techniques can't be applied to places such as Reddit (or even here in Lemmy). Furthermore, while focus during the 2022 national elections have also been on Facebook, there is reason to believe that some activity has also happened elsewhere, particularly Reddit where supporters of Leni Robredo (who ended up second in the race) have congregated to avoid the toxicity that is Facebook.
So, does mean I'm already a veteran when it comes to facing disinformation? No, hell no. However, my own personal experience, albeit colored through personal biases, has at the very least given me at least one insight: misinformation is insidious and isn't as obvious as one might mock it as. It isn't as simple as "Vote for XYZ, because he will bring us to a new golden age, make ABC great again!" It isn't always, in your own words: "a simple logic exercise." While it's easy to point out and laugh at the failures, it's just that: failures. To quote from a section that highlights the experiences of community-level fake account operators:
They mention that their ultimate failure as fake account operators on Facebook is when they are called out as a fake account (“That’s game over! That usually shuts us up”).
Yes, of course. It's considered a failure to be outed as a fake account operator. It would be "a simple logic exercise", to extend this reasoning to why a fake account operator would be a lot more careful and be more subtle in their operations, perhaps even utilizing the best (and worst) of human psychology and sociology to use our very own intellect, feelings, and connections against us. This exercise is left for the reader.
Now, all of the wall of text you've hopefully endured thus far, leads to one point, which I've already alluded to in my earlier reply: Selling accounts feeds the misinformation machine. I cannot, in good conscience, allow myself to feed with my own hand this very machine that has done a lot of damage to countries all over.
My apologies if I have been combative in my tone, but I hope you understand that it's coming from a place of .... trauma, I guess?
how can you sell a reddit account ? who would want to buy one and why?
Use duck duck go and search selling your Reddit account
I'm setting aside the question of whether it is illegal, but I think it is legally murky anyways.
The more interesting question is whether or not it is ethical to sell one's Reddit account.
I, for one, won't be selling mine. Why?
I think selling accounts contribute to the problem of trust in sites such as Reddit and Lemmy. Why would anyone buy a Reddit account anyways? To appear trustworthy, right? Because karma points and account age has been used as a proxy measure for an account's trustworthiness. An old account, with a fair amount of karma points is a valuable thing for misinformation and/or campaigns. Even if I hate Reddit to the point of wanting to see them literally burn, I still can't support misinformation and advertisements.
Another thing to consider is giving up control of your account. I'm one of those who scrubbed and deleted my Reddit posts and comments. Selling my accounts would mean that if Reddit undeletes my posts and comments, I no longer can do anything about it. Worse, someone else is in control. That's no good for me.
Welp. Reddit should've thought about this possibility before screwing over everyone.
But your last argument is reason enough to keep your Reddit account.
I would have gone straight to that if I also ignored the ethics of it all, lol!
You make some real solid points and yes the ethics of it is what I would struggle most with. Do you still use an active Reddit account out of curiosity?
I haven't been going there since last month (June 12). Since then, I've only gone to check on whether or not any posts or replies have resurfaced (undeleted by admins or otherwise).
Last night, however, I commented to inform people about the state of Lemmy apps in an effort to get one or two people on the fence to switch over.
Other than that, I no longer use my account.
Presumably because all the good usernames are already taken.
For the sake of moderation effort, that is pertinent, yes. It is true that a new account is more likely to spam than an old, active account, so some moderators will choose to only allow the latter to post to make their lives easier, and this circumvents that. But if someone is foolish enough to give their free labour for Reddit's gain, let them work like dogs. Why should anyone else care?
Only if moderators stop doing their job. However, Reddit has made it pretty clear if moderators stop doing their job they will be kicked to the curb. It is doubtful that there is any material difference here.
Perhaps you are implying that the Reddit crowd doesn't have the wherewithal to avoid the fallacy of authority, but if you truly think they can't even work through a simple logic exercise, there is no hope no matter how hard you try to babysit them. At that point they are already certifiably braindead. Let them go.
Good point regarding usernames. I've forgotten about that.
I hate to say this, but are you willing to extend this reasoning to moderators here in Lemmy? They're also giving their free labor here, right? Or is it different because "no corporation gains" here?
I've never been a moderator over there, nor here, but I've gotten a close look at what it entails more than a handful of years ago, in a relatively small forum. The most surprising thing for me is that even there, content moderation already is a headache, and a thankless one at that. Whatever that could make that job a little bit easier will be used. Karma points and account age are, as I've pointed out earlier, used as a tool to make one's job as a moderator easier. Do I think it's warranted? No, personally, no. The best way to deal with each report, each person, is on a case-to-case basis. But when you're swamped with a lot of reports and untrustworthy people (to the point that the starting point is any one person being untrustworthy), I would understand why anyone would take a little shortcut here and there.
My argument against selling accounts is never really focused on Reddit, but I called it out by name because of its size and influence.
For a bit of a background, I am Filipino, living in the Philippines which has become a testing ground for the weapons of mass disinformation during the last few national elections. The report Architects of Networked Disinformation focused on Facebook, which is where most of the troll farms have operated on. However, I have no reason to believe that the same techniques can't be applied to places such as Reddit (or even here in Lemmy). Furthermore, while focus during the 2022 national elections have also been on Facebook, there is reason to believe that some activity has also happened elsewhere, particularly Reddit where supporters of Leni Robredo (who ended up second in the race) have congregated to avoid the toxicity that is Facebook.
So, does mean I'm already a veteran when it comes to facing disinformation? No, hell no. However, my own personal experience, albeit colored through personal biases, has at the very least given me at least one insight: misinformation is insidious and isn't as obvious as one might mock it as. It isn't as simple as "Vote for XYZ, because he will bring us to a new golden age, make ABC great again!" It isn't always, in your own words: "a simple logic exercise." While it's easy to point out and laugh at the failures, it's just that: failures. To quote from a section that highlights the experiences of community-level fake account operators:
Yes, of course. It's considered a failure to be outed as a fake account operator. It would be "a simple logic exercise", to extend this reasoning to why a fake account operator would be a lot more careful and be more subtle in their operations, perhaps even utilizing the best (and worst) of human psychology and sociology to use our very own intellect, feelings, and connections against us. This exercise is left for the reader.
Now, all of the wall of text you've hopefully endured thus far, leads to one point, which I've already alluded to in my earlier reply: Selling accounts feeds the misinformation machine. I cannot, in good conscience, allow myself to feed with my own hand this very machine that has done a lot of damage to countries all over.
My apologies if I have been combative in my tone, but I hope you understand that it's coming from a place of .... trauma, I guess?