"Amazing Years: Time Machine" is a Weibo influencer with over 100,000 followers who mainly posts beautiful photos of celebrities. Regardless of whether they are new or old, or have high popularity, "Amazing Years: Time Machine" will post any photos of celebrities submitted by fans or that she herself is interested in.
The beautiful photos she posts include both cropped and edited by herself and submitted by fans. If it's the latter, the app will credit the creator (cr) and indicate any copyright infringement.
Influential figures like "Appreciation Time Machine" wield considerable influence. Generally, celebrity fans are happy to see them post positive recommendations about their idols. While photo editors might dislike "Appreciation Time Machine's" reposting, out of love for their idols, they usually refrain from commenting once the source is acknowledged.
The Time Machine for Appreciating Beauty received another submission today, or more accurately, a business collaboration request.
The partner was an account with the image of actress Yang Huanyi on its profile page. The homepage was completely blank, but the partner was very generous – they were willing to pay 2,000 yuan to have "Show Time Machine" post a positive recommendation about Yang Huanyi.
Recommended content: Beautifully retouched photos of Yang Huanyi from the movie "Tianji Tower" which aired last night. If they are GIFs, please provide at least 9 images; if they are cropped screenshots, each image must be a three-panel collage.
The partner requested that the "Appreciation Time Machine" keep the partnership confidential and act as an ordinary, unsuspecting promoter when disseminating this information.
The "Appreciation Time Machine" app doesn't usually have a high number of followers, likes, and comments, so this price is quite reasonable. The other party paid a 30% deposit upfront, and will pay the balance after "Appreciation Time Machine" is shipped.
The "Time Machine of Beauty" naturally agreed to the collaboration. After all, Yang Huanyi isn't a disgraced celebrity; he has a good public image, and posting a few pictures isn't a loss for him.
The partner even provided the copywriting:
Yang Huanyi, 35, proves that time cannot diminish her beauty.
This simple tagline seems harmless enough; nine out of ten celebrity fans over 35 have used similar phrases. It just seems like a loyal fan of Yang Huanyi.
The Time Machine asked: "When should this Weibo post be published?"
The other party replied quickly: "Would the day after tomorrow at noon be okay?"
Two days is plenty of time to use the Time Machine to edit the photos, she readily replied: 【Of course.】
What the "Time Machine of Beauty" didn't know was that during the same period, about a dozen other influential figures similar to her received similar collaborations.
The collaboration fees for these influential figures range from 1,000 to 5,000 yuan. Some require the user to edit the photos themselves, while others have the images provided directly by the collaborating party. The accompanying text is also provided by the collaborating party.
The most expensive influencer was a marketing account with 500,000 followers. The partner provided him with several behind-the-scenes clips and asked him to praise Yang Huanyi. Even a small thing is still something, so the influencer happily accepted.
On the other end of the network cable, Shang Yechu was typing away on her computer keyboard, using two computers, ten browsers, and more than a dozen accounts to have a lively conversation with these influential figures.
Seeing that Shang Yechu had spent 20,000 yuan in just two hours, 103 couldn't help but use his cold humor to sarcastically remark, "You look like a money-spending prodigal now."
"It's alright." Shang Yechu's fingers flew across the keyboard. These days, she would occasionally go to internet cafes to practice typing, and her typing speed had evolved from two-finger typing to a beginner-level cheat code.
"Marketing Weibo posts on weekdays are cheaper than those on weekends, and positive articles are cheaper than negative ones," Shang Yechu explained to 103 while typing. "Those with their own copy are cheaper than those that require marketing accounts to write their own copy."
"These kinds of low-quality, overly flattering Weibo posts are the cheapest because they don't offend anyone and the buzz comes easily. Post a couple of negative stories, and fans will come after you relentlessly, with big-name fans organizing and calling for reports. They'll beat you senseless, and the money you get won't even be enough to compensate for the damage to your account's ranking."
"Red articles are great! Just a few words of praise, and fans will see it and share it without hesitation. Everyone's happy, and it's a harmonious situation. It boosts popularity without the worry of being attacked and having your readership plummeted. You can make money without even trying."
"You'll realize later that spending 20,000 is a very small amount for me..."
"Are you bored?" 103 said, unable to bear it any longer. "I'm not that interested in these pointless topics."
"Hmm." Shang Yechu extended an olive branch to another influential figure, "This is just the beginning; the real battle hasn't even started yet."
After contacting several influential figures, Shang Yechu finally calmed down a bit. Just when 103 thought she had successfully finished her workday, Shang Yechu typed another website address into the browser's search box.
A pop-up URL appeared, and at first glance, it looked very similar to the URL Shang Yechu had used to buy Weibo accounts. However, upon closer inspection, this website was clearer and had more comprehensive functions.
This website offers more detailed categorization, infinitely subdividing Weibo accounts based on interests, number of followers, registration year, and fan demographics. Categories include areas like relationships, beauty, film and television, food, and celebrities; follower counts range from under 10,000 to 30,000, and even hundreds of thousands or millions; it even distinguishes between accounts with more male or female followers.
A newly registered blank account costs only five yuan, accounts of level 10-17 are priced between 20 and 30 yuan, old accounts from 2011-2014 cost 50 yuan, and yellow verified accounts are the most expensive, with 200 yuan being the bottom price.
The website also prominently displays the message: "Bulk discounts available. Please contact customer service for details."
Shang Ye didn't even glance at the displayed numbers and contacted customer service directly.
Half an hour later, after some friendly business negotiations, Shang Yechu bought several hundred accounts for eight thousand yuan.
While packing up the accounts, Shang Yechu said, "The price is still reasonable now. In two years, with Weibo cracking down on it and the inflation of followers, the price of Weibo accounts will be even more expensive."
"Can you handle packing so many?" 103 asked coolly.
"It's nothing, just a drizzle," Shang Yechu said modestly. "If you can't even endure this little bit of hardship, how dare you set your sights on CTS?"
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