I have a theory that I still believe is true to this day and that is, most of those who did not make the transition from Facebook to Twitter in high school are more gullible to fake news and, more dangerously, pyramid schemes.
What is a pyramid scheme? Well, they’re pretty easy to understand but unfortunately for some, they seem like legit business opportunities. In the most basic sense, this is a structure in which I recruit you to recruit more people and collect money that eventually flows to the top of the pyramid. It goes like this, I get you to invest, say $100 and now you are allowed to recruit for yourself someone willing to pay you $100 and a certain percentage of that $100 goes to not only you but to me as well. Imagine a pyramid that can’t sustain itself and is structured almost entirely on false promises where I make most of the money and you just lose your friends and continue to believe that you MIGHT one day recover some of your initial $100. These kinds of things are still around but they shifted from just being an investment to selling actual products.
This is called multi-level marketing and I can guarantee you’ve seen this on social media where someone you know is constantly posting about their beauty routine and referencing the products they use as “our products.” I’m sure the word “Herbalife” will ring a bell for some of you. At this specific company, you become what is known as a Distributor, and with this title, you buy, in bulk, Herbalife products at a discounted rate and sell them for more. That doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, the problem is, who do you sell to? This is where Facebook comes in.
I find this to be most common on Facebook and I believe it’s because you’re dealing with people that you know. You know the people that you’re friends with on Facebook for the most part which makes it a lot easier to talk to them about your products but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Getting into this sort of work can make you, for lack of a better term, annoying. Not because you’re genuinely annoying (i don't know, maybe you are) but because there’s pressure to sell. Again, imagine the pyramid, if the bottom doesn’t work then it eventually collapses on itself. In the MLM industry, there is something called building a downline which is just another way of telling you to recruit people and this makes you their upline. Well, whoever you’re upline is, they NEED you to sell and recruit people so they can get a cut of your profits and post about how they could never do a normal 9 to 5. But how do I recruit people?
Exactly like this. In the example above, we have someone who is trying to sell for a company called MONAT. Think Herbalife but beauty products. Also within this example is just one of many of the promises these companies tell you. They say you can take these extravagant vacations, you can work from home, you can have a spa day, every single day.. But at what cost.
Have you ever gotten a message from someone that you went to high school with, one you didn’t really know that well but for some reason, they decided to send you a message saying “long time, no see!” Then you click on their profile and it’s nothing but post after post about wondering why YOU haven’t joined the company they work for? This is the cost, but it gets worse, a lot worse and much like Tupperware in the 50s, the group most affected by this is moms or more specifically Facebook moms. According to the Direct Selling Association, there are 18.6 million Americans involved in direct sales and of that, 74% are women. MLM’s like to use predatory verbiage that really resonates with stay at home moms, they tell you to be a #girlboss or that you can stay home and drink wine all day while making loads of money and you can take your girlfriends on all these vacations, similar to the ones in the above image. They purposely go after women who need to earn money while caring for their family. It’s because of this wording and inspiring quotes that make MLM’s not a business but a cult. Making you feel inspired and free only to leave you worse off than you were before. So, what should you do with the money they want you to invest? Literally anything except that.
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