Trash for cash: Absurdist gross-out vids make major bucks on Facebook Watch

5/5/2021
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It may be social media public enemy #1, but 2.85 billion people still log into Facebook at least once a month; 1.25 billion of those consume videos when they do. That traffic has helped create an ecosystem of publishers and creators around the Facebook Watch feed. And apparently, there are some who could give two you-know-whats if people actually like what they produce: They publish cheaply produced clips that audiences find bizarre, but these clips are optimized for Facebook’s recommendation algorithm—and generate an absurd amount of reach. Today, OMR enters the final circle of social media hell and works out just how much cash these clips net creators.

A woman clogs the shitter with a crumpled up t-shirt, fills said shitter with ice cubes, ice cream, gummi bears and the water reservoir with a suicide of lemonade. She flushes. The food in the toilet bowl is flushed with soft drinks. From the off, the cameraman adds his two cents, “Wow, this is incredible!” And it is. This work of art has been seen an incredible 463,000 times on the Facebook-Watch subpage “The Anna Show” within a single week.

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