Do you have a better way of distinguishing between (1) somebody sharing a product because they genuinely think it is good (2) somebody sharing a product because they have a profit motive, despite the product being sh*t.
Proper disclosure is a means to expose bias and external motive. It's not perfect but it's arguably the best method we have right now. There's a reason it's written into law [1]
I think the link you shared is about a potentially separate issue.
First, it's advertising in the form of paid sponsorship. Second, people have reasons to trust what a social influencer says.
I'm doing neither if I have a business or work in a business and I share here an article that I wrote that happens to promote this business.
I'm not paying a stranger to talk about the business, and you don't have any reason to trust what I say without the usual judgement you'd employ towards a stranger.
There is still some trust I have with a stranger that posts on hackernews. Perhaps misplaced, but it's there nonetheless. I trust that if they took the time to post about a product, that they genuinely believe in it. If I later learn that they are just a marketer for that product, that trust will get diminished.
To give another example, why do we trust product reviews by strangers on Amazon? They could all be just marketers in disguise after all. But Amazon actually puts effort into removing fake reviews. Why? Because honesty matters. And when you have a bias or profit motive, it's important to disclose that part too, so people can judge your review appropriately. Paid reviewers exist, but they are usually disclosed.
and the more fake reviews, the less I trust them. Likewise, the more people here advertising their products without proper disclosure, the less I'll trust the honesty of the posts. So imo it's in the interest of the community to encourage proper disclosure, so that a certain level of trust is maintained.
But I do think it may undercut the power of content marketing by introducing an unconscious and unjustified negative bias.
If a stranger shares it on HN, should I judge it in a different way? What is the true value of highlighting that the author works for the company?