Is Tsu a Scam? 6 Things to Consider

Is Tsu a Scam? 6 Things to Consider

by Amanda Blain
Published: Last Updated on

UPDATE 2020: Looks like Tsu has relaunched once again as TSU.social … This entire article from 2014 that was the top searched  result for tsu scam, still applies. In case you want to know how that ended? Everyone ended up not getting paid and the network randomly closed with little warning. Tread carefully Internet. Money doesn’t grow on trees.


A Social Network that uh.. Pays you?

There is a new social network on the block. Tsu promises to split its advertising dollars it makes off of sharing your content with, well you….But is Tsu a Scam?surfweb

Tsu plays into the human desire to ‘get rich quick’. No effort required on your part beyond inviting your friends and family. Then just keep posting stuff like you already do! This kind of model has been on the internet forever.  Once upon a time, long since gone companies,  paid you just to surf websites, use toolbars, fill out surveys, read email, heck even use a search engine. The result is always the same and it will be here.. Company folds after they get the money to pay their investors/they get enough money…  from “your friends and family”.

I’ve seen complicated formulas and math talking about the possibilities of your massive profits on Tsu.  Whatever numbers and magic hoopla you’d like to put, In my opinion, Tsu is a scam. Spend your time on your OWN website creating your OWN content and spam your network with that..

You’ll be better off.

But What do I Know?

friend300

Why should you listen to me?  I own a social network. Yup. Girlfriend Social is the largest women only friendship social network in the world. I use advertising on the site but also offer members the option to pay for upgrades so they don’t have to see or be a part of advertising. I know exactly how much money it costs to keep servers going, continue to pay for advertising, keep security going and a million other things that running a major website does. I DON’T compete with Tsu (like so many have accused me of). GFS lets women meet local real life friends. Niche. More like Meetup.  I also own several blogs and other websites that use affiliate marketing and advertising models. I’ve been doing this part of the internet for many, many years.

If you seriously want to make money on the internet in some way, you can.  Make a blog or website. Publish ads or charge a membership. Profit…  This will take awhile and a fair amount of effort but you can “make money”. Probably even enough to go out to dinner a few times a month.

Is Tsu a Scam and the 6 Problems to Consider

1) The Advertising Model….

I can’t quite get a legit answer from the website about their advertising model. One site says that it shares the total revenue the website makes each day with every user. One site implies you will get part of your advertising that your content/ users you invite content specifically makes.  (If you have a link to their clear advertising model shown in Terms of use/outside the website before you sign up.. please post in the comments and I will update here.. so Far, nothing exists that shows CLEARLY what their advertising model in fact IS.. no matter what your friends say..) Whatever the faulty model is, the second the social media gurus and black hat scammy people get to the network 2 things will happen.

1) The site will be made into a spammy spam game. “Share the post and get all your friends to share it so we all make .00001 cents!” will be the norm. Users are currently reporting massive reshares, like and follow schemes and SHARE ALL THESE POSTS in buckets already.advertising 1602300264

2) Just to point out how silly this all is…Based off of the first link news article above – It says Tsu will share total ad revenue among users for the day.  So, Let us say there are 100 members and they split 100$ of total revenue for the day, everyone gets 1$. When there are 100 million members there likely wont be 100 million dollars in revenue.(No not even Facebook makes 100 million in revenue each day. http://investor.fb.com/results.cfm) You will be getting less than $1. Each user, each person invites will “weaken” the worth of the network causing eventually people to make fractions of a penny. FRACTIONS OF A PENNY on actions. Do you stop for a penny on the ground? 5 cents? Do you see this going any other way?

11/2/2014 – Update – Tsu has now included a lovely graphic on their FAQ. This is new, but still doesn’t really tell me anything. There is no contract, we don’t sign anything, and It’s still not perfectly legal clear what happens with what. Or what happens for those located outside USA. Or how we will magically get paid beyond some references to more than 600 requires an American Social security number…  This is NOT how affiliate or money pay out website do things. Google doesnt. Affiliates do not. Amazon Does not. Choose wisely my friends.

 

2) Is TSU a Ponzi Scheme/ Pyramid Scam / MLM Marketing Fraud/TSU is a scam?

I’ve seen people call Tsu a Ponzi scheme, Tsu a Pyramid scam, and Tsu a MLM marketing Fraud…

Ponzi schemes typically make new investors pay money. They pay that new money to “old investors”. So since Tsu is not asking for money, it is not a Ponzi scheme. Although Ponzi has typically become a commonly used word for “a scam of some type”. Pyramid or MLM Scam is better towards what Tsu is than Ponzi scheme as shown with the FTC warning about such things…  http://business.ftc.gov/documents/inv08-bottom-line-about-multi-level-marketing-plans

” If the money you make is based on your sales to the public, it may be a legitimate multilevel marketing plan. If the money you make is based on the number of people you recruit and your sales to them, it’s not. It’s a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal, and the vast majority of participants lose money.”

pyramid 1602300412

Your “sales” here are advertising dollars on your content and how much money you get paid seems to be directly related to how many people you help recruit in(again not proven because I hear conflicting information but inviting users seems to play a key part in getting paid). To me that falls into the FTC guidelines listed above, but since there isn’t a clear document about their payment plan its hard to say 100% for sure. Either way, play it safe and don’t play into it.

11/2/2014 Update – It seems that “infinite thirds/who you recruit” does indeed play an important role in how much money you make, but recruiting anyone does not SEEM to be required at all. So… If you must Tsu, Play it safe and don’t spam your network. See how much money you make. It’s been reported by several in the comments, that without inviting “children”, you pretty much are not making any money.  That falls again under Pyramid mentioned above….. But you decide if Tsu a scam.

3) The Payout … When You Get Your Hard Earned Money….

According to the monetization terms on their website…. “As such, you will receive periodic deposits in your Tsū bank account, which are directly related to your usage of the Service.” The money goes into the Tsu bank, not yours. No bank information, paypal, check cashing, tax information for foreign countries, etc…. is included absolutely anywhere at any time in any of the legal information. I have no idea right now how people will ever get paid.

Honestly, You’d be lucky to make 5$ from their non published model. It will require a $100 to pay you(AGAIN according to their FAQ.) That is something you or the majority of people who use tsu will never actually earn because you are making fractions of a cent each day. Or say 1 cent a day… ( a number I’ve seen a few people saying they have earned) It will take 10,000 days Or roughly 28 Years to earn $100. Are you making less than a dollar a day? And how many hours are you putting in? Your pay rates here then are less than a newspaper route or data entry jobs listed online.

freemoney

And that is if the payout doesn’t really go down (which it should based on the other things I mentioned). This minimum payment required is a common tactic to hold funds till you reach a threshold. Yes lots of legit companies do this, but they have legit ways of making the payout amount. Not one user has reporting being paid the magic $100 so far from Tsu. This will leave a nice pool of “ad dollars” sitting around for the company to pay off VC(Venture Capital.. you know the 7 million dollars they were LOANED by people who want it paid BACK) with because people can’t get to the magically upper end for payout. It has been stated that Tsu will have you invest these “tsu dollars” back into some kind of currency you can use on the website itself instead of a payout/cash to you personally.  Again, none of this is clear. You MIGHT be able to make the $100 by of course spamming the entire internet and everyone you know for the next 6 months. Work hard for that 100$ payout folks.

11/2/2014 Update – TSU has published some information about using your banked tsu dollars to offer you discounts on products they partner with… some kind of shopping network err coupons.Or payment transfer system. Again. Nothing in any official document but that seems to be their plan for those who don’t hit that Magic $100 price point.

The power users post their proof! Err.. wait..

payment11/19 – Supposedly 2 super power users have reported making the $100. Kevin Hinkle and Andrew Fromm. Both have more than 10 thousand people following them. Kevin has almost 20k. Two out of supposedly 1 million users. You have better odds on winning the lottery for $100. Or making more money by doing data entry in a 3rd world country. Andrew posted a picture of a hand written check then called me and this post out. Yes. Hand written. As you can see others are also questioning “why would it be handwritten”.. but for me to question it, threat worthy and is “grasping at straws”. It was handwritten to Andrew Fromm’s company name. Yes. His company name. Perhaps he struck some kind of deal? Perhaps he doesn’t want his name associated with the scammy looking website since he is a professional? Or are you able to just say my company made this under your personal account? I don’t think the IRS will like that. Any which way.. I assume tsu does not plan on sending out many checks if they are hand writing checks. (or to any foreign countries – Many countries especially poor ones, do not have the ability to cash American checks.) And what are the tax implications? Money earned in the USA has to follow the IRS guidelines and taxes removed. You don’t just get “free money” even from the internet. The IRS gets its part. Even from lottery winnings. Since Tsu’s whole slick is YOU GET PAID FOR YOUR CONTENT.. you’d think that check writing software would have been a bit more of a priority in that 7 million invested. But it’s not really. You get paid in TSU dollars and few people will ever get REAL dollars. That’s the plan. AGAIN, There is still zero facts on what you get paid for, although Tsu shows a nice views and shares graph under your account.. you get a standard “tsu royalties .04” each day with zero explanation. Zero contracts. Zero terms. Who knows what you get paid for and when. Is this a tsu scam yet folks?

4)They will Run a Social Network on 10% of Revenue…

… Really… 🙂 Servers, Bandwidth, Security, Staff members, Support teams….. on 1Business Marketing Flow Chart0% of revenue. This means if somehow it IS possible all of these will be lacking. No support, Hackers paradise since there is no security teams on it, and slow slow servers. As one person (Greg Crichton) on my google plus post about it pointed out, It doesn’t even have https/SSL Website security installed. That’s like doing banking on a non secure network! (The SSL issue has now been corrected)  Many users are reporting that the website is “not accessible” or “offline for maintenance” already.  This has not changed in the first month and only gotten worse. This is a sign of things to come while it attempts to deal with the growth and issues appearing on the website.

Some of you seem to think your content can do better on its own. Launch a blog and do it. You’ll quickly see how expensive it is to “run a website” and “host/publish photos” and most importantly… “get advertising traffic”. 🙂 What Tsu is telling you it can do on 10% of ads? Plus Tsu already owes a fair amount of money to the venture capital money it already took? Good luck on that model folks.

11/21/2014 – TSU has announced that they now allow you to transfer your tsu dollars to other tsu members. Or you can donate to charity. You won’t get a charity tax receipt though. Tsu will. They will also take 3% more out of your tsu dollars. So they are now taking 13% of your revenue on these transfers. You can not transfer money in at this time. So you will just buy a coffee for your friends with you 3$ you spent 3 months making. Solid time investment.

How long before for the #TransferTrains start? First everyone donate to Bob so he can hit $100. Then we will donate to Sally so SHE can get $100… lol.  Hook you in the promise of money and then skim more money from the top. I can actually picture the founders sitting around at a pub somewhere… LETS COMBINE PAYPAL, BITCON ANDDD A SOCIAL NETWORK… lol.. Even though none of them have any experience in ANY of those fields. What a joke.

 

5) We Need to Take Back Our Content….

I’m also not exactly sure about these “I make content that I share on social sites…  so I need to stop these companies from profiting from MY content” type comments. I own 100% of my own websites and I do in fact make a living from that. If you want to use someone elses websites, you are uh… using them and can pay upfront to use them or you can pay by have ads served to you. This is the internet. You exchange your ‘content and information’ for ads.social friends 1602300606

I COULD place videos completely on my own blog instead of on YouTube for example, but how many people would see it? How much will it cost to have those videos streamed on my server time after time? You are also paying for the promotion your video receives as being a part of the 2nd largest search engine  in the world. This is your “cost” for using these websites. Don’t like that idea? Start your own.

No one reading this signed up on Facebook or Twitter to “make money”.. (ok some businesses did)

But most people use social media sites because you wanted to see what your friends were doing without calling them, connect on interests, follow famous peoples doings, look up people you went to high school with and mostly, to you know, stay involved in peoples lives. You were never there to PROFIT. People saying “I get my $1 more than Facebook ever paid me” are misled. You’ve made countless dollars in value from using Facebook to connect with people you care about. If you go to a free event, meet some friends,  but the event organizer has a sponsored table/advertisers there, you do not DEMAND the event organizer pay you and the other attendees. The Organizer wouldn’t be able to have a sponsor if you didn’t “go to the event” and “provide content by talking with others”. This is just what Facebook does for you…. Right? So why exactly does Facebook owe you money if obviously the event organizer in this example does not owe you money? Seriously. That’s what the Tsu supports are saying is OWED to them. EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is making this “TAKE BACK MY MONEY” comment is saying something equally illogical.

6) But what does it hurt? How can you judge a Network that isn’t very old yet?

I think people don’t value their personal social media network as much as they should. Your social network is a precious thing you have worked hard to build through real life or online friendships. You develop trust and experience as an expert about things. Every single person has from the Social media gurus to the person who just updates their Facebook page with photos of their kids. Their social network views them in some way. Social expert or Mom with kid photos. Do you want that opinion to include the person who invited them to an affiliate scheme that will likely mislead and rip people off?

There is currently NO delete button to remove your TSU account permanently. BIG RED FLAG. If i “own my content” and a bunch of other hoopla on the typo filled FAQ, why can’t i takeout my content at any time? This is common tactic with new websites because “user count” is more important than anything. They make it difficult/impossible for you to remove your account so they can report to their investors that “Numbers are Up!”. Its been mentioned you can email support and they will eventually remove it, this has not been proven, timeline, etc as of yet. There is no automated way to do it but they are “working on this basic core feature of any website”. If they really believed all the fluff they say in their FAQ about what’s yours is yours, the lack of delete is a big flag saying that wont hold true.

Update 11/02/2014 – they have added a TSU delete from the FAQ when you are logged in. Shares may not be removed so be careful what you share.
I have seen countless online friendships end because some people feel TSU is a scam and some supporters spam promote it every few minutes. If you want to TSU, fine. Try not to spam your friends.

microsofttest

But lets forget all that for a minute…

People will do what they will, but spamming your precious network with invites to an unproven, heavily weighted against it Monetization Model is certainly not on MY to do list.

If nothing else wait a few months till a bunch of people get the “magical Bill Gates sending you 100$ for each person you forward it to” paychecks. If this magic network works against all the logical odds,  you have lots of friends and family members to pull into it for eternity. No rush required. Or are you one of those people that desperate for money that you will play into this pipe dream with ZERO proof of it working?

HOW TO DELETE YOUR TSU ACCOUNT…

If you have decided that tsu is a scam, and if you have already signed up, according to the terms of service,  you can fill out some kind of form to get your account removed/deleted…. at some point.

“You can deactivate your Tsū account by logging into the Service and completing the form available here. If we terminate your access to the Service or you use the form detailed above to deactivate your account, your photos, comments, likes, friendships, followers, digital or real assets held by Evacuation Complete and all other data will no longer be accessible through your account (e.g., users will not be able to navigate to your username and view your photos), but those materials and data may persist and appear within the Service (e.g. if your Content has been reshared by others).”

Google+ for example completely deletes your account and removes all pictures you share leaving an X on any reshares of your content. They are in fact.. “gone”. Facebook encourages your to deactive your account, but after several hoop jumps you can delete your account on their various servers after 14 days. Your content SHOULD be removed from Facebook after that. ANY social network should have delete account as part of a ‘6 year plan’ like tsu supposedly does. Block, edit and delete are simple straight forward core parts of a network or website. The fact they “forgot it”, and the fact they have not FIXED this (Folks its handful of lines of code… seriously) shows they don’t want to fix it yet.(looks like it now does)

If you signed up already I recommend removing as much as possible, attempting to find their delete form and stop sharing or putting anything you value into it… for the possibility of pennies.

UPDATE 11/2/2014: Looks like Tsu has finally added a delete button available through the FAQ But unfortunately your stuff will still be available for others who shared it like mentioned above.

BUT IT’S JUST FOR FUN….I’M NOT THERE TO GET RICH QUICK!

I’ve had a few people mention they are “just using the network because its clean and fun and new”. If this is true, I believe you have the option to turn monetization off (thats been mentioned but I actually can not find any information about this in the FAQ, Terms Etc in any way. Can you find where to turn it off someone?) Till someone shows me how this is done, its required to be on the site. But the reality is fine folks, if you are spamming/begging invites to everyone you know… You do not fall into the “its fun” camp. You are kidding yourself and you are hoping to cash out on this….likely with a “Even if its a few bucks, thats more than facebook ever gave me!” type of idea…..There are many other social networks out there,(Google+ comes to mind with it’s zero ads) that do not play around with these things, for you to “have fun on”.   It’s nothing to me, but I hate seeing people get ripped off or mislead by unethical companies. I mostly made this post to link to people that asked me about it and “why are you not there”. Do what you will, but realize currently “taking a chance to check it out” can have repercussions that I’ve listed above because you can not delete your account at this time.

What about Legal Issues?

A final little update here. Google and YouTube specifically have spent a ton of money to detect when you are using someone else’s copywritten material in videos you upload to try and make money off of. You are not allowed to monetize your YouTube Videos that include copywritten stuff. Violators are banned. This technology is funded by part of that “revenue” that these companies are making that Tsu is only going to be getting 10% of.  They will have no such technology. 
 

copyright 1602301356

“Tsu claims that if, and when, the original content creator issues a DMCA take down notice then Tsu will take the content down. But that takes time and within that time Tsu will have already made money. And distributed it.
1. Are they going to take the money back from whoever it was paid to?
2. Sometimes the content creator may not even know that their content is used, so a DMCA notice may never be issued and Tsu will continue to make money and distribute it. Potently unethical and illegal position.
3. For content that is distributed under CC-NC (Creative Commons, Non Commercial) sharing the content is not necessarily a commercial act so it preserves the CC license terms, but it circumvents the license by indirectly making money using that content. Grey area, but potentially illegal.”
 
Very Very valid points. And what about these lawsuits downstreams? Like your friend you invited reshared illegal content… are they going to take back your penny too? It’s been pointed out the current TOS say whatever happens legally is your fault. Not sure how that will hold out, but i don’t want to be sued for something someone else shared. Even if there is a chance of it.
 

10/26/2014 Update:
Many user have confirmed that TSU is now implementing a 5(24?) post a day limit to try and combat the obvious spam that has sprung up. Even good users who were doing well thought out post have been hit with the draconic limit the first week that the network has been in existence. This quick rule actually will help to combat spam slightly, but will basically limit 100% the ability to get anything more than pennies a day and the rest of this article will remain true. Many users have also reported zero way to delete their account and zero response from the “support” email about deleting. Please feel free to comment if you have in fact got you account removed this way. Until then Do not expect to have your account removed any time soon.

11/2/2014: Tsu has added a delete from their FAQ and has published some sort of “Picture money model” on their FAQ. It still is not clear. It sure is not a legal contract signed document. Tax info for foreign countries (commonly called a w8 for those outside US), DMCA not discussed and I’ve read things about the CEO’s plan to implement a “tsu shopping network” so you can spend some of your hard earned tsu dollars on coupons towards products they partner with…. Awesome… or something.  Looks like their model continues to be sketchy and not fully laid out. The addition of a delete is a positive sign if you want to try your chance at making some pennies, but remember that the TOS still says items can/will remain on their servers so be careful what you share.


What happens when you post your thoughts online..

Sure are a lot of people attacking me for this opinion. Sorry some critical thinking is offending you. So as always, please use TSU if you want but think about what rights you have and what you have agreed to, because TSU sure is not telling you and so far and the tsu is a scam sure are not paying you (Anyone been paid 100$ yet? its been over a week…) to promote their site so much.

Final Note: I am locking comments on this post because I’m tired of being personally attacked and insulted across the internet for asking some questions and stating my opinions. I am also tired of over 20 JOIN ME ON TSU SPAM INVITE LINKS a day that I have to moderate in the comments. Honestly.. I just don’t care anymore. If that means “i’m wrong” because I should accept being called a bitch, dumb, thief, slut, whore, c*nt(yes people are calling me all those things in public posts all over the place)… because I asked some question (Really people.. really?)… Then so be it. I’ll leave this here for people to decided.  I wrote this post so I could send it to people spamming me their links and asking why I was not there. It went viral online and has made people act like its some kind of witch hunt on me. Carry on with your pitchfolks rage Internet. I’m done playing.
tsu is a scam insults
11/24 – The threats continue. I’ll post the screenshots here. It seem Andrew Fromm does not like his full name associated with this stuff and is threatening to “tsu” me for posting this.  Of course after he publicly posted that I needed to see his hand written check shown above publicly on his tsu profile. 2 out of 1 million users have gotten paid somehow. No screenshots of how they did though. HORRIBLE ODDS. My entire article still stands above with most users reporting earns between $.10 and $5 in the first month.   There is little logical discussion happening anymore, just people insulting me personally, as you can see folks. I’ve updated this post over 30 times since posting to include where tsu has changed my original points.  The Tsu supports sure are angry. You judge.

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(UPDATE 2016/08) Where did it all End up?

Well here we are at the end folks.

Tsu has shut down

The website failed to raise an additional round of funding because of well…. everything I pointed out above. The company claimed it will still pay out to users whose accounts have amounts large enough for redemption ($100) if those users reach out via email by the end of the month… but several reported here on this blog that never received it. Remember the lessons learned here folks. Tsu has shut down but it won’t be the last get rich quick scheme found on the internet.

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avery miller
avery miller
9 years ago

Hey! Great post, but I disagree; Tsu is different. Getting 90% of the profits made on my content is just a bonus for me. Heck, I’d use it even without the earning feature.
Just a note: I found this in my Tsu feed, so, ya. 🙂

Jamie
Jamie
9 years ago

This post screams of trying to get readership to ironically “just make money”. How can a free website be a scam? No one ever promised to get rich quick. The only things I’ve read is eventually the average user will make $1-2 per day. Very irresponsible… At least wait until you get answers to your questions before you post this.

cathy Caballero
cathy Caballero
Reply to  Amanda Blain
9 years ago

people share content and photos they dont own on Facebook, twitter, etc daily, nobody scream lawsuit. I post my content on tsu, just like i do to Facebook. So, what’s wrong with that, if they pay me for sharing my content then its cool. I share content on social networks all the time, why not do it also on tsu.

Akshay naik
Akshay naik
9 years ago

Hey i completely disagree ,

tsu is awsome. its completely different from Facebook and google plus. but yes some features are still from facebook . But i enjoyed tsu social networking site

Matt
Matt
9 years ago

Thank you for this! It seems like these sort of companies are starting to pop up every day (rippln, leafit, etc.). I always have one or two friends fall for them, and it takes it’s so irritating trying to explain how it’s an unsustainable business model when all they can think about is getting rich. Thanks for doing that for me so I can just link them here and wash my hands of it!

Wandering Poet
Wandering Poet
9 years ago

I agree. They should publish their earnings information and disclose.

Absent that, it’s better to steer away, as it’s clearly a pyramid.

Jack O'Brien (@Set_Square_Jack)
Jack O'Brien (@Set_Square_Jack)
Reply to  Wandering Poet
9 years ago

I don’t really understand how it can be a pyramid scheme.

A pyramid scheme works for the con artist because everyone has to put money *into* the system in some form, such as buying a bunch of makeup or beanie babies to re-sell, or paying for “training” or “educational materials.”

Where are people who sign up for Tsu required to lay any money out? You aren’t required to purchase any materials, goods or services.

If Tsu is deemed a “scam” simply because it’s CEO is enticing to get as many people on it as possible, then that means every social media entity is a scam.

YO MINUS
YO MINUS
9 years ago

I don’t think it would get 7 million raised and hey 50 cent is on there!….I just signed up and if your posting a lot of creative content (music, video’s etc) then I think it’s worth a try! Here is my “short code” to get you started: SPAMMERLINKREMOVED

Brandon Phoenix
Brandon Phoenix
9 years ago

Nice post, with great input. However, you give a little jab at the FAQs of Tsu and its typos, yet, you’ve got plenty here yourself.

Ryan Conley
Ryan Conley
9 years ago

Amanda,
This entire blog of yours is the most pathetic review I have ever seen to be quite honest. Your facts are so far off especially considering Facebook makes 1/4 of a billion a day in revenue. I don’t think you can handle such large concepts to be quite honest. Stick to your blog and I hope it allows you to buy a fast food meal or two for you and your poodle.

Just remember writing this crappy page while you are left in the dust. You openly admit you don’t know all the facts and it is clear you are just trying to engage a conversation here. Actually you are not even worth writing another sentence to so I will just stop now lol….

Jessica
Jessica
9 years ago

First Off, Amanda, for what it’s worth, I would just like to say, after watching you get relentlessly (and unfairly) beat up here… that regardless if you are wrong or right about the legitimacy of TSU, I appreciate this article and I appreciate that you have taken the time to write it. I think you make a lot of good points and I believe it is a well written article with a healthy dose of skepticism. Some of the issues you bring up should not be lightly swept under the carpet, especially when the sharing of illegal content is involved and that it brings with it the potential for wide sweeping and chain-linked lawsuits. I have yet to take an official stance on TSU. As it stands now, I can appreciate both sides of the spectrum. I have seen and been a part of fanbox, and because of this I am a little bit skeptic. While there may be differences between fanbox and TSU, it seems their model is almost identical, in the ideas of revenue from adverts going directly back to the people who make up the network. And while I am sure many early adopter fanbox users (may still be – idk) or may have made some money at some point (again – idk because I have yet to make a cent from it lol) – (not unlike many other late adopters, I believe) and so I wonder about the accuracy of your statement which implies users actually thinning out any eventual return. Like you have said, without the company addressing these questions and making available more quality material to allow for better educated decisions surrounding the use of their software and model, then we are all only guessing here. And with guesses like these it should be expected to have questions and to be skeptical until they are properly addressed and answered. Without it we would all just be fools….(hint, hint, to some that have so rudely posted here, lol)

Carrie
Carrie
9 years ago

I found this article when looking up TSU. I got an invitation to join it on my facebook page, and joined to see what it is. Now I don’t want to be part of it, it’s confusing, and seems like a pryamid, even though they don’t ask for money… but I CAN’T FIND ANY FORM TO FILL OUT TO DO THIS. I sent an email to the ‘support’ listed but so far nothing in retturn. I didn’t put anything on it yet to share and found where to change privacy settings, and set them all to “friends” (I don’t have any friends there). I’d still like to find out how to delete/deactivate my account, does anyone (who is praising it here) know how?
Thanks…

Edward Harris
Edward Harris
9 years ago

Amanda

I joined about three days ago and I guess I am one of the exceptions. I’m striking it rich already and here are my numbers (in about 72 hours):

Number of posts: 2,180
Number of friends: 688
Number of shares: 840
Number of hours spent on this website: 52
Revenue earned: 6 cents

Sure, it may not seem like a lot of money but let me tell you…a stick of gum can go a long way.

Yes…I am being sarcastic. Thanks for the info Amanda.

Robert Davenport
Robert Davenport
9 years ago

I’d like to commend them on at least making a valiant attempt to put a new and different spin on their social media platform. Sure there will be some kinks that need to get worked out but just like everything else, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook included, you have to start somewhere.

I’m sure they’re not getting into this space just to scam people over and end up with never-ending lawsuits. I say let’s encourage them and help them evolve. Sounds like a much better concept than Facebook!

Oliver Gassner
Oliver Gassner
9 years ago

Well.
I am not sure you assuption that people will be in it to become rich tells more about you or about people using Tsu.

Then again as you do mot pay anything to enter the assumed ‘pyramid game’ ir is not really one, right? Or ANY platform is one as you always want to gain access to peple – assuming you are in Social media to gain reach.

Then: Other platofrms lure you there ‘just for the fun of it’, make money and give you… ab ‘better’ plaform that shows you… uhm… better ads. Yay. I think that the way Tsu does it should be the way all platforms should act: If you use it, if you bring people there, well, get part of the loot…

Then about owning commtent. I don’t get people who write all their content withnin facebook. Why not blog it and spread it: On Facebook, twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Tsu.

Now you left me just wondering what your real problem with Tsu is … or was this just linkbait?
Worked.

Anton Theunissen
Anton Theunissen
9 years ago

I appreciate the critical thinking and you’re completely correct: if you’re in it for the money, stay away from tsu. On the other hand: if you’re posting original and engaging content every now and then and you realize that it’s content like yours that’s filling up G and FB’s bank accounts, it maybe worth a try.
Less is more. Tsu just installed a maximum of (I think) 5 posts a day. I hope it can stay like that, forcing posters to think about what they post and be selective. Desperately posting 700 posts a day won’t get you anywhere unless it’s just the postcount and accidental clicks that count. I like the monetizing ‘niche’ model – not to get rich from but because it could filter out quality from crap. If they get the algorithm right…
And the whole copyright thing? who is earning from your ‘copyrighted’ stuff on G+ and FB? If you’re convinced that your material is worth serious money, well, sell it to someone instead of posting it for free and letting others do the work for you (=monetizing it).

Shalin
Shalin
9 years ago

Isn’t it kinda odd to think this is a scam? But yes someone should have a great capital to start a viral marketing campaign like this. No one can make that amount of money a day

C00L
C00L
9 years ago

Interesting read here and I get your point but one thing that’s good about it all from an seo standpoint is all the links there are dofollow.

Dood
Dood
9 years ago

I could care less about making money from Tsu .. I am just tired of Fascistbook dialing me down. I used to get 1000’s of profile and page views per day as well as 100’s of comments per post. It literally helped build my FM radio show following. Now I get maybe 100 views and a few comments. All share options have been shut down by FB and they keep hammering to pay $20 a day to get those function back. It is at the point where my followers email asking if I am still online and still doing the radio show I had been using Fecalbook to promote. 3 years of networking wiped out by algorithms and new settings Google + deletes my posts if I use my logo more than once .. spamming my own page.. smh …Twitter is ok as is Tumblr but ultimately not suited for my needs . so I am hoping Tsu works out , and I too am waiting for a response form tsu to things you stated in the review.

So I just want a network to use that doesn’t try to extort money from me, change my name or block posts ..

Doooood

C
C
9 years ago

Hi there, I was just curious if you could address the news that they recently got 7 million dollars invested into the company, wouldn’t this prove more legitimacy? Also, apparently the CEO is planning on using the money from accounts that do not reach 100 dollars to re invest and lend out sort of like a bank. Wouldn’t this also cover bandwidth and server costs? thank you very much for the article!

Clifton Shepherd
Clifton Shepherd
9 years ago

Avery, stick to your guns. Tsu is different.

Clifton Shepherd
Clifton Shepherd
9 years ago

Thank you Ryan, Especially because this blog ranks high in the search engines and is one of the first in search results, so most people are going to click on this review and run away from Tsu for no reason. Some people just don’t know a good thing when they see it. Remember, there is some idiot out there who thought investing in Microsoft was a bad idea.

TheGiraffe
TheGiraffe
9 years ago

Hey there. Just wanted to comment on the third party content sharing. In their TOS, it states:

“You represent and warrant that: (a) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Service or otherwise have the right to grant the rights and licenses set forth in these Terms of Use; (b) the posting and use of your Content on or through the Service does not violate, misappropriate or infringe on the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademark and/or other intellectual property rights; and (c) you agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owed by reason of Content you post on or through the Service.

Evacuation Complete reserves the right to remove any Content from the Service for any reason, without prior notice. Content removed from the Service may continue to be stored by Evacuation Complete, including, without limitation, in order to comply with certain legal obligations, but may not be retrievable without a valid court order.”

So they say straight out, if you use copyright material, you could be made to pay the royalties, fees and any other monies yourself. Since one must agree to the TOS to sign up, you’re agreeing to pay the fees if you get caught sharing material not belonging to yourself.

Other than that, I appreciate the healthy skepticism you present (it made me read the TOS). I hope that the problems you present will be worked out and that Facebook becomes the new MySpace (and dies a horribly lonely death).

kalani erandika
kalani erandika
9 years ago

For most people I would endorse at least trying out Twitter, Of course networking is vital. But keep your eye no to pressure yourself with any of this stuff and keep your persistence in check. Selecting and Joining with a social network is up to you. but DO NOT spend your time confessing your secrets to virtual strangers. It’s futile, dangerous, and idiotic. DO NOT lose “common sense”.
All those are just one of many things to spend your time on, except you see a good re-occurrence (Advertising, Being famous [for celebrities], embarking your valuable community, social service, Finding the PRECISE FRANK life partner, etc.) on your activity you perhaps are happier doing something else. Use the BRAIN and come up with good things as a HUMAN! Some people may agree some may not. That’s the reality.

Michelle
Michelle
9 years ago

I completely agree with what you are trying to convey to your readers! So many people are quick to hop on board new social media hubs and don’t stop to think about whether the content they are sharing will be protected or whether their personal information will be abused by the site.

I had a ton feeds this week about joining TSU on my Facebook page, but when I went to the site, there was very little information offered about how it works and it required that I sign up before being allowed to really understand how it works. This, for me, was a red flag. I run an online business and all of my own social media content, so wasting time for the promise of pennies and not knowing how my content will be used, convinced me pass on TSU.

I am not against the idea of signing up, but I also encourage users to read the fine print and check the domain before inputting your personal information. I have also warned people about posting family images so freely on public social media accounts. Our children should be protected as much as possible and there are a new breed of accounts being created by spammers that use family photos (not theirs) to create fake Facebook pages to try to get donations or sales from digital products they’ve stolen online.

And don’t get me wrong, I have and use several social media accounts. I post images, I run a blog, a website, and several online shops. I am not against social media or online sharing. The opportunities available are incredible and I have made so many amazing friendships along the way… but everyone should be picky about sharing personal content and everyone should take the time to do a little research before jumping in with both feet.

I will not be joining TSU at this time, but I have nothing against those who have. Many of my friends have joined the site and are having fun with it all.

Thank you Amanda for providing valuable insight so that each user can make an informed decision about whether or not to join.

Michelle
The 3AM Teacher

Anthony Lamb
Anthony Lamb
9 years ago

It’s nice to see a person who actually questions something before just jumping into something that sounds to good to be true. Tsu seems like bullshit to me and i am sure in 2 to 5 years…nobody will give 2 shits about it.

Panagiota
Panagiota
9 years ago

Tsu’s product is a social network platform co-founder Sebastian Sobczak claims has been six years in the making. Tsu has had $8 million invested into it this year. Maybe we should give it a try?

Carrie
Carrie
9 years ago

Last Friday I wrote to the contact address in the FAQ for “more help” and asked how to delete my account. Yesterday morning (Monday) I got an email asking me “what is your user name?” I told them. As of tonight I can still sign in to TSU (my account) though I have set everything to “friends only” so I only have one follower, who jumped on me the minute I started my account with them… named “Earth Porn”. This morning I wrote a post on it asking about how to opt out and get my account deactivated, and it’s still there with no responses. Maybe I set it so “friends only” can see my posts… I guess if I just don’t sign in and do anything with it, it will be the same as not having it, but still, I think there should be a way to deactivate, or them do it if asked.

Sunish
Sunish
9 years ago

I had the same skepticism and was just searching to find what others are talking about it. Interesting to see the comment section 🙂 People hate to hear the truth and feels challenged when they hear something they really don’t want to hear.

While going through the comment section op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/the-social-network-that-pays-you-to-friend/ I found that, regular readers and subscribers are upset that the author is promoting a spammy business.

Roberta Rikkers
Roberta Rikkers
9 years ago

Could care less? Like you care some? I think you meant that you could NOT care less.

Dan Mischefski
Dan Mischefski
9 years ago

Thank you Amanda, you have put a huge amount of time and effort into this blog. I just joined Tsu and you write a great critical thinking perspective. It is refreshing to see a scam alert site actually warn instead of reframing to promote. I’m only commenting on here to let you know I’m extremely jealous of your business acumen and want to know if you will ever visit Australia. If so how much for a seminar or coaching conference on Internet marketing? Congrats on your success.
From A.learner

Carrie
Carrie
9 years ago

Maybe this is why there is no way to get off, to deactive one’s account? I even wrote to the contact people, got an email back asking for my username, and as of yesterday (I haven’t checked today) I can still sign in. I am writing ON the group asking if anyone knows how to opt out of it once signed up (and you have to sign up to find out what it’s all about) and no one responds. I know I can just not use it, but I object to my account (and info) being on it like I’m adding to the number of users. Who knows how many others joined it, and then didn’t want to be part of it, but their names/accounts are still on it. I know there is a law that says spam emails have to have a link on them to get taken off their list, seems like a social network- especially one that involves bringing in money, via ads and paying people for it, would have to let you out. I didn’t agree to their agreement about the payments, for one thing it was confusing. For one thing I was’t sure if people are paid in money (and this would be reported to the IRS in the USA, as taxable income?) or in some kind of credits to buy things form sponsers on the pages?

Carrie
Carrie
9 years ago

I just tried to log in to my TSU account to see if it is still active and got a page saying “relax..” and the site is temporarily down for maintenence and will be back up soon..

Robin
Robin
9 years ago

I’m glad I found this article. I was curious about it, because I noticed some bloggers posting about joining it. I’m always wary about new social media sites, or even just new sites in general. I think I will wait this one out and see how others do with it first. I hate when you sign up and you can never delete the account. So again I am glad I read this! I have a question. Have you heard of Ello? It is a new social media site also. I was curious if you will do a review on it? I’ve been wary about this one also.

Dave
Dave
9 years ago

Reasoned, sensible and will be proven right in a matter of months, when TSU.co fails. All the haters here are people who’ve bought in, hoping for their big payoff. Scam-a-lam-a-ding-dong, dorks. Sucker born every minute. Here’s your first clue: dot CO. The ghetto of the internet. This is classic MLM. This site has done some research. Look at the pictures of those punkass founder children. That alone should tell you to keep away. behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/tsu-review-social-network-with-90-revshare/

Shaddaih
Shaddaih
9 years ago

I registered for this site yesterday, and I am already seeing results. I get paid for doing something that I do anyway, on a every day basis. I’ve already started seeing my royalties 🙂 it is amazing! Try it out and use this invite:
SPAM LINK REMOVED
Or code : SPAM LINK REMOVED

K.D. Stafford
K.D. Stafford
9 years ago

In lieu of being able to actually deleting the account, could you remove, item by item, your postings so that when your page is pulled up there would be little or no information on it?

Able Lawrence
Able Lawrence
9 years ago

@Amanda
Google has taken its foot off the pedal of late and the innovations have come down as far as Google+ is concerned and the people who have been in chanrge have been downgraded in the GooglePlex pecking order. I do post for fun on Google+ and has seen steady decline in engagement of late. My best posts used to get ~280 plus ones and now I am lucky to hit ~150 and the average numbers have fallen from eighties to the fifties.
My hope is that a new social network sensation can spur innovation.
In Google+, there are two kinds of users, those who generate content and those who share or consume them while the lines can merge. Tsu appears to be something that puts the content generators up front. You are right that the vast majority of people are not going to make any money but who is there for the money anyway.

Henry Stradford
Henry Stradford
9 years ago

I deleted my account. Not because of this post, but because I don’t get the business model. Not wasting my time on it. Good luck! 😀

Henry Stradford
Henry Stradford
9 years ago

PS. If you want to delete your account. Go to the FAQ. Weird that is the only place you can delete from. 😀 😀 😀

Chris Sandys
Chris Sandys
9 years ago

That is the scary part. Unless you created the content yourself, and can be absolutely certain it is not an infringement, you are taking a risk with every share. Someone needs to pay, and it not going to be tsu, it is you.

Also, to address an earlier point, Facebook’s daily, gross income is about $14MM, not $250MM.

J.T. Smith
J.T. Smith
9 years ago

I have to disagree to some extent. I’ve already made a few dollars on tsu, and I’ve done it with 0% spam.

Will I Am
Will I Am
9 years ago

Spamlinkremoved – this link works as a passcode to tsu and automatically makes you my friend, i can guide you through the process there, good luck!

Mark Alan Effinger
Mark Alan Effinger
9 years ago

I lean more toward your position than away, Amanda.
In a prior life, I was a fast-growing distributor in an established MLM.

After realizing where the money was REALLY going (and really made: Books, Content, Seminars), I had to exit before I left my integrity in the cat box.

I don’t have an opinion yet, but I’m not likely to spend any time in Tsu. I have yet to have any major conflicts with Facebook or Twitter. And improving the quality, style and reach of my own content drives many of my personal goals: be they to edify and connect with others. Or to (softly) develop my clients and customers.

Great writeup. And I’m jealous that you’ve started and (successfully) grown your own social network. I’m sure it was just a few clicks before you were expanding the garage to accommodate your new BMW i8. Pretty sure that how that story went ().

Bob jones
Bob jones
9 years ago

Good article, people seem to think there is free money without realizing in order to make money someone needs to pay.

notsaying
notsaying
9 years ago

not sure about the rest of what you say whether its accurate or not, however I did join Tsu and just deleted my account. Its easy to do, just go under FAQ and click on the question “How do I delete my account?” and then one more click and entered my password and now my account is completely deleted. no hassles.

The Boss
The Boss
9 years ago

Tsu relies on Google Ads genius, so the total revenue will be much higher than facebook per day. Plus the more quality content you post the more users you’ll get following you and the money goes up up every day 😉

Get Paid 2 Share
Get Paid 2 Share
9 years ago

TSU deleted a user after they figured out how to make $8000. Look them up @getpaid2share

“This account has been banned” is what the message is saying on tsu.co when the person logs in.

THIEVES

Vitor Gonçalves
Vitor Gonçalves
9 years ago

Registered on Tsu 3 days ago:
1st day – $0.00
2nd day – $0.06
3rd day – $0.33

Matthew McMurray
Matthew McMurray
9 years ago

I don’t think it’s a scam. Also, I don’t think they need to publish their earnings since they aren’t a publicly traded company. I also don’t think they need to tell everyone how they will make their money or divulge any other sensitive business information. I think they should tell you what you are signing up for and clear details about what you can expect. I don’t think everyday people will get rich, but they can make something. I have tried it for a week and made day 1 $0.00, day 2 $0.00, day 3 $0.00 day 4 $0.03 day 5 $0.09 day 6 $0.17 day 7 $0.28 I have used it just like facebook. I engaged in 1 spam train and have ignored all the others. Not going to get rich, but better than $0 and I think they will improve as they grow. I think everyone will cut down on spam once they get their legitimate friends to join. It may fail, but I’m not going to cut it down and write it off before it has a chance.

Bobby Lundmark
Bobby Lundmark
9 years ago

Good stuff Amanda! Thanks for sharing a new viewpoint. I do like there idea but the reality is they cannot compete on this model against facebook (which is who they basically copied to build the website). You may get the super active facebook users to transfer over but the people who only want to see their real friends content…they will never go because they will never actually earn any money. I think of people that I work with. They post to facebook 1 or 2 times a week…Have maybe 1-5 likes 1 or 2 comments. Why should they leave facebook for this? There’s no money for those people and thus tsu will never get the users to match up against facebook and the site will never be better than facebooks because the company has no money. Great article!

Omar Habayeb
Omar Habayeb
9 years ago

Amanda, I have had the pleasure of being exposed to your OUTSTANDING content and insight on Empire Avenue http://www.empireavenue.com/EDUPRENEUR?t=ti71bpi Thank you for being a logical and facts based VOICE OF REASON in regards to the latest “money for nothing” type of Ponzi scheme. I can’t even remember the name of the service that was recently touting joining their network and sharing video content or the other service that had you and your network downloading and spreading an app that you would get a % cut of the sales. That’s how quickly that they came into the scene by widespread “invites” and solicitations. As has been said many times on the interwebs…if a product is “free” than YOU are the product. If your success is dependent upon how may of your friends,family members, and associates JOIN and BUY then it might not be the most magical opportunity. Thank you again Amanda for the sobering facts to consider!

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