Yes, I agree with that. I just found it odd that people jumped to defend the guy that clearly was doing something pretty unsavory, especially when the line of defense was "well it works for him" - spam and dark patterns also work, otherwise people wouldn't use them.
whats unsavory about sending messages from a popular profile and people finding that attention intriguing and less likely to ignore?
not "earning" the popularity the way anyone imagined? every form of valuable popularity requires capital and external help. it has the same affect with the populous. sycophants with romantic interest are predictable.