Huayu 2002, I'm going to dominate the music scene!

Seeing their expressions, Song Mo stopped trying to motivate them.

Although he spoke very nicely, he didn't actually tell the two the whole truth.

After all, the caller ID ringback tone service will only be available for trial operation in May next year, and it will probably have to wait until the end of the year to be rolled out nationwide.

The peak of ringtone popularity in the previous life only began in 2004.

But no matter what, Song Mo is determined to get to eat the first bite of Cai Ling's cake next May.

In 2002, the term "internet trolls" had not yet appeared. It wasn't until 2005, when German and Japanese cars were fiercely competing in the Chinese market, that the term emerged.

In a battle for the narrative, the two public relations firms began hiring a large number of part-time staff to post on vertical forums such as Autohome and Xcar, as well as general forums on Sina and Sohu.

Thus, the term "internet army" officially came into being.

However, the absence of online trolls does not mean the absence of spamming. It's just that current spamming is not systematic and is very primitive and rudimentary, mainly relying on manual labor and individual enthusiasm.

Especially the so-called brotherhood.

In the early 2000s, the Internet brought together people from all over the world. Everyone was influenced by martial arts novels, and as long as you got along well, you were all brothers. Therefore, loyalty was always on everyone's lips.

Many early online songs actually became popular through recommendations from users on music-related forums.

Song Mo's current systematic approach has advanced the use of online trolls by several years.

It's said that being half a step ahead is genius, while being a full step ahead is madness. He himself wasn't sure whether his actions were those of a genius or a madman.

But he felt it was worth a try; 100,000 yuan was nothing.

Anming leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the edge of the table for a while without saying a word.

Having lived abroad, he naturally had a broader perspective. In his eyes, Song Mozhen was a damn genius.

To be honest, before Song Mo said these things, he had never thought that he could use this method to promote himself.

In his mind, promoting a singer involves going to the radio station, appearing on TV, issuing press releases, and at most, holding an autograph session.

The internet? Isn't that just a place for young people to chat and post nonsense?

But now, after listening to Song Mo's whole explanation, he suddenly felt as if he had been enlightened.

This approach isn't just applicable to promoting online songs.

Could Song Mo take this approach when releasing albums in the future?

Of course, back then we couldn't be as shameless as we are now.

He was silent for a moment before speaking, "I think what you said is definitely worth a try. Leave the rest of the ringtones to me, I'll do it the way you said. You can focus on your album from now on."

Song Mo nodded: "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"What's so hard about it?" Anming waved his hand.

He paused, then suddenly asked, "But what exactly do you mean by writing those posts? And how are those alternate accounts allocated? There needs to be some kind of set of rules, right?"

Song Mo thought for a moment and said, "Here's what we'll do: you all go back first and think about it yourselves. We'll meet tomorrow to refine the specific plan. For example, we need to figure out which the topics for the posts will be, how many people will be assigned to each forum, and how to manage the multiple accounts. We need to think about all of these things in advance."

An Ming nodded: "Okay, I'll go back and think about it carefully."

Luo Hongming sat to the side without saying a word.

He still had a slightly dazed expression on his face, as if he was processing all the information he had just received.

Hearing Song Mo say that the plan needed to be refined, he snapped out of his daze and scratched his head: "Brother Song, then... should I go back and find my classmate?"

"Hmm." Song Mo looked at him. "We don't need too many people. About 10 will be enough in the early stages, and we can increase it to 50 later. The most important thing is that the people we find are discreet and reliable. In the end, I'll say it again: I'll give each person 50 per day, and I don't care about anything else."

Luo Hongming nodded vigorously: "I understand."

The three of them left the internet cafe, and Song Mo immediately went to the bank to transfer 100,000 yuan to An Ming.

An Ming hadn't expected Song Mo to be so decisive.

Song Mo said, "Internet access cards and paying students' salaries, which of these doesn't cost money? We can't expect you to put in the effort and pay for everything at the same time."

An Ming nodded in agreement: "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

The three parted ways at the intersection.

In September, the evening breeze in Yanjing is a bit cool, and it feels very comfortable on your face.

As An Ming walked home, Song Mo's words were still replaying in his mind.

Spread through forums, posts, alternate accounts, controversial titles, and QQ groups.

These things sound simple, but to actually implement them, they really need to be planned carefully.

He took out his phone and called Li Shuci: "Shuci, do you have any friends who work in internet communications? I have something I'd like to ask them."

On the other end of the phone, Li Shuci asked, "What's wrong?"

He smiled and said, "It's not a bad thing. I just want to learn how to use forums. Yes, can you ask around for me?"

After hanging up the phone, he pondered for a while and suddenly found the matter quite interesting.

I used to think that agents were just errand runners, networking, and drinking parties.

I've discovered that there's actually another way to play this game.

When Luo Hongming returned to school, it was almost dark.

He sat on his dormitory bed, staring blankly at the upper bunk.

His roommate asked him to go play cards, but he shook his head and said no.

His roommate asked him again if he had eaten, and he realized that he hadn't had dinner yet.

He went to the cafeteria, got a meal, sat in a corner, and ate while thinking.

He didn't actually understand everything Song Mo said.

What BBS, what alternate accounts, what controversial titles?

He usually just browses the internet to read news, chat, and make Flash animations; he never imagined that these things could be used for such a big project.

But he instinctively believed Song Mo's words. He had come to Yanjing from a small city and longed for everything here. He wanted to stay.

Now, Song Mo has given him a future he can't refuse.

But he wanted to give it a try.

After finishing his meal and returning to his dorm, he opened his phone book and started calling a few close classmates.

"Hey, Qiangzi, have you been busy lately? There's a job for fifty a day, just posting things online... yeah, just posting, it's very simple, I'll teach you... Okay, count me in."

"Hey Liu, wanna do a part-time job? Fifty a day... yeah, it's just posting online... Okay, I'll get in touch with you later."

He made five or six calls in a row, and they all agreed with great enthusiasm.

Fifty yuan a day is considered a pretty good part-time job these days.

His father couldn't earn that much even after a day's work back home.

After making the call, he wrote down everyone's name in his notebook and thought about what Song Mo had said: reliable and tight-lipped.

He mentally reviewed the people he had just contacted and figured there shouldn't be any problems.

The next morning, An Ming called Song Mo and asked him to come over.

Song Mo took a taxi and arrived at An Ming's house. An Ming and Liu Yifei were sitting in the yard. Several sheets of paper were spread out on the table in front of them, covered with writing.

When Liu Yifei saw Song Mo, she glared at him irritably.

After his brother came back yesterday, he seemed to be possessed. First, he made a lot of phone calls, and then he started writing and drawing here.

They're still playing those incredibly corny, catchy, and addictive songs.

She only found out after asking that it was related to that scoundrel Song Mo again.