internet - Looking for Mr. fifty cents

The question whether the Chinese government is more or less effective in controlling the internet keeps the opinions very much divided. Some methods can certainly been written off as not effective. A few years ago different Chinese government departments started to hire so-called internet commentators. All day long they surf the internet and try to explain government policies, often on a local level, in a positive way.
But just like the US bloggers did not buy the effort by Edelman and Wal-Mart to set up a fake-blog, Chinese internet users do not buy the covered governmental participation in their conversations. "On the internet we call them MR. Fifty Cents," told an avid internet user today over dinner. "The urban myth says that they get a bonus of fifty cents (USD 0.04) for every comment they write."
Finding those fifty cents has become a game on the Chinese internet, but not a very difficult one, says my internet friend. "These people are not being hired because they are smart."