Deadly serious. By the end of communism, they had over a million informants. You had to make the assumption that everyone you talked to and every old lady on a park bench was an informant.

Funny story, I know someone who was recruited to inform on her colleagues at work, but after the third time in a row she told them everything is wonderful, everyone is happy and productive, she was promptly fired (as an informant, not from the factory).