How to spot fake Instagram and Twitter followers

Fake it until you make it, or so the saying goes. But buying fake Instagram and Twitter followers is cheating, and you will eventually get noticed for it.

During the last New Zealand Fashion Week, I did some research on some of the so-called fashion bloggers. Most had a staggering number of fake followers on Instagram and Twitter. Fake fashion bloggers criticize me more than most. It could be because they lack real style or the fact that they arrogantly jump around at these industry events, taking selfies and posting to their tens of thousands of fake followers. They’re not adding any real value if they don’t have real influence.

Fake Instagram and Twitter followers, by my definition, are fake or dead accounts, and also real accounts of users in countries that have no profile influencer value. Both types of followers are easy to buy.

It is useless to have tens of thousands of followers if they do not make sense. The value of someone’s social reach should be measured by their engagement, not the total number of followers they have. Quality not quantity!

DETECT FAKE FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER

See how engaged the user’s followers are. Are your followers commenting and liking your posts? Are their followers part of the cohort you are targeting?

There are a few ways to tell if someone has fake followers.

A SUDDEN INCREASE IN FOLLOWERS

Unless you’re Lorde and have shot to stardom in a very short time, an unusual increase in followers can only be the result of a buying spree.

LOW INTERACTION WITH FOLLOWERS

I have seen Instagram accounts with over forty thousand followers, but each of their posts only get around 100 likes. The low engagement rate shows that their influence on their followers is very low, and most likely they have paid for most of their followers.

FOLLOWERS WITHOUT PROFILE PHOTOS

Another clear indication is the followers without activity in the account or profile picture. These accounts are ‘dead accounts’.

CHECKING FOR FAKE FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER

More and more tools are coming out that help you see through fakes. Here are some that I have found:

https://fakers.statuspeople.com/

http://twittercounter.com/

Don’t be tempted to buy followers. They do not bring you any value and they will catch you!

Fake followers are easy to buy and very difficult to remove.

Increasing your social reach should be part of your marketing strategy. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss how to increase your social reach in a meaningful way.