If you’re still wondering how Trump managed to become President of the United States, social media juggernauts Facebook and Twitter might be able to shed some light. According to Facebook, Russian spam bots created some 80,000 pieces of content during the Presidential election, which may have been viewed by a total of 126 million people. Additionally, there are claims indicating that this content may have seriously influenced American opinions during the election.
Fake news sucks, and this recent scandal has proven that social media bots can potentially have real influence and cause serious problems. If your website or social traffic is coming from bots and fake accounts, you will certainly see a rise in numbers, but without the engagement, conversion or credibility. This influence from bots can be bad for business as they can disrupt your analytics—making it difficult to get a clear picture of how your brand is being received—and slow down the load times of your pages for actual paying customers.
It’s worth your time (and money) to figure out whether or not your followers are fake, because bot traffic sucks. So, how can you identify those fake accounts, and what can you do to get rid of them?
1. The Accounts Following You Were Recently Created
There is a new social media user every 15 seconds. But if you have a ton of followers that have just opened accounts within the last few weeks or months, it’s a red flag. They may be fake accounts created to wreak havoc, or the secondary and anonymous account of a sketchy user looking to cause mayhem. While this isn’t a surefire way to spot a fake, it’s one indicator you should keep an eye on.
2. You Get a Sudden Influx for No Reason
While we all dream of waking up to 1,000 new followers, in reality this could be a sign of something gone horribly wrong. If you get a follower bump for no apparent reason (no promotional work, no features in the news or online, no influencer sponsorships) then those followers may be bots. Pay attention to who is flocking your way and why.
3. The Messages Don’t Make Sense or are Repetitive
Bots say certain things when triggered by keywords, posts or mentions. If a message doesn’t make sense, uses excessive hashtags or sounds spammy, it might be from a fake account. Sometimes other users will call out fake-seeming accounts as bots, so pay attention to replies following the suspicious messages. Similarly, if their retweets and likes all include a particular set of words, they are probably designed to auto-interact with posts.
4. They Failed Botometer Scrutiny
Fake followers are everywhere and that can affect your credibility as a brand. Keep an eye out for dubious engagement rates, follower buying services and “follower chains” (accounts that follow one another to falsely boost their own numbers). You can also use sites like Botometer to survey the validity of an influencer or account’s follower numbers.
5. They are Missing Personalized Information
Does the suspicious account feature no profile picture? No real name? No location? No friends or family followers? If that seems odd, it should. While some users like their privacy, an account showing nothing to mark them as a real human is a warning sign. A fake audience sucks, so make sure that there are real consumers, readers and followers behind each of the accounts you’re interacting with.
How to Get Rid of Fake Followers and Attract Real Ones
If you’ve read through the list above and found one or all apply to your brand’s account, don’t despair! There are ways to fight back against bots to ensure your traffic is accurate and appealing to potential followers.
- Report suspicious accounts as fake
- Encourage your followers to report spam or abuse
- Block and/or mute the bot accounts
- Post quality over quantity to attract real users
- Avoid hashtag and keyword stuffing
- Do manual checks for suspicious followers
- Check your accounts on Twitter Audit
The Takeaway
Nobody wants skyrocketing followers if it means spam and no conversation. The presence of fake followers or ghost accounts may even discourage real users from following you. Make sure you understand how to check for bots and what to do if they are haunting your content. After all, real users are where valuable engagement comes from.
If you’re worried about fake followers, use FacebookSpam.Sucks to fight back. Don’t let ghosts, bots and trolls rule the internet.
Photo Credits: Shutterstock / CrispyPork, Shutterstock / Milan Ilic Photographer, Shutterstock / Silatip, Shutterstock / Jacob Lund
