Ghost followers

Ghost followers, also referred to as ghosts and ghost accounts or lurkers, are users on social media platforms who remain inactive or do not engage in activity. They register on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. These users follow active members, but do not partake in liking, commenting, messaging and posting. These accounts may be created by people or by bots.

Scamming

Many ghost followers are scammers who create fictional profiles and use them to target and scam others.[1]

Buying Followers

Commercial services provide the ability to "buy followers", most of which are ghosts. These individuals are paid to follow accounts but are not required to engage with them. This allows those seeking publicity to quickly increase their number of followers and appear to be popular, or "trending". For example, SocialVEVO was able to increase the number of Daily Dot's Twitter followers from 48,000 followers to 122,000 in only four days.[2] This faux-popularity may still attract "volunteer" users. However, this technique may backfire if its use becomes known. According to Olivier Blanchard, unless the objective is just to appear popular, purchased ghosts do not help meet business objectives,[3] other than possibly a form of brand marketing.[4]

Rantic (formerly SocialVEVO or Swenzy) is perhaps the most widely-publicized seller of these ghost followers.[5] According to a NYTimes report, Rantic states that companies, celebrities, actors even politicians are said to have purchased ghost followers from them.[6] These ghost followers are being purchased for both Instagram and Twitter users from all over the world.[7]

Removal

As of 2014 removing a ghost requires accessing the account and explicitly blocking it. Ghosts can be avoided by marking an account as private, requiring would-be followers to request permission. Some services have apps that can identify ghosts.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Social Networking Scams" N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hoaxsters Bought Us 75,000 Fake Followers in a New Kind of Twitter Attack." The Daily Dot. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Blanchard, Olivier (22 February 2011). Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-13-267802-5.
  4. ↑ Marwick, Alice E. (28 November 2014). "4". Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-20938-9.
  5. ↑ "Friends, and Influence, for Sale Online" The New York Times Web. 20 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Instagram could delete up to 10 million accounts" International Business Times Web. 11 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rantic: How your followers would look if you buy USA Twitter followers" Rantic.com Web. 30 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Social Solutions Collective. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2014. "Exorcising Those Scary Instagram Ghost Followers!"