Media News - Monday, August 27, 2012
UK firm develops software to unmask fake Twitter accounts
Lady Gaga has almost 30 million, Wayne Rooney nearly five million and
David Cameron a more-than-respectable two million plus. But how many of
their Twitter followers actually exist? A British start-up company has pledged to root out and expose the
phantom, fake and fraudulent followers being used to massage the numbers
claimed by celebrities, politicians and the merely insecure within the
Twittersphere. The company, Status People has devised a software tool that divides
followers into the fake, the inactive and the good. Company executive
Rob Waller said it had been decided to create the "fake follower" tool
after reports that former Tory MP Louise Mensch had 40,000 fake
followers. The fake follower tool aims to expose the true extent of the
problem of phantom Twitter followers. Almost every Twitter account has a small percentage of fake followers
because, unlike Facebook, anyone can follow you – from a genuine friend
to a computer-generated account set up to promote pornography. That
freedom has created a market for the sale of Twitter followers. Scores
of internet sites offer thousands of Twitter followers for small sums of
money. According to the New York Times, it would be possible to buy
220,000 followers for GBP 260.
(The Guardian)
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