by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
We have all seen those ads which offer people the opportunity to "purchase" thousands of Twitter followers for a modest fee. Just a few dollars can fluff up a Twitter base to the point that it makes the user look as though he or she has more political, social, business, or celebrity impact than is actually the case. Apparently what is being sold are fake accounts set up for the sole purpose of making Twitter users appear to be more prominent on the platform than they actually are. They do not represent the accounts of actual people.
And we have also heard the stories about "bots," especially Russian bots, whose primary purpose is to infest the social media platforms with fake accounts and messages to shape content that other users view. The net result is that it becomes harder and harder to trust social media as an honest arbiter of public opinion.
Many of the accounts do not represent real people, and some are even malicious contrivances designed to influence thoughts and actions.
Twitter has just announced that beginning today it is going to start removing fake accounts and "bots" from its platform. I will be interested to see if my 1,543 "followers" diminish in number. I will also be monitoring the account of Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) - 53.4 million "followers" - to see if it takes a noticeable hit.
It's time to begin cleaning up social media, and kudos to Twitter for breaking out its big broom.
Citizen Journalist
We have all seen those ads which offer people the opportunity to "purchase" thousands of Twitter followers for a modest fee. Just a few dollars can fluff up a Twitter base to the point that it makes the user look as though he or she has more political, social, business, or celebrity impact than is actually the case. Apparently what is being sold are fake accounts set up for the sole purpose of making Twitter users appear to be more prominent on the platform than they actually are. They do not represent the accounts of actual people.
And we have also heard the stories about "bots," especially Russian bots, whose primary purpose is to infest the social media platforms with fake accounts and messages to shape content that other users view. The net result is that it becomes harder and harder to trust social media as an honest arbiter of public opinion.
Many of the accounts do not represent real people, and some are even malicious contrivances designed to influence thoughts and actions.
Twitter has just announced that beginning today it is going to start removing fake accounts and "bots" from its platform. I will be interested to see if my 1,543 "followers" diminish in number. I will also be monitoring the account of Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) - 53.4 million "followers" - to see if it takes a noticeable hit.
It's time to begin cleaning up social media, and kudos to Twitter for breaking out its big broom.
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