Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t require that its users use
their real name or limit them to a single account each. As a result,
individuals find it relatively easy to manipulate fake Twitter accounts for the
purpose of creating additional influence. These Twitter accounts are simulated
to post tweets, re-tweet, and follow or un-follow users, making them
exceedingly hard for the messaging service to detect. The result of this
manipulation is a business, in which celebrities and other users seeking influence
will pay to have fake accounts follow them or disperse their content. Users
with larger followings are considered more influential, and are attractive to
firms seeking to digitally advertise across the Twitter platform.
As Twitter recently went public, these concerns are
mounting. Many users receive news or important information via the service, and
if it becomes clear that the integrity of the service is significantly
undermined, it could have repercussions for the young company. Twitter has
since acknowledged that fake accounts are a problem and it is working on
various initiatives to both identify current fake Twitter accounts and prevent
users from creating them in the future. Twitter has publicly stated that it
believes fake accounts represent less than 5% of all users, but many industry
experts question this number.
Social media represents an increasingly large channel for
digital advertising dollars, but this type of issue may slow or inhibit these
dollars from flowing through to Twitter. While social media is certainly
valuable—and offers considerable benefits over other forms of digital
advertising—the risk that the data may be incorrect or easily manipulated
should cause marketers to pause and reflect.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304607104579212122084821400?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
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