73:
Commercial services provide the ability to buy
Instagram 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
90:'s Twitter followers from 48,000 followers to 122,000 in only four days. This faux-popularity may still attract "volunteer" users. However, this technique may backfire if its use becomes known. According to
103:
in 2014 featured an interview with an anonymous provider of ghost followers, who claimed that he had sold fake followers to celebrities and politicians. Another article in the
94:, unless the objective is just to appear popular, purchased ghosts do not help meet business objectives, other than possibly a form of brand marketing.
387:
364:
200:
297:
126:
reported in 2014 that Rantic was selling fake, bot generated followers and likes, in a manner violating
Instagram's terms of service.
352:
280:
243:
215:
323:
340:
392:
382:
196:
129:
At the time, the practice of selling ghost followers was a multimillion-dollar online business.
38:
platforms who remain inactive or do not engage in activity. They register on platforms such as
163:
8:
178:
153:
118:
has been identified as a provider of ghost followers, generating
Instagram accounts via
158:
99:
276:
249:
239:
235:
138:
91:
143:
231:
Social Media ROI: Managing and
Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization
268:
229:
204:
376:
253:
216:"Hoaxsters Bought Us 75,000 Fake Followers in a New Kind of Twitter Attack."
78:
to quickly increase their number of followers and appear to be popular, or "
107:, from January 2018, discussed the economics of selling ghost followers on
67:
66:
Many ghost followers are accounts created by scammers who create fictional
35:
273:
Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and
Branding in the Social Media Age
173:
47:
86:(formerly "SocialVEVO" and "Swenzy") was able to increase the number of
168:
148:
119:
55:
87:
75:
43:
108:
51:
39:
115:
83:
54:, and posting. These accounts may be created by people or by
365:"Fake Twitter Followers Become Multimillion-Dollar Business"
46:. These users follow active members, but do not partake in
79:
355:
International
Business Times Web. 11 December 2014.
16:
Users on social media platforms who remain inactive
353:"Instagram could delete up to 10 million accounts"
374:
221:
218:The Daily Dot. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2014.
321:
260:
341:"Friends, and Influence, for Sale Online"
298:"Friends, and Influence, for Sale Online"
227:
228:Blanchard, Olivier (February 22, 2011).
70:and use them to target and scam others.
267:Marwick, Alice E. (November 28, 2014).
266:
61:
375:
343:The New York Times Web. 20 April 2014.
295:
388:Internet manipulation and propaganda
13:
367:New York Times Web. 05 April 2013.
14:
404:
296:Bilton, Nick (April 20, 2014).
358:
346:
334:
315:
289:
209:
199:N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2014.
190:
1:
322:Confessore, Nicholas (2018).
184:
124:International Business Times
7:
132:
10:
409:
275:. Yale University Press.
197:"Social Networking Scams"
114:The social media company
324:"The Follower Factory"
203:April 2, 2014, at the
22:, also referred to as
393:Social media accounts
164:Rental family service
111:and other platforms.
62:Ghost follower scams
179:Sock puppet account
154:Ghosting (behavior)
328:The New York Times
159:Influence-for-hire
97:An article in the
383:Confidence tricks
282:978-0-300-20938-9
245:978-0-13-267802-5
236:Pearson Education
139:Asymmetric follow
92:Olivier Blanchard
400:
368:
362:
356:
350:
344:
338:
332:
331:
319:
313:
312:
310:
308:
293:
287:
286:
264:
258:
257:
225:
219:
213:
207:
194:
144:Crowds on Demand
82:". For example,
408:
407:
403:
402:
401:
399:
398:
397:
373:
372:
371:
363:
359:
351:
347:
339:
335:
320:
316:
306:
304:
294:
290:
283:
265:
261:
246:
226:
222:
214:
210:
205:Wayback Machine
195:
191:
187:
135:
64:
34:, are users on
20:Ghost followers
17:
12:
11:
5:
406:
396:
395:
390:
385:
370:
369:
357:
345:
333:
314:
288:
281:
259:
244:
220:
208:
188:
186:
183:
182:
181:
176:
171:
166:
161:
156:
151:
146:
141:
134:
131:
100:New York Times
63:
60:
50:, commenting,
28:ghost accounts
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
405:
394:
391:
389:
386:
384:
381:
380:
378:
366:
361:
354:
349:
342:
337:
329:
325:
318:
303:
299:
292:
284:
278:
274:
270:
263:
255:
251:
247:
241:
237:
233:
232:
224:
217:
212:
206:
202:
198:
193:
189:
180:
177:
175:
172:
170:
167:
165:
162:
160:
157:
155:
152:
150:
147:
145:
142:
140:
137:
136:
130:
127:
125:
121:
117:
112:
110:
106:
102:
101:
95:
93:
89:
85:
81:
77:
71:
69:
59:
57:
53:
49:
45:
41:
37:
33:
29:
25:
21:
360:
348:
336:
327:
317:
305:. Retrieved
301:
291:
272:
262:
230:
223:
211:
192:
128:
123:
113:
104:
98:
96:
72:
65:
36:social media
31:
27:
23:
19:
18:
174:Social spam
56:social bots
377:Categories
185:References
169:Social bot
149:Egosurfing
307:April 19,
302:Bits Blog
254:740435584
88:Daily Dot
76:publicity
52:messaging
44:Instagram
201:Archived
133:See also
80:trending
68:profiles
109:Twitter
40:Twitter
32:lurkers
279:
252:
242:
122:. The
116:Rantic
84:Rantic
48:liking
24:ghosts
309:2023
277:ISBN
250:OCLC
240:ISBN
120:bots
42:and
26:and
269:"4"
105:NYT
30:or
379::
326:.
300:.
271:.
248:.
238:.
234:.
58:.
330:.
311:.
285:.
256:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.