Fake Twitter Followers: 8 Ways to Tell if Someone Has Them

Social networking and micro-blogging platforms have expanded in popularity. These platforms no longer just help people connect with others they are now the new marketing giants. Amid the worldwide pandemic, social media platforms were the only thing that helped people connect with others. Twitter, in particular, played a huge role in delivering important news updates to the world. Influencer marketing is also on the rise, users now prefer purchasing products reviewed by influencers, the modern-day social media celebrities. However, the rapidly rising numbers of fake Twitter followers have become a major problem.

In the past decade, social media users have risen significantly, but so have fake followers. Identifying and blocking fake accounts is now a major concern for every social media platform, including Twitter. Devumi a social media marketing agency was caught operating a stock of over 3.5 million bot accounts. The company sold over 200 million fake followers to users. You could easily buy 5000 followers for a mere $50. Many known figures including Hollywood celebrities were caught in the scandal.

Buying fake followers or paying for any such service is prohibited by Twitter and could get you banned. Twitter keeps updating its algorithm to combat such fraud. Although, this hasn’t stopped users from finding new ways to bypass the algorithm.

In this post, we are going to discuss what are fake followers and how to tell if someone has fake followers.

Fake followers or bots are automated Twitter accounts that are created for the sole purpose of inflating the follower count of users. These accounts don’t provide any engagement or help in increasing the conversion rates. These accounts are not at all interested in the type of content you post or how engaged you are with your followers. To be precise, they are not at all interested in anything you offer, they are just there to increase your follower count.

Although, there are some bots that provide fake engagement too. It makes it a bit difficult to identify such followers, but with the right insights, even a Twitter novice can identify them.

Twitter strictly forbids the use of fake followers, if identified, it could get your Twitter account banned. Fake followers help you create an illusion of popularity and attract more followers. However, if the new genuine followers don’t find engaging content that adds value, they will surely unfollow you. The presence of fake followers if identified can destroy your brand’s reputation. While a major established brand might overcome such situations over time, the same cannot be said for small brands, new businesses, or influencers.

How to tell if someone has dummy followers?

Even if you refrain from buying fake followers to inflate your follower count, there is still a chance that you have some fake followers in your Twitter follower base. Although, it’s not that hard to identify fake followers and block them. But if the fake followers go unnoticed and are allowed to increase, they can tamper with your performance metrics. There is also a chance that it can tarnish your brand’s reputation. It is essential to audit your Twitter profile at regular time-intervals and block fake followers.

Let’s discuss some of the ways you can identify fake followers,

Check Profile Picture

One of the very first things you can look at is your Twitter followers’ profile pictures. Fake Twitter accounts or bots rarely have a profile picture. Look for Twitter accounts with the default profile picture. These accounts are mostly fake followers. Although, there might also be some users that are new to the platform.

These are also fake accounts that have a profile picture. These are usually borrowed from the internet or other social media platforms. Click on the profile image and copy the URL, now search it on Google. If the search result matches the Twitter profile, then it is a genuine follower. But if you get multiple results or social media profiles, block that account as it is fake.

Analyze Twitter Bios

Users on Twitter prefer to mention what they do professionally along with a little about themselves in their Twitter bio. Fake Twitter accounts or automated bot accounts don’t have unique bios. We can leverage this to identify and block fake followers. Look for Twitter followers that don’t have a unique bio describing them or what they do.

No engagement

Fake followers don’t engage with your tweets or add value to your account. Check your Twitter followers’ engagement statistics, the accounts with no engagement are generally fake accounts or bots. Even if they are genuine followers, you are better off without them as they do not offer any engagement.

Twitter handle

The Twitter handle of your followers is another unique element that you can use to identify fake followers. Fake accounts often don’t have matching names and Twitter handles. If you find Twitter accounts with such irregularities, make sure to ban those accounts.

Duplicate Tweets

Bought fake followers are often used to increase engagement statistics. Many fake influencers often buy fake likes and comments. Although, the comments made by these accounts are awfully similar to each post. Look for accounts that post similar and generic comments on a brand or influencer’s profile.

Low follower count

Fake followers often have an uneven follower-following ratio. They have low follower counts but they themselves follow multiple accounts. Look for followers with follower growth statistics.

Inactive users

Inactive users are accounts that haven’t posted a tweet in a really long while. Look for accounts that have been dormant for over a year. These could be fake accounts used before Twitter updated its algorithm. Even if they are real, active users, keeping them in your follower base will do you no good. You are better off removing them from your followers’ list.

Manually checking your Twitter followers and looking for fake accounts is easy when you have a few hundred or thousand followers. But the task becomes more and more demanding as you increase your Twitter follower count over time. But, imagine identifying fake accounts from millions of followers of an established brand or influencer. Sounds terrible, right?

As you steadily grow your Twitter followers, you will need an effective Twitter auditing tool to automate the task of identifying fake followers.

Audit Twitter Followers With FollowerAudit

FollowerAudit is an amazing Twitter auditing and follower tracking tool. It can help you track, analyze, and monitor the Twitter follower growth of any public Twitter account. Perform a Twitter audit to identify and block fake followers or bots. Analyze Twitter followers’ quality, track daily, weekly, and monthly Twitter follower growth, identify unfollowers, and more. Analyze your Twitter followers and access actionable insights that can enhance your Twitter marketing strategy.

Key features of FollowerAudit,

• Perform Twitter Audit.
• Track Twitter follower growth
• Analyze Twitter follower quality
• Track Twitter unfollowers
• Identify influencers
• Identify inactive users, fake accounts, and trolls

The premium plans of FollowerAudit start at $9.99 a month.

Fake Twitter followers are a menace that cannot be totally avoided, but you can take measures to identify and block them quickly as they appear. FollowerAudit is the perfect tool that can help you achieve that. You can automate such tasks and access valuable insights to boost your Twitter strategy with ease. Build an engaging and loyal follower base with the help of comprehensive analytical insights. Give it a try.

Until next time. Adios!