How many followers do you have? 10s, 100s, 1000s, more? When you first start out on social media, building a following can be slow. And for that reason many people are now opting to buy their friends. But apart from being a bit sneaky, are there any other disadvantages of buying Twitter followers? We’ll discuss that here.
How Do You Buy Followers?
The most common way of buying followers is through a method called ‘zombie account following’. This is where you enlist the services of a 3rd party company, who have a database of ‘zombie’ accounts. They will then follow your Twitter page from these accounts. These are usually inactive users or fake accounts, made solely for this purpose.
The Pros
You’ll be one of the popular kids
The more friends you have the more popular you will appear. Whether they are true followers doesn’t matter, it’s the figure that counts – isn’t it?
And a high number of followers will make you look and feel important. High numbers dictate worth – you must be worth a follow if 1,500 people already do.
It’s quick and easy
Results don’t happen overnight if you do things the right way. But if you are looking for a quick win, then this may be the answer. There are numerous sites out there that promise 1,000s of followers for only £5, which is sure to get the savviest of bargain hunters interested. Just don’t expect any of the 1,000 to interact with your account.
The Cons
Eww! Spam!
Nobody likes ‘spam’ as a food and it is especially disliked in our inboxes. If you decide to purchase Twitter followers you could end up seriously p***ing off your ‘real’ followers.
Most of these zombie services will insist on access to your account, and while they are in there they will send out many messages to advertise their dubious methods. This is something you as the account holder have little or no control over.
Receiving the same tweets and direct messages not only is annoying but it can really…
Give you a bad rep
Do you pride yourself on your business’ great reputation and strong relationships with your customers? Well, that integrity may become tarnished quite quickly if you decide to use this technique.
Buying followers is like cheating in a race, by cutting out the hill climb, and jumping over the fence onto the home straight and the finish line. It is generally seen as immoral. And if you can’t put the time and effort into your own business, can your customers really expect you to give it to them?
You’ll get found out
It’s easy to think “oh we’ll never get found out”, but you’d be surprised how many people do. Apart from the key giveaways, such as huge increases in a small amount of time, and the relentless advertising, there are now online tools which will scan for fake profiles.
A simple Google search for ‘find fake followers’, will result in a myriad of checkers, who will pull the results for any Twitter handle.
It’s nothing but a number
Would you rather 10 real friends or 100 associates? The same question can be applied to your Twitter account. As we previously mentioned, these bought followers won’t interact with you. It can be lonely at the top!
It won’t give you a Klout!
Do you know what your Klout score is? Well, as outlined in, our essential guide to social media terminology, Klout measures your social influence. The higher this is, the better.
And bought followers should help you, fake it until you make it. Whether real or fake, all followers are counted towards your overall score – aren’t they? Well… no.
Having thousands of followers may make you appear to be influential, but Klout looks at your interaction to formulate your score. So if you don’t have any retweets, replies or favourites you are unlikely to make it, even to double figures.
Danger! Danger!
Finally, before handing over your details (and your money), stop and think ‘is this safe?’ Some (not all) of these companies are phishing schemes, which are looking to take advantage of unsuspecting businesses and their followers. Is it really worth the risk?
So will you be buying Twitter followers any time soon? Here at Liberty we believe in expanding your following the good old fashioned way – with engagement and interaction!
