How I Got 39K #Twitter Followers This Week!

Yes, this is a misleading headline, but one which I wanted to post in order to call attention to a real problem with Twitter and so many other social media channels. They can almost all be gamed. Followers, viewers, and connections can be bought at a very low cost to inflate the numbers which people display on their respective channels.

What prompted me to write this post this evening was as a result of my reviewing Twitter Tweets as I do almost daily and looking at articles of interest. During this review, I came across a profile of someone who I had never heard of on Twitter yet they had a huge follower count. As one with a following on Twitter of over 300,000 people that have followed me mostly because of years of hard work in posting relevant content over many years, I am always looking for others of like mind that I can follow. I generally know who's who in the marketing, social media, and sales circles. That is what called my attention today to this person who has 300,000+ followers, is now recognized as an influencer, and yet I had never heard of him.

In reviewing this individual's profile, Tweets, and number of followers, I was simply amazed that this person had displayed on their profile that they had added 39K followers last week on Twitter. I conducted a further review of this person's Tweets and noticed that very few had high RT counts or anything that could explain such a huge increase. In addition, I looked at the history over the past month and the numbers had increased from 192,000 to 300,000+. I "peeled back the onion" and looked at the followers. Sure enough, most were obviously bought, as they had limited profiles, very few Tweets, and were following a large number of people, but had very few followers.There were a few legitimate ones in the followers list, so not all were bought. (Note: I know I have some "fake" followers and need to clean them out when time allows, but I have never purchased any.)

There's obviously something wrong with this picture. Unless this person is the new Beyonce or some other celebrity, this simply doesn't happen. Furthermore, even in the case of celebrities the growth in these numbers is very seldom possible.

As we start this new year, can't we all play by the rules and stop gaming the system? Earn your trust, credibility, and recognition thru hard work or in service to others. Don't use fake followers to accelerate your positioning in social media, so that you can become an overnight influencer. Don't stuff your LinkedIn profile with a mile long list of positions for the same job and load each one with keywords to skew your standing among your peers. This has been ongoing for a number of years on Linkedin and is one of my pet peeves that I've written about multiple times.

Finally, remember that we're all watching. What you do today to game the system will always be part of your DNA and not help to enhance your brand. We know who you are and we'll remember you for your actions .So clean up your act and be ethical and genuine. Don't become a brand similar to the fake followers that you're buying for short-term gain!