Fake Twitter accounts have been a problem for Twitter for years. Most Twitter users have at least one fake account following them due to companies setting up fake accounts to boost profile numbers. They don’t do any harm per say however there is a service that allows you to see how many fake followers a Twitter account has.
Developed by the Twitter service Status People, Fake Follower Check will show the percentage of followers that are fake.
After authorising the app to connect to your Twitter account the service will review all of your followers. I was informed that 1% of my followers are fake, 9% are inactive and 90% are good.
I checked a few accounts and this seems to be about normal. For example, @Copyblogger had 2% fake, 12% inactive and 86% good. Many Twitter users with huge followings have more inactive accounts following them. Perhaps bots target them more because of their popularity however in most cases the number of fake accounts suggests that a social media company has been involved at some point to inflate numbers.
- @LadyGaga has 27% fake, 41% inactive and 32% good
- @BarackObama has 34% fake, 35% inactive and 31% good
- @aplusk (Ashton Kutcher) has 25% fake, 44% inactive and 31% good
- @JustinBieber had 23% fake, 34% inactive and 43% good
What percentage of good Twitter followers do you have?
Kevin
Link: Fake Follower Check
* I recommend checking out The Art Of Following for my thoughts on the best following policies for Twitter.
