Manipulating Popularity on Social Networks

So now, why do people buy likes or followers?

People buy likes for popularity and possible sponsorship. The ubiquity nature of the internet is able to maintain the anonymity of people who buy likes or followers. In our judgmental society; more likes and followers denote trends and fame, the concept that most people aim to possess. Especially with marketing firms moving towards using online personalities to sell their products, sponsorship comes easy with a “huge fan-base”.

Imagine an online photo contest: do you think people who buy likes/followers can deliver? It is akin to deceiving a client of your influence and capability.

Is this always bad? When is it acceptable?

Marketing is a powerful tool and a huge number of followers, by instinct, would suggest that the person is interesting or controversial in some sense. I would suggest how buying a legitimate amount of followers to be sustainable for businesses or individuals looking to amplify their voice and influence.

How to spot someone with fake followers?

Even in our flourishing social media platforms, we should maintain the ethics and integrity to make it a better place for all. While it is only fair that one is honest with his/her viewership and fan-base, we as social media users should not be too quick to judge as well. How many of you are actually the passive/inactive users that do not like/retweet your friends or online personalities? There are so many bot users out there with spam follows, we may be judging the wrong person here.

One of our blogger has written on the same subject, you may visit http://benvoda.blogspot.sg/2014/04/you-mean-you-buy-followers.html to read on Benjamin’s vantage point on this issue.

Writer: Leong Chee Sheng