Fake Followers: Are They Helpful or Harmful?

When I began doing the social media for one of my clients, I was impressed by how many "likes" they had on Facebook. In fact, I thought they wouldn't need my help at all when it came to maintaining a Facebook page.So, you can imagine my shock and dismay when I discovered that these "likes" had been purchased and weren't actual Facebook fans at all.

Fake "likes" on Facebook and fake "follows" on Twitter are a hot topic in the social media world. For a couple hundred dollars, organizations can inflate their followers and skip the hassle of convincing the Average Joe to actually want to follow them on social media sites. The ultimate question is: do brands benefit from buying followers?

Here's my stance on this:

First and foremost, I believe it is immoral to fool social media users into thinking you have a larger following than you actually do. It is deceiving, and if you are ever discovered (Facebook especially has become more savvy with detecting purchased "likes") it could very well ruin your reputation on social media forever.

Beyond the obvious moral dilemma I have with purchasing a social media following, I think it's important to remember what social media is intended to do for a brand. Social media is a gateway to your audience/customers/fans. It should be used as a way to communicate with people who are interested in your brand and who actually care what you have to say. If your followers are not genuine customers of your brand, what's the point of posting quality content?

When it comes to purchasing a social media following, I will offer any brands the same advice I offered my client: If you haven't purchased fans yet, don't. If you've already purchased them, delete the fake ones and eat the cost. It's more important to create a passionate, loyal following of real-life brand ambassadors than it is to increase a number. Take the time to target your audience and reach out to them-- it will pay off in the end!