Fake followers are influencing you

Fake followers matter in the attention economy. There is fake news, fake products and fake "influencers". If you have fake influencers it is logical to believe that they have fake followers.

Fake Followers

If you have ever wondered how someone unimpressive in the real world could be such a superstar in the virtual world... you are right. They have just bought their influence. You may have received offers on mail to “buy” followers on Facebook (there are 60 million fake accounts to choose from). 48m Twitter accounts are automated. If you spent money then you could get 60 million followers overnight on Facebook - yes, that is the size of the market. And you would be in good company because a lot of "influencers" have done just that.

Good company of bad people

Governments, criminals, entrepreneurs, movie stars, singers and even the President of Ecuador are guilty of buying fake followers on social media accounts (YouTube, SoundCloud, Instagram etc). If you are a musician, your musical track could notch up millions of likes on Sound Cloud or get you a roaring set of followers on YouTube. And as a YouTube star you could earn a living. Because the difference between a million views and ten million views is a lot of money that you could make. That is what is driving people to buy followers.For some it is just an ego trip. Some leaders in organizations instruct their team members to like and comment on all the content that they post. Those who post and like every message are rewarded with better increments and rewards. That makes it a win-win arrangement. Who is the loser in this game? You. If you start following these fake stars.The Influence Economy rewards people with high follower counts. Paid tweets, endorsements etc are all revenue generators for people who can show they have a huge following. But make sure you are not paying for it with your time and attention.How does this work? The New York Times investigated http://nyti.ms/2DI4yE4