Social Media Scare: Twitter Purges Millions of Fake Followers

If you’re on Twitter, how many followers did you lose so far per the purging of fake accounts? One hundred? One thousand? Ten thousand? More or less?

Regardless, don’t be bitter at Twitter even if a sizeable slice of your followers vanished overnight. Remember, you are not alone. Tens of millions of accounts have been affected, including the most popular platform-wide (see below).

Like many Twitter loyalists, I was displeased that a chunk of my followers disappeared last week. But then I realized it’s all for the greater good of the platform and will benefit the overall user experience. Twitter’s latest move to cleanse itself is actually good news in disguise.

Twitter stated the following in a company blog post on July 11 regarding the changes:

“Follower counts are a visible feature, and we want everyone to have confidence that the numbers are meaningful and accurate.”
“Most people will see a change of four followers or fewer; others with larger follower counts will experience a more significant drop.”
“We understand this may be hard for some, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation.”

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a tweet:

This week we’ll be removing locked Twitter accounts (locked when we detect suspicious changes in behavior) from follower counts across profiles globally. The number of followers displayed on many profiles may go down. #health https://t.co/JGmE4ofoZ2
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

— jack (@jack) July 11, 2018

Although you may feel some short-term pain on a micro level (via the loss of fake followers), you will realize long-term gain on a macro level (fewer trolls and bots, less spam and fake news).

Twitter’s efforts to cleanse the platform are being made with a noble goal in mind: enhancing user trust and transparency, while promoting more civil engagement (or “healthy conversation” in Twitter-speak).

We are committed to building trust and encouraging healthy conversation on Twitter.

Follower counts should be meaningful and accurate. We are removing locked accounts from follower counts.

— Twitter (@Twitter) July 11, 2018

Twitter’s purge of fake accounts is a welcome development in a crowded and boisterous social media space fraught with fraud.

Coming Clean

Twitter’s CFO Ned Segal spoke about the coming changes on the company’s last earnings call. He reportedly said the following:

“The broader health initiatives that is removing spamming and suspicious accounts from Twitter continues to be something that will impact MAU…” (Monthly Active Users)
“We’re always going to do the right thing to make sure that the service is great for those that should be on it.”

On the downside, news reporting on Twitter’s implementation of the so-called “information quality efforts” led to the company’s stock value declining 8% on July 9. That’s the biggest one-day percentage drop in many months.

On the upside, over the past year Twitter shares rose about 146% as the company saw its first-ever profit in early 2018.

The number of Monthly Active Users on Twitter increased by 6 million to 336 million in April compared to the prior quarter.

No Exceptions

Follower counts matter to most Twitter users. The reasoning is based on the conventional wisdom that perception is reality on social media: A high number of followers are associated with more prestige and social media influence for any given user. This is especially true for celebrities, brands, CEOs, media outlets, journalists and politicians, in addition to companies and government at the local, state and national levels.

Twitter estimates that 6% of users will be affected by the move, which amounts to more than 20 million accounts. Yet it’s also possible this figure is a low-ball estimate.

What do you think?

Twitter says there are no exceptions to the new policy of deleting locked accounts. The loss of fake followers has impacted everyone from the President of the United States to the presidents of local chambers of commerce.

According to the Washington Post:

“Singers Katy Perry and Justin Bieber each lost nearly three million followers. They are the two most popular Twitter accounts, with 110 million and 107 million followers respectively before the purge.”
“Television stars Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Kim Kardashian West each lost more than a million followers.”
“Global soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo lost 900,000 followers since July 4, wiping out the bump of a half million followers he gained during the World Cup.”
“Obama lost more than 2 million followers by Friday morning, a little more than 2 percent of the 104 million followers he had at the start of the week.”
“President Trump’s personal account shed more than 200,000 of its 53 million followers.”

Final Thoughts
Some social media users have always had a love-hate relationship with Twitter. However, the platform still holds a special place in popular culture despite competition from its larger rivals, like Facebook and Instagram.

Interestingly, Twitter’s move to purge millions of fake accounts comes as Facebook still faces the wrath of European Union regulators and the U.S. Congress over widespread user privacy breaches — not to mention coverups and misleading statements about the ongoing data debacles.

Great Britain, for instance, just hit Facebook with a big thumbs-down by leveling a $660,000 fine against it over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal (the maximum amount allowed under the country’s Data Protection Act).

And while the hefty fine is only a monetary “drop in the bucket” for Facebook and its embattled CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it’s still an important symbolic measure.

Meanwhile, concern is mounting in the USA over Russian interference in the November midterm elections, which is another reason why Twitter’s timely move is laudable.

In essence, Twitter deserves praise for proactively taking positive steps to foster greater trust, transparency, and civil discourse online — especially at a time when social media needs more trusted content and less fake news by America’s foreign adversaries like Russia.

Twitter has taken this bold action even though it might negatively impact the stock valuation and user growth (the next earnings call is scheduled for the end of July).

On the flip side, other social media monoliths continue to ignore or hide inconvenient truths from users and the public about privacy protections (or lack thereof), data breaches and disinformation campaigns.

Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

LinkedIn has likewise experienced the problem of fake profiles and related scams over the years. Have you ever been affected by fake accounts? If so, do you think LinkedIn has taken appropriate corrective actions? Yes, it’s refreshing to know that Twitter still gives a chirp about making the social media space a safer and better place — at least in the Twitterverse. What’s not to like about that?