Celebrities and social media influencers are watching their Twitter followers dwindle by the millions after it was revealed that many are guilty of paying for fake accounts to follow them.
Singer Clay Aiken, Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, reality TV star Lisa Rinna, British rowing Olympic champion James Cracknell, as well as actor John Leguziamo were all revealed to have purchased fake followers.
Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood even went so far as to delete his Twitter account in shame after it was discovered that he bought roughly 600,000 of his Twitter followers.
The jaw-dropping revelations were made public as part of a New York Times investigation into the social media black market.
The celebrities are among the 200,000 customers who have signed up for services from a shadowy American company called Devumi, which sells Twitter followers and retweets to models, actors, athletes and businesses, among other people.
In total, Devumi has sold roughly 200 million Twitter followers to more than 39,000 customers, according to the Times. The firm often creates bot accounts using real names, photos and other personal information from real people.
Information from Twitter users in every state had been used to build bots sold by Devumi and other companies like it, the Times said.
Lane-Fox, who is also a Twitter board member, bought at least 65,000 followers. But just 24 hours after Devumi's business practices were revealed, Lane-Fox lost about 46,000 followers.
Lane-Fox has blamed a 'rogue employee' for purchasing followers on at least seven occasions. Officials are looking into fake followers on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and other platforms, the Times noted.
Twitter said in a tweet last week that fake followers violate the company's terms of service, adding that the tactics are 'unacceptable to us.' As evidenced by celebrities' dwindling follower accounts, the firm is also beefing up its bot detection personnel.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...Twitter-rids-fake-accounts.html#ixzz55wA2ojiB
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Singer Clay Aiken, Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, reality TV star Lisa Rinna, British rowing Olympic champion James Cracknell, as well as actor John Leguziamo were all revealed to have purchased fake followers.
Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood even went so far as to delete his Twitter account in shame after it was discovered that he bought roughly 600,000 of his Twitter followers.
The jaw-dropping revelations were made public as part of a New York Times investigation into the social media black market.
The celebrities are among the 200,000 customers who have signed up for services from a shadowy American company called Devumi, which sells Twitter followers and retweets to models, actors, athletes and businesses, among other people.
In total, Devumi has sold roughly 200 million Twitter followers to more than 39,000 customers, according to the Times. The firm often creates bot accounts using real names, photos and other personal information from real people.
Information from Twitter users in every state had been used to build bots sold by Devumi and other companies like it, the Times said.
Lane-Fox, who is also a Twitter board member, bought at least 65,000 followers. But just 24 hours after Devumi's business practices were revealed, Lane-Fox lost about 46,000 followers.
Lane-Fox has blamed a 'rogue employee' for purchasing followers on at least seven occasions. Officials are looking into fake followers on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and other platforms, the Times noted.
Twitter said in a tweet last week that fake followers violate the company's terms of service, adding that the tactics are 'unacceptable to us.' As evidenced by celebrities' dwindling follower accounts, the firm is also beefing up its bot detection personnel.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...Twitter-rids-fake-accounts.html#ixzz55wA2ojiB
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
