After Whatsapp’s efforts to curb fake news, it’s Twitter turn to put the kibosh on the number of fake accounts on the platform. As reported by the New York Times, Twitter will start deactivating “tens of millions” of fake accounts from today onwards.
The move is targeted at restoring the trust of users on the platform after a rise has been seen in the number of fake followers obtained through unfair means. Many accounts have been ‘buying’ followers to increase their influence and social status.
As a result of this move, people who have aggregated followers by fraud and users who are followed by fake accounts can see a substantial decline in the number of their followers. It is expected that the mass deletion of fake accounts will reduce the total follower count on the platform by 6%.
According to an estimate by Twitter, an average user would lose not more than four followers from their list of followers. It goes without saying that, the number can be larger for the accounts that have bought fake followers.
Twitter’s vice president for trust and safety Del Harvey said, “We don’t want to incentivize the purchase of followers and fake accounts to artificially inflate follower counts, because it’s not an accurate measure of someone’s influence on the platform or influence in the world.”
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
The drive has already started, and according to The Washington Post, US President Donald Trump has witnessed a slash of 100,000 followers. Barack Obama’s Twitter follower count has also decreased by 400,000.
As we may lose at least four followers, kindly follow us on Twitter to help us restore the balance.
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