Most Of Your Favorite Politician’s Twitter Followers Are Fake

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June 16, 2014 12:18 am - NewsBehavingBadly.com

‘Bots’ account for a large portion of the followers of top political names on Twitter, and it’s the fault of overzealous aides who want their bosses to look good.

According to a POLITICO-driven analysis, heavy hitters with Twitter handles attracting the highest rates of fake followers include the president’s political account @BarackObama (46.8 percent), Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s @DWStweets (35.1 percent), the official handle @SenJohnMcCain (23.6 percent) and likely White House aspirants @HillaryClinton (21.9 percent) and @ChrisChristie (18.9 percent).

More rank-and-file members also have been hit by the bot boom, from South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson (18.8 percent) to Rep. John Fleming (28.3 percent), a Louisiana Republican who won back-to-back House GOP social media contests in 2010 and 2011…

Operatives working at the crossroads of politics and technology say the culprits behind fake followers are sometimes overzealous campaign workers or friends of a candidate looking for quick Twitter fame. “It’s for their bosses, because they’re obsessed with it,” said a GOP consultant aware of colleagues who have bought bots. “It’s just stupid.”

 

D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

No responses to Most Of Your Favorite Politician’s Twitter Followers Are Fake

  1. fahvel June 16th, 2014 at 4:18 am

    and????????????????????????

  2. Sam Freedom June 16th, 2014 at 5:38 am

    Hey, this is interesting. Stick to this even handed stuff and be an example of an even handed liberal… if there ever could be such a thing.

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