OVER THE WEEKEND, THE NEW YORK TIMES PUBLISHED AN INVESTIGATIVE
REPORT IN REGARD TO CERTAIN COMPANIES THAT HELP
INDIVIDUALS PURCHASE FOLLOWERS FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.
THESE FOLLOWERS CAN BE BOUGHT FOR INSTAGRAM, TWITTER,
FACEBOOK, YOU NAME IT AND THERE ARE CERTAINLY SOME PROBLEMS
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BECAUSE NOT ONLY DOES IT GIVE THIS DECEITFUL
IMAGE OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND HOW MANY FOLLOWERS HE OR SHE HAS
BEEN MORE PORTLY, OFTENTIMES WHAT HAPPENS IS ACTUAL PEOPLE
WILL HAVE THEIR IMAGES OR THEIR ACCOUNT INFORMATION TAKEN TO
CREATE THESE BOUGHT ACCOUNTS, AGAIN, USING THEIR IMAGE
THAT PEOPLE CAN THEN BUY TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT THEY HAVE
MORE FOLLOWERS THAN THEY ACTUALLY DO.
THE PIECES AMAZING.
EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I HONESTLY KNEW WAS GOING ON
FOR A VERY LONG TIME NOW.
IT'S BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED BECAUSE OF HOW THEY WANT THE
BOUGHT ACCOUNTS TO LOOK AS REAL AS POSSIBLE SO THEY USE REAL
PEOPLE'S PHOTOS AS A RESULT.
BEFORE YOU DIVE MORE INTO THE STORY ANA, THE THING THAT
DRIVES ME A CRAZY ABOUT IT IS EVERYONE SHOULD OF KNOWN
ABOUT IT THAT IF YOU REMEMBER, ALL THE WAY BACK IN 2012
WHEN NEWT GINGRICH WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT HE USED TO BRAG
ABOUT HIS TWITTER FOLLOWERS AND THEN THEY FOUND OUT A STUNNING
PERCENTAGE, I DON'T HAVE IN FRONT OF ME BUT I BELIEVE
IT WAS A 90% OF HIS TWITTER FOLLOWERS WERE FROM BANGLADESH.
HE IS POPPING IN BANGLADESH.
THEY ALL OF THEM THERE.
NEWT CAN'T BUY A BEER AND BANGLADESH, PARTLY BECAUSE IT IS
A MUSLIM COUNTRY.
SO WE KNEW IT WAS A PHENOMENON BUT WHAT IS REALLY FRUSTRATING
IS THEY DO NOT KNOWLEDGE AND PEOPLE ACTED LIKE IT WAS
REAL, SO I'VE SEEN IN BUSINESS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
WELL, THEY'VE THIS MANY TWITTER FOLLOWERS AND BY THE WAY,
YOU COULD ALSO DO THIS TO SOME DEGREE ON FACEBOOK.
IT IS MUCH EASIER ON TWITTER, ON INSTAGRAM, ETC.
THEY'VE ALL THESE FOLLOWERS, WE WILL GIVE THEM TONS OF
MONEY ARE WE WILL ADVERTISE WITH THEM.
ALL THE TIME.
YOUR VALUE IS NOT BASED ON THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK, IT IS
BASED ON HOW MANY PEOPLE FOLLOW YOU ON TWITTER WHICH IS
MADDENING TO SAY THE LEAST.
LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I ACTUALLY APPRECIATED THE MOST ABOUT THIS
STORY.
IT WAS IN THE ACTUAL REPORT BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, IT WAS
A TAKE THAT IAN BOGOST HAS AT THE ATLANTIC AND THIS ONE
LINE REALLY STOOD OUT TO ME.
DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON'T.
THEIR ACTUAL CELEBRITIES WHO ARTY HAVE A LARGE FOLLOWING WHO
GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO PURCHASE BIG FOLLOWERS BECAUSE THEY WANT
MORE INFLUENCE.
IT'S DOUCHE FACTORY AND IT IS FAKE AND IT HURTS PEOPLE WHO
HAVE REAL FOLLOWERS, REAL FOLLOWING ON WHATEVER PLATFORM
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BUT THEY THINK, IT IS LIKE STEROIDS
IN BASEBALL TYPE I DON'T DO IT, SOMEONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO
AND I'M GOING TO FOLLOW BEHIND AND THAT IS NOT FAIR TO ME.
A CREATES A RACE TO THE BOTTOM OR TOP WHERE EVERYONE IS GETTING
FAKE FOLLOWERS AND THE PEOPLE THAT I THINK ARE MOST
RESPONSIBLE ARE THE ONES THAT THEN REWARD THAT AND THEY DO.
AS THE WRITER IN THE ATLANTIC POINTED OUT YOU CAN GET A
BETTER BOOK DEAL IF YOU HAVE MORE TWITTER FOLLOWERS.
YOU CAN GET BETTER ADVERTISING DEALS AND THE LIST GOES ON
AND ON.
YOU GET INVESTMENTS AND OFTENTIMES YOU WILL SEE THESE
MASSIVE MULTIMILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENTS INTO WHATEVER
PERSON, APP, COMPANY AND IT TURNS OUT THAT THAT COMPANY
DOESN'T END UP DELIVERING AND IT IS BECAUSE THE INFLUENCE
THEY HAVE IS NOT NECESSARILY REAL.
I THINK THAT IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE HERE.
THERE IS A LOT OF WEIGHT PUT ON THE NUMBERS BEHIND INSTAGRAM OR
FACEBOOK OR TWITTER OR WHATEVER IT IS AND BY THE WAY, THERE ARE
ALSO PEOPLE, MYSELF INCLUDED, I WOULD NEVER SPEND MONEY ON
FOLLOWERS, I THINK IT IS A GIGANTIC WASTE OF TIME.
BY THE WAY, WHERE AM I GONNA GO.
I'M GOING TO STAY HERE AND CENK UYGUR DOESN'T CARE ABOUT MY
FOLLOWERS.
IT IS WEIRD BECAUSE THOSE BOUGHT ACCOUNTS, THERE IS A PRETTY
SIGNIFICANT CHUNK OF MY TWITTER FOLLOWING THAT IS BOUGHT
ACCOUNTS AND I LIKE HOW DO I GET RID OF THEM?
HOW DO I FIND THEM AND GET RID OF THEM CLUSTER A LOT OF
THEM ARE AUTOMATED, IF THERE IS A SUGGESTED PERSON TO
FOLLOW, THE BOUGHT ACCOUNTS ULTIMATELY FOLLOWED THEM.
THAT IS A DISASTER TOO.
I DON'T WANT YOU, GO AWAY.
UNFORTUNATELY THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU BECAUSE
THEIR COMPUTER PROGRAMS.
THERE ALSO MALICIOUS BOTS, THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY
BUT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS, I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT THAT
THE ATLANTIC WRITER REALLY NAILED IT.
IT IS REALLY THE REST OF US AND OUR PERCEPTION AND HOW
UPSET WE ARE WITH IT ONE THING HE DIDN'T MENTION IS, IT IS
MORE OLD-SCHOOL MEDIA.
I KNOW EVERYBODY IS, NOW IT IS NOT JUST CELEBRITIES OR
PUBLIC FIGURES.
EVERY YOUNG PERSON WANTS TO HAVE MORE FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM.
THEY WANT TO BE INFLUENCERS.
AND YOU GET PAID TO BE ONE, AND YOU SEEM FAMOUS, ETC.
I GET ALL OF THAT, I GET THE DRIVE FOR IT AND IT IS INNATE IN
OUR NATURE FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE TO WANT TO SEEK THAT FAME.
IT IS PRETTY NORMAL, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO REWARD IT AND DRIVE
PEOPLE TO THIS MADNESS, I THINK THEY ARE THE REAL ISSUE AND SO
WHEN HE SAYS, AND PART OF IT IS THE OLD MEDIA, SOLD MEDIA,
I KNOW TELEVISION, I KNOW RADIO, I KNOW MOVIES.
NEW MEDIA CONFUSES ME.
IF YOU WANT INFLUENCE, IF YOU WANT AN AUDIENCE GO TO
YOUTUBE DIVE YOU WANT INFLUENCE, DO NOT GO TO YOUTUBE
BECAUSE NO ONE ABOVE THE AGE OF 40 WATCHES YOUTUBE.
THAT SEEMS WRONG AND YOUTUBE WILL GET MAD AT ME SAYING THAT
BUT I DO NOT THINK THEY HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB OF GETTING THAT
INFLUENCE.
INSTEAD, WITH TWO OLD PEOPLE AND MEDIA DO?
THEY HAVE TWITTER.
ALL THE REPORTERS ARE ON TWITTER AND THEY ARE ALL ASSESSED WITH
THE COUNCIL FOLLOWERS THAT THEY HAVE ON TWITTER SO IF YOU HAVE
A LOT OF PEOPLE ON TWITTER AND IT IS FAKE, THEY DO NOT CARE.
IT REMINDS ME OF BACK IN 2012, NOT JUST THE NEWT GINGRICH STORY
BY DONALD TRUMP WHERE HE BRAGGED ABOUT THIS AND WE SENT OUR
REPORTER AT THE TIME TO VEGAS AND ASKED DONALD TRUMP, WHY
DO YOU THINK THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN YOU?
WHEN HE SAID BASED ON HOW MANY TWITTER FOLLOWERS I HAVE.
THAT IS AN ANSWER THAT HE GAVE MICHAEL SHURE AND HE FOLLOWED UP
WITH SNOOP DOGG HAS MORE FOLLOWERS, SHOULD HE BE
PRESIDENT?
NOT SO FUNNY NOW.
THAT IS THE KIND OF INFINITY WHERE IN BECAUSE THE SYSTEM
IS REWARDING THE WRONG THINGS, ESPECIALLY OLD MEDIA.