This blog post is in response to an external blog I read.

Who would have thought that a large portion of Mitt Romney’s followers on twitter may have been purchased? Yes, according to Barracuda Networks, it costs approximately $18 to purchase one thousand fans, and a number of businesses and politicians are doing it. On eBay, there are a handful of people who are offering to set up fake profiles for people. In a recent study by entrepreneur Marco Camisani Calzolari, to find out whether a follower was human, a number of things were looked at such as the number of posts from their Twitter account and the accuracy of their punctuation in tweets. Buying fake fans, gives an “artificial boost to a business” whether it’s a start-up or a major international company. However, businesses aren’t really winning, if those followers aren’t actually engaged.

This blog caught my attention as I consider myself to be moderately engaged with social media; using sites such as “Facebook”, “Twitter” and “Tumblr” on a daily basis. I was astonished to learn that a overwhelming number of “fake followers” existed. I think it’s surprising how many people, including myself, use social media but are oblivious towards what companies and politicians are able to do to enhance their image.

See Schumpeter blog post here

http://www.facebook.com/cites