Buying Twitter Followers

It is difficult to deny the power of social media.  With a few tweets, likes, and shares, a message can go from obscurity to prominence in a matter of days.  As illustrated in Yvonne’s blog , the KONY 2012 video is a perfect example of the wonders of social media.

Social media, however, is not limited to spreading messages of activism.  Businesses and entrepreneurs have recognized the potential of social media in building valuable relationships with customers and informing them on future product launches and events. Furthermore, the low cost of using Facebook and Twitter makes this marketing tool that much better.

The benefits of sites like Facebook and Twitter can certainly be astounding, but they are completely useless without subscribers or followers.  For major companies, acquiring followers can a be a simple task as they already have an established brand with a loyal customer base, but how can small businesses gain more followers?  Well, they can buy them.  As explained by Michael Fleischner, buying Twitter followers is the “latest craze”.  Fleischner further explains that purchasing followers will build awareness for the company, and perhaps these new followers will become customers in the future.  Furthermore, with more followers, the business gains credibility as people will see that the business has a large following, and thus they may choose to follow the company as well.

Many websites such as http://buytwitterfollowers.com/ offer this service, but I am a rather sceptical about the idea of buying “real” Twitter followers.  How do these websites find these individuals?  Overall, though, I must say that the idea of buying followers is rather interesting.  I guess paying people to care about your company is better than having no one care about your company.