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Their definition of fake is too limited, and they ackowledge that and then rely on it anyway because there isn't an agreed upon definition of fake. That is ver

Their definition of fake is too limited, and they ackowledge that and then rely on it anyway because there isn't an agreed upon definition of fake. That is very strange, given that there are already better ways to determine if the accounts "will provide value to advertisers", and that is by raising the bar a bit more to look at the account's recent likes and activity. just because an account has less than 10 posts or is private doesn't mean that they aren't actively engaged humans. that is the root flaw of this analysis.

ivan_gammel 9y ago
I think the classification can still be supported by the analysis of the behavior of these accounts and the other statistics on the accounts of "influencers" with high ratio of fake accounts. For example, the latter tend to have significantly higher than average ratio of likes to followers on their recent publications. Also, purchases of followers usually happen in batches, so it is easy to observe the spikes in followers numbers. The behavior of "like" bots also produces some observable patterns.
- ringaroundthetx 9y ago
  > Also, purchases of followers usually happen in batches, so it is easy to observe the spikes in followers numbers. I would disagree with this. It is very easy to have a steady stream of followers on instagram, I've run a few campaigns myself. When an account is private, and promoted, instagram queues up follower requests to 100 at a time, and you can't see how many are queued but you can predict how many users have been attracted to the account. Bot accounts or otherwise. (Note: this is part of a larger strategy of getting instagram's algorithm to self-promote your posts in the explore section, or as popular in a hashtag. As you can post something new and your new followers will like your post and then you can switch your account public soon after and it is boosted in activity on many feeds, attracting more people to your account) The user - who is the influencer - account can manually approve the pending followers, or take their account public. When taking the account public, 100 pending followers are added automatically, and it has to be switched back to private to show the next pending followers, only for them to be added when the account is toggled to public yet again. If the account stays public, the other pending followers will stay pending indefinitely and the user can't see that they are pending. Therefore, this gives the account the ability to control a steady growth of followers, 100 at a time, indefinitely. If they keep the account private during their actual campaign. The authors might be surprised that this strategy obtains more humans than bots. The main thing here is that there are many ways to "buy followers". And I think the analysis here assumes way too much about a single way that followers are bought. The authors have probably never created their own influencer account, to know about the infrastructure that really exists.
  - nsomaru 9y ago
    Could you share more thoughts about the larger strategy of post and hashtag promotion? Interested to hear your experiences, as we've been dabbling in some FB and Instagram marketing.
    - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
      On instagram, It is easy for an account to come out of nowhere in hashtag promotion. Just like I was explaining it can basically bake in followers while private. An account can go from 0 - 10,000, or 20,000 pending followers almost overnight, but more practically in a week's time. This won't register on any analytics site. The account can accept as many of the new followers as it likes (this takes time though) and can make a new post and stack it with hashtags while private. The post will begin getting a lot of likes in a short time span, and then the profile can go public. For maximum efficiency, this should still be in conjunction with at least one other campaign, still funneling new followers in while the account is public. The post will go to the popular section of every hashtag except the most popular hashtags, as well as trend in the explore section for many users who don't follow you yet. Given the way that campaigns work, using stories and tags in photos, these should mostly be human followers.
  - altern8tif 9y ago
    Wouldn't it be obvious if you constantly switch your account back and forth between public and private?
    - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
      No, nobody notices. Your existing followers cannot tell if your account is public or private, because they see your profile. Your prospective followers encounter either a closed down profile, which is still being promoted for some reason making them curious. Or they are presented with an open profile, which is still being promoted for some reason and worth following.
propogandist 9y ago
It is extremely easy to buy [fake] accounts that will mimic real user activity. These were available on certain forums 3-4 years ago, before people started "catching on". Having tinkered in the 'dark economy' meant to defraud advertisers before being employed by the advertisers, I trust nothing. The 'dark economy' will be always be miles ahead

ivan_gammel 9y ago

I think the classification can still be supported by the analysis of the behavior of these accounts and the other statistics on the accounts of "influencers" with high ratio of fake accounts. For example, the latter tend to have significantly higher than average ratio of likes to followers on their recent publications. Also, purchases of followers usually happen in batches, so it is easy to observe the spikes in followers numbers. The behavior of "like" bots also produces some observable patterns.

ringaroundthetx 9y ago
> Also, purchases of followers usually happen in batches, so it is easy to observe the spikes in followers numbers. I would disagree with this. It is very easy to have a steady stream of followers on instagram, I've run a few campaigns myself. When an account is private, and promoted, instagram queues up follower requests to 100 at a time, and you can't see how many are queued but you can predict how many users have been attracted to the account. Bot accounts or otherwise. (Note: this is part of a larger strategy of getting instagram's algorithm to self-promote your posts in the explore section, or as popular in a hashtag. As you can post something new and your new followers will like your post and then you can switch your account public soon after and it is boosted in activity on many feeds, attracting more people to your account) The user - who is the influencer - account can manually approve the pending followers, or take their account public. When taking the account public, 100 pending followers are added automatically, and it has to be switched back to private to show the next pending followers, only for them to be added when the account is toggled to public yet again. If the account stays public, the other pending followers will stay pending indefinitely and the user can't see that they are pending. Therefore, this gives the account the ability to control a steady growth of followers, 100 at a time, indefinitely. If they keep the account private during their actual campaign. The authors might be surprised that this strategy obtains more humans than bots. The main thing here is that there are many ways to "buy followers". And I think the analysis here assumes way too much about a single way that followers are bought. The authors have probably never created their own influencer account, to know about the infrastructure that really exists.
- nsomaru 9y ago
  Could you share more thoughts about the larger strategy of post and hashtag promotion? Interested to hear your experiences, as we've been dabbling in some FB and Instagram marketing.
  - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
    On instagram, It is easy for an account to come out of nowhere in hashtag promotion. Just like I was explaining it can basically bake in followers while private. An account can go from 0 - 10,000, or 20,000 pending followers almost overnight, but more practically in a week's time. This won't register on any analytics site. The account can accept as many of the new followers as it likes (this takes time though) and can make a new post and stack it with hashtags while private. The post will begin getting a lot of likes in a short time span, and then the profile can go public. For maximum efficiency, this should still be in conjunction with at least one other campaign, still funneling new followers in while the account is public. The post will go to the popular section of every hashtag except the most popular hashtags, as well as trend in the explore section for many users who don't follow you yet. Given the way that campaigns work, using stories and tags in photos, these should mostly be human followers.
- altern8tif 9y ago
  Wouldn't it be obvious if you constantly switch your account back and forth between public and private?
  - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
    No, nobody notices. Your existing followers cannot tell if your account is public or private, because they see your profile. Your prospective followers encounter either a closed down profile, which is still being promoted for some reason making them curious. Or they are presented with an open profile, which is still being promoted for some reason and worth following.

propogandist 9y ago

It is extremely easy to buy [fake] accounts that will mimic real user activity. These were available on certain forums 3-4 years ago, before people started "catching on". Having tinkered in the 'dark economy' meant to defraud advertisers before being employed by the advertisers, I trust nothing. The 'dark economy' will be always be miles ahead