Social media is a subject that is continually discussed in public relations classes. Many discussions come down to one factor: what does mean, what does it matter, and who cares? I know that I've talked about measuring social media in classes, with speakers, and in PRowl Public Relations.
In a Washington Post article from Sunday, January 31, 2010 I read that you could now buy Twitter followers on eBay for less than a penny a follower (when you buy in bulk). Since Twitter doesn't actually let users buy and sell one another, the money you spend "buying followers" goes to a service that promises to boost your account by the said number of followers.
Another method, which I found most interesting, is one from China. The article says, "But another method we've heard about anecdotally uses cheap labor in China to create Twitter Follower farms..." "Online laborers in China essentially create thousands of Twitter accounts which can then follow other accounts."
I think this method of buying followers takes away from the great aspects of social media, such as the genuine relationships with real people, the transparency, etc. What do you think?
Wow! This is interesting. I would never pay for a follower. I would actually like to know who came up with the idea in the first place. I would argue that the point of social media is to effectively communicate and not to see how many irrelevant followers you can get on Twitter by paying someone to create accounts. I am actually a little offended to say the least. I work hard for my followers by talking about things that matter. It is almost like cheating on a test.
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