Why You Should Never Buy Twitter Followers. Ever

 

Have you ever been really jealous of the amount of followers people have? If you answered yes, you’re not alone, and that includes me. And then the second thought that pops into your mind is: are these followers legit, or were they bought? Depending on the profile, their experience, their “celebrity,” and the amount of time and effort they put into Twitter, you usually know the answer.

The Main Reason You Should Never Buy Twitter Followers

But here’s why you should never, ever buy Twitter followers, no matter how bad you want to reach 10,000 or 100,000 Twitter followers: because it discredits you.

Social media, especially Twitter, should be about transparency and authenticity, more so when you want to display your expertise. And social media should be about engagement, and how do you engage with a fake list? What good does it do you?

Would You Buy Facebook Likes?

There seems to be a pride perspective in gathering more Twitter followers than your closest competitors or friends or ex colleagues, perhaps. But would you buy Facebook friends? Would you buy Facebook Likes? What about LinkedIn connections? The answer is probably no (I hope it is). But Twitter can bring out the follower beast in all of us.

How to Spot a Twitter Fake

So now that you know why you should never buy followers, here are some tips for spotting Twitter fakes.

• If the person has 2 tweets and thousands of followers, and they are not Britney Spears or President Obama, it’s likely they bought their list
• Check his/her follower list and see if the same avatar (their bio image thumbnail) repeats itself several times
• Are their tons of avatars with scantily-clad women in their follower list? The more of these they have, the more likely it’s a bought list
• And lastly: go through their recent tweets – are their tweets adding value or are they just tweeting for the sake of bumping up their Tweet count in order to justify their thousands of followers (this may not mean they are buying their followers, however, it may mean they themselves are rather fake)

Be Authentic on Social Media. That’s How You Build Trust

So while there is a temptation to have more followers than the next guy or gal, air on the side of authenticity, and build your following naturally. It may take some time, but if your content is of value, eventually the followers will come. And if bikini-clad women who add no value to your list should end up following you, at least you didn’t have to pay for them. When in doubt, don’t buy yourself to Twitter fame. Work up to it.

Have you been tempted to bump up your Twitter following by buying followers?