Cracking Down on Fake Likes
A few months back, Facebook Security announced a crack down on ‘fake’ likes in their ‘Improvements To Our Site Integrity Systems’ note, stating that “a Like that doesn't come from someone truly interested in connecting with a Page benefits no one”. This may be true; however
I’m interested to learn what benefits accounts that buy ‘fake’ fans believe they are reaping? Is this ‘keeping up with the Jones’’ in a digital era? Painting the perfect (although be it highly illusive), picture!
I understand the difficulty that many businesses face when entering the world of social media, time is invested into generating exciting, fresh content, yet your limited audience can seem unresponsive. Artificially inflating your fan base will may seem appealing at the time; however the rewards will be few and far between. Buying likes and followers may have a positive effect on the size of your virtual fan base, but at the same time it could have a detrimental effect on your engagement statistics, providing you with a distorted view of how many real fans you are engaging with. So is it worth it? Is it worth feeling the wrath of Facebook because you employed dubious marketing techniques?
Ingrid Lundens from TechCruch claims that “fake fans, fake “likes” and fake reviews are some of the worst aspects of social media”, I have to agree and now research by Gartner suggests that it could get worse before it gets better. “The analysts predict that by 2014, some 10%-15% of all social media reviews and other forms of engagement will be fake, paid for by the companies getting endorsed”. This number could be quite concerning given that in the meantime, technologies to detect these ‘fake’ accounts will be ever evolving.
Instead of buying your social audience, earn it. Run contents, share unique company insights, spend time generating rich, unique content and most importantly, engage. Be social, engage a real audience and take the time to interact with your fans, fancy that eh!?