Have you ever browsed through social media and wondered why some profiles have so many followers and likes with little content?

Have you ever browsed through social media and wondered why some profiles have so many followers and likes with little content?

Unless they’re a celebrity there may be a chance that some or all of their followers are fake. That’s not to say all people with a large following have fake followers.

Buying ads to promote your brand or business is a better option that can help develop an organic reach. Paid promotions, however, are completely different than buying followers and likes.

Social media sites like Facebook work in such a way that if you share content it’s then shown to a selection of people and if there’s interaction from that content it’s then shown to more.

If you buy hundreds of fake followers the content you share will be a waste of time as these accounts are zombie accounts and won’t reach people you may have intended.

Here’s some signs that someone has bought fake followers and likes.

1. Fake Accounts. If you check the followers on someones account that alone can signal fake followers. If they are followed by lots of profiles that have no profile picture, and those accounts have little or no posts then they more than likely are fake.
2. Sudden Spike. Another sign is when someone has a sudden spike in followers and likes, then it flatlines, this is a tell tale sign that they’ve purchased fake followers.
3. Spam. Another good indication of fake accounts is by browsing someones comments activity. You can usually spot spam straight away. However not everyone who has spammy comments have bought likes, sometimes it’s often just spam being spammy.
4. Faker tools. An easier way to find out if someone has fake followers is to use faker tools. There’s plenty of tools available online to analyse fake followers and likes. Even if you haven’t bought fake followers it can be interesting to check your own social media for any fake accounts following you. Here’s some helpful tools to do just that:

• Twitter Audit allows you to check anyones twitter account to see how many fake followers they might have.
• IGExorcist  allows you to check Instagram.
• Social Baker is another free tool that allows you to check for suspicious activity.

So instead of wasting time and money on fake followers and likes, spend more time monitoring engagement rather than the number of followers.

How do you monitor fake account activity?

Let us know in the comments below.

Also, if you’d like to know more on why you shouldn’t buy fake followers check out our article on 4 Reasons Not To Buy Followers On Social Media.