When it comes to social media, we all want followers. The more the better, right? However, building up your following can take a lot of hard work and dedication, which is why some people opt for a “shortcut”. Whether you’re trying to become an influencer, you’re a business in need of engagement or you just want to look popular, buying followers is never a good idea. Not only can these fake followers be costly, there’s more fatal consequences than just emptying your pockets. Things that seem too good to be true usually come with a price and buying followers is a prime example of that. Keep reading to find out why…
Who Are They?
First and foremost, let’s learn a little bit more about fake followers. The vast majority of these purchasable followers are either bots, fake accounts created for this sole purpose or even someone who has agreed to take a small sum of money in return for going on a fake follower list. Regardless of who they are, they all have one thing in common – the only thing they bring to your profile is one extra number on your following list. The bot might occasionally grace you with a comment now and then, but it probably won’t make sense or have any relevance to your content. Engagement is the most important aspect on your social media profile, so if they’re not going to provide you with any, what’s the point?
Would You Like Some Spam With That
Buying followers is a dodgy practice, and with that comes dodgy consequences. Like most sign ups nowadays, you’re going to have to give your email address or some form of personal details at some point. However, this inevitably leaves your profile open to receive lots of spam. What’s worse, if your real followers accept these spammers, they’re going to face the same problem. The chances are they only accepted the request because they saw they had a follower in common (YOU), which will then reflect badly on you. Once they’ve been bombarded by spam, not only will they unfollow the fake, but also you. Are you seeing any benefits to this service yet? Because I’m really not.
Engagement All Over The Place
In the rare occurrence that your fake followers actually engage with your posts, there’s likely to be an ulterior motive, even seeing your post as a free chance to advertise. If they do comment on your content, expect it to have absolutely no relevance to what you’ve posted. You could upload a picture of a pile of bricks and you’d problem receive a variety of heart emojis or a comment expressing how beautiful it is. Any engagement you do receive from them is likely to completely drop off after you’ve been connected for a while. Engagement is key to how Instagram’s algorithm displays posts to users. Without likes or comments, your post most likely won’t show up on your audience’s news feeds.
Protect Your Credibility
Let’s be honest, people aren’t stupid and it’s not that hard to spot an account that’s bought fake followers. If someone has 10,000 followers but only gets 10 likes on posts, something fishy is going on. This realisation could lead to losing credibility with your real audience and missing out on genuine followers because of it. You have to take into account what this says about your brand, it could make them question how ethical, trustworthy or genuine you are. Ask yourself, are a few followers worth damaging your reputation over? Or should you just put in a bit of extra graft to build a loyal following?
You Can’t Fool Instagram:
Aside from the fact that buying followers is a bad idea, it’s also going to be a massive waste of money when Instagram inevitably spots your fake followers. The platform updated its terms of use to identify and remove any fake accounts, so when you buy followers you’re actually violating Instagram’s community guidelines. At any given moment your ‘followers’ could dramatically reduce and there’s nothing you can do about it. Surely it’s better to save yourself the money and the worry that your followers could be next on the purge list?
If all of this hasn’t put you off buying followers, then I don’t know what will. Although building a real and loyal following base can take time, it’s worth it in the long run. Not only will people show actual interest in your posts, you’ll also have much more of a chance to sell your product/service. Fake followers aren’t your friends!
