Donald Trump Fake Followers: Turns Out, The Number Following On Social Media May Be Much Smaller Than He Knows
There’s “fake news,” but apparently, there’s also “fake followers,” on social media, that is.
At the sunrise of Donald Trump’s presidency, his credibility came into question when he reported on “crowd size.” The former reality TV star also boasted about the number of his followers on social media sites. However, according to a new report, tens of millions of President Trump’s Twitter followers are likely “fake.” The actual number just might shock you.
A Daily Dot report recalled how President Trump, in a July tweet, maintained his feud with “fake news media” outlets that he accuses of a concerted effort — bolstered by liberals — to derail his presidency. Then, Trump asserted how the liberal media’s efforts resulted in a paradox favorable to him. As a consequence, he garnered 100 million followers who “helped him land in the Oval Office.”
The Daily Dot said that after an audit of Donald Trump’s “sham” Twitter followers, results — adjusted for “bots” and inactive accounts — showed that nearly half of the followers were likely fake.
The site said new “insights into @realDonaldTrump‘s Twitter following show just how heavily the president’s social media presence is propped up by a fake foundation of questionable followers.”
Sources found that a Twitter analysis of the president’s accounts found that about half of his 41.3 million followers have very little engagement with the president’s timeline. This group tweets infrequently or not at all. Moreover, about 25 percent of the remaining followers have no activity as of the beginning of October.
By the numbers, according to a Newsweek report: Reportedly, President Trump, based on the Twitter audit, can lay claim to about 21.5 million followers. However, there are also 19.7 million fake followers. While the president claimed to have 100 million followers, there doesn’t appear to be credible evidence of his assertion, sources contend.
Are Donald Trump's followers real? Almost half could be fake, a report found https://t.co/BzBlvCCxxb pic.twitter.com/R6sNAsyGeW
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) October 26, 2017
Based on a deeper dive of Trump’s Twitter account, the results show that 300,000 users follow the president exclusively. On the other hand, nearly 19 million have not posted a tweet in one year, according to the report.
It’s generally known that Trump is a prolific social media user. The real estate billionaire, who is a self-described “modern-day president,” stands by his use of Twitter to communicate with his base. He declared that the micro-sharing site was instrumental in helping him win the White House against his Democratic challenger, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have spoken publicly and privately about their concerns over Trump’s use of the platform to address the American people in an unfiltered manner. Congressional leaders and pundits say that when he tweets, his posts are akin to a policy.
However, not everyone disagrees with Trump’s use of Twitter as a communication tool. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to queries about her boss’ use of social media with regularity.
“It’s always a benefit for the president to be able to speak directly to the American people without any filter, without any bias. I think that’s a positive thing.”
Of note: the president follows less than 50 other Twitter accounts. After a cursory review of his account, which included simply scrolling through his followers, results indicate that “every other account lacks a profile picture, a possible sign that they are fake,” according to the report.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
