Your Twitter follower count will probably drop Thursday. Here's why.
If your Twitter followers start going missing on Thursday, it probably wasn't because of a bad tweet.
Twitter will purge tens of millions of fake or suspicious accounts starting Thursday, The New York Times reports. The move comes in the wake of a January Times investigation into a follower farm, which Twitter executives say inspired the company to crack down on fake accounts.
Since follower counts lead to influence in the real world, aspiring influencers, businesspeople, and politicians often purchased followers en masse, the Times says. Advertisers who sponsored posts with these supposedly influential users soon realized not every follower was a real person, and they weren't reaching the numbers they were paying for. Meanwhile, real followers' influence was watered down by bots and phony accounts.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So when the Times' January investigation exposed the creation of and business behind these fake accounts, Twitter finally took action. It started by locking millions of accounts suspected to be automated, racking up millions of suspensions by May. These locked accounts, which can't interact with other accounts, weren't counted in Twitter's active user numbers reported to investors. But they still showed up in follower counts, per the Times.
Now, Twitter has reached the next step. It'll remove suspicious users from follower counts, but not completely erase the accounts. Twitter told the Times it plans to remove about 6 percent of the site's total combined followers — a number that could be in the tens of millions.
Read more about Twitter's big step at The New York Times, and check out the investigation that inspired it here.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Post Office's Capture software to be reviewed over 'glitches'
Speed Read Solicitor representing accused postmasters says flaws in the IT system follow 'very similar pattern' to Horizon
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
How would we know if World War Three had started?
Today's Big Question Conflicts in Ukraine, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific mean the 'spark' that could ignite all-out war 'already exists'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Death Cafe: where people talk mortality over tea and cake
Why everyone's talking about The meet-ups are intended to offer a judgement-free and respectful space to discuss the end of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Post Office's Capture software to be reviewed over 'glitches'
Speed Read Solicitor representing accused postmasters says flaws in the IT system follow 'very similar pattern' to Horizon
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published