Social media addiction is real. And cashing on the addiction and validation seeking trait in people, a large number of ethical and unethical agencies take money for increasing your followers and likes on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. People readily pay to such agencies because they want to be popular on the platforms. While the social media companies are trying very hard to educate people to refrain from such touts who sell fake followers but evidently, things don't seem to have changed. And if you are thinking celebs are far from this because they are already popular you will be shocked to hear this that recently, ICMP monitored Instagram and Twitter accounts of famous celebrities for fake followers and the results are unbelievable. Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, BTS and Kim Kardashian have the most percentage of fake followers and it is not even a joke. Not just celebs, last year Twitter Cracked Down On Fake Accounts & Followers and PM Narendra Modi Lost Around 3 Lakh Followers.
According to the shocking reports, amongst the celebrities, Ellen DeGeneres tops the list of having the maximum numbers of fake followers i.e. 58 %, very closely followed by K-pop group BTS with 48% fake followers following them. Third came one of the Kardashians, Kourtney with just a little less than 49% of fake followers. Not far behind were the other Kardashians, Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian with about 44 % of fake followers. Ariana Grande is said to have 46%, Miley Cyrus with 45%, and Drake with 38% of fake bots following them.
The two most notable Indian celebs and global icon, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra too made it to the list. Yes, and Padukone surpasses Priyanka Chopra with 45% fake followers whereas PeeCee with 43% fake followers.
List of Top Ten Celebs With the Highest Fake Followers:
1. Ellen DeGeneres – 49%
2. BTS – 47%
3. Kourtney Kardashian – 46%
4. Taylor Swift – 46%
5. Ariana Grande – 46%
6. Deepika Padukone – 45%
7. Miley Cyrus – 45%
8. Katy Perry – 44%
9. Khloe Kardashian – 43%
10. Priyanka Chopra – 43%
However, there are various ways to find out if someone is having fake followers and likes on their Instagram or Twitter. If you look through the person's followers' profiles and the user's engagement, you will see that the profiles are inactive and the engagement doesn't match their number of followers. You can also check if any likes and followers "buying" services follow the account or vice versa. Tools like SocialBlade or FollowerCheck can help you to understand whether a profile has fake followers or not.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 11, 2019 05:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).