World

Elon Musk Twitter Feed ‘Attracts 23% Spam, Fake Account Rate’

 

At least 23.4% of Tesla boss Elon Musk’s 93 million followers on Twitter are likely to be fake or spam accounts, according to social media researchers.

The audit was prompted by Musk’s demand that Twitter prove that phoney and spam accounts constituted no more than 5% of the total.

Earlier this week, Musk said his proposed $44 billion acquisition of Twitter would not go ahead without and accurate count of fake and spam accounts.

“20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be much higher. My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate,” Musk said in a tweet, which proved to be prescient about his own fake following, as well as the overall count.

The research by SparkToro and Followerwonk indicated 19.42% of active Twitter accounts are fake or spam.

A different methodology indicated that as many as 70.23% of @ElonMusk followers are unlikely to be authentic, active users who see his tweets.

“This is well above the median for fake followers, but is unsurprising (to us, at least) for several reasons,” the researchers said.

“Very large accounts tend to have more fake/spam followers than others, accounts that receive a great deal of press coverage and public interest tend to attract more fake/spam followers, and accounts that Twitter recommends to new users – @ElonMusk among them – tend to get more fake/spam followers,” they added.

 

  • George Russell

 

 

 

READ MORE:

India Warns Rules Still Apply to an Elon Musk-Owned Twitter

AF TV – What’s next for Twitter after Elon Musk’s Takeover?

Crypto Bull to Quit Twitter if Bitcoin Not at $100k in 2022

 

 

George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.

Recent Posts

FTX Crypto Fraudster Bankman-Fried Jailed For 25 Years

A US District Judge said the former billionaire wunderkid was responsible for one of the…

13 hours ago

China’s Big 5 Lenders Warn of Property Risks as Margins Shrink

Banks have been reluctant to deepen their exposure to the ailing real estate sector but…

15 hours ago

Chinese Biotech Giant WuXi ‘Sent US Client’s Data to Beijing’

US intelligence officials say Chinese pharma companies are risking national security at a time when…

18 hours ago

China’s BYD Delays EV Factory; Solid-State Batteries ‘Unsafe’

BYD has set back plans for an EV factory in Vietnam, while CATL has said…

19 hours ago

Yellen: China’s Green Energy Push a Threat to Global Jobs – AP

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has accused China of ‘distorting prices’ with its increased green…

19 hours ago

Yen Fears Drag on Nikkei, Hang Seng Lifted by Policy Bets

Japan’s plunging currency and the threat of BoJ intervention sent Tokyo’s soaraway benchmark downwards

20 hours ago