Ethical Issue: Although they don\'t actually pay people to act as fans on social

Question

Ethical Issue: Although they don't actually pay people to act as fans on social networks and entice their friends to do so as well, some marketers employ machines, called bots, to inflate the number of their fans and followers online. In third world countries, businesses trafficking in fake profiles, the so-called click farms, are selling 1,000 followers for $10. Social networks try to respond by deleting fake accounts, and the likes earned in the process vanish too. Google has introduced an algorithm to eliminate spammers and other abusers of its systems, and Facebook and Twitter will probably follow suit.Footnote Why do some businesses resort to such measures? What might be the consequences of faking fans? How do you feel about companies and their brands pretending that they have actual traffic on their sites?

Explanation / Answer

Today the trend is of social networking. The more the connections, the better it is to make contacts. Some times even with unknown people. Also mentioned is that, in third world countries, businesses trafficking in fake profiles, the so-called click farms, are selling 1,000 followers for $10. To avoid this and as countermeasure Google has introduced an algorithm to eliminate spammers and other abusers of its systems, and Facebook and Twitter will probably follow suit.

Consequences of faking fans: will mislead people, will generate fake followers, create huge losses for social media.

It is unfortunate that companies and their brands pretending that they have actual traffic on their sites.

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