Is it all fake? Data analysis on Swiss influencers causes a stir

Influencers are in vogue. Marketers are literally fighting over the mostly young content producers to make their products and services appealing to the younger target group. Analysis of SRF Data checked 115 Swiss Instagram influencers - and generally found a high proportion of fake followers. SRF's data department thus stirred up a hornet's nest. Swiss television's somewhat brash request to the influencers already caused criticism - not least because of the "NoBillag" initiative:https://twitter.com/thomas_ley/status/917392245367730181Die The problem of fake followers on various social media platforms is not a new problem in itself. On the one hand, it is almost impossible to prevent artificial profiles from being automatically added to accounts. However, it becomes really problematic when influencers "buy" followers. There are certainly opportunities to do so - but the SRF analysis did not show whether the fake followers were actively aggregated by the influencers. However, fake shares of sometimes over 50 percent on Instagram set alarm bells ringing for advertisers, especially as the number of followers usually serves as a benchmark for the price of using an influencer. in the program 10vor10 was reported, sparked controversial discussions on Twitter. On the one hand, influencers are coming under fire:https://twitter.com/Aurea_1987/status/918088122445025280https://twitter.com/pascalros/status/918081912945692672https://twitter.com/MikiMaur/status/918095420378767360Andere On the other hand, users emphasize that the fake problem is not just limited to influencers:https://twitter.com/3monte/status/918356630370177024https://twitter.com/seuharri/status/918074503179194368Eines One thing is clear - the problem will not simply disappear. On the contrary: advances in the field of artificial intelligence also mean that so-called "bots", i.e. profiles that do not have a real person behind them, are becoming increasingly intelligent. To avoid losing credibility with advertisers, influencers and their marketers must take measures to curb the problem of fake followers. There are certainly tools on the market that can be used to identify fake profiles, such as Brandwatch:https://twitter.com/PrevionPlus/status/918377940227903488