According to Statista, Twitter currently has 336 million active users. Like on any other social media platform, Twitter users work hard to gain credibility and get more followers but hitting the Twitter jackpot isn’t really that easy. Gaining an organic following can be a long and unpredictable road for most of us, that is why there are multiple providers who promise to speed up the results and catapult you to Twitter infamy – at a reasonable cost.

While this may sound enticing to someone who is trying to make it big on Twitter, it does have its drawbacks. If you are trying to make a name for yourself on Twitter you have to understand that good quality followers come with a price. Nothing beats the good ol’ organic growth when it comes to gaining more followers but there is nothing wrong with purchasing them, as long as you’re not getting a whole bunch of fake ones!

There are bad people out there who will take advantage of your quest for fame and sell you a bunch of fake followers for a cheap price. It is easy to fall into the traps of these providers as they have managed to saturate the internet with their ads.

Purchasing followers has been frowned upon by some, but it’s also been used by many to speed up the process of growing a presence online. Knowing the difference between good quality followers and fake followers is crucial in setting up your campaign for success.

Want to know how you can spot a fake twitter account from a mile away? Keep on reading and be sure to take notes because we have made a comprehensive guide that should equip you in making an informed choice.

Reasons Why You Don’t Want Fake Followers

Fake followers provide you with little to no engagement at all. The numbers may look impressive from afar but that is all that they do. Purchasing fake followers from low-quality providers can actually do you more harm than good, costing you your credibility. Furthermore, purchasing fake views can actually expose you to the dangers of digital identity theft and spamming – and nobody likes spam.

Fake followers can actually limit you from reaching the people you want to reach – throwing your campaign off the tracks. These types of followers also do not stick around for long and attrite at a high rate because they need to follow their other customers, as a result, you are left with a following that fluctuates in numbers on a daily basis.

To put it simply, fake followers do not make you influential. It may seem like at first glance but looking closely will reveal lopsided metrics and disengagement.

How to spot a fake Twitter profile

While there are providers who are able to disguise their bot accounts into looking like authentic viewers, they still leave behind clues that will reveal what they really are – a whole bunch of fakes.

Below are some of the common traits we’ve noticed that are common for fake accounts.

1. They have no face

The easiest way to spot fake followers is by looking at their profile pages. Mass-produced fake Twitter accounts don’t have proper profile pictures. Instead, they only use Twitter’s default profile picture, which is just a blank head shape.

When people see a lot of these featureless heads on your followers list, they become less interested in checking you out further.

Many of these fake accounts also have weird handles. Often, they are simply a jumbled mashup of random letters and numbers. You might also notice that their handles do not match their URLs.

2. They don’t share much about themselves

On top of having a generic avatar, you can tell an account is fake just by looking at their bio. Fake accounts almost always leave their bios empty – because there’s nothing to tell, they’re bots! Other fake accounts may add affiliate links to their bio which can be dangerous as they may lead to hacking and phishing sites, or even malware, so traverse with caution.

3. Their Twitter handles don’t make sense

If you have been on the Internet for long enough, you know how important Twitter handles are. This is you time to shine and flex your knack for all things witty by giving yourself a good Twitter handle. Fake accounts don’t bother with unique Twitter handles and oftentimes opt for gibberish and incoherent names.

Another thing you can do is check the URL and compare it to the Twitter handle. If they do not match or if they are unrelated, that means they are likely fake.

4. They are fond of repeating themselves

Another sure fire way to tell if an account is fake or not is by checking their tweets. If they post a lot of repetitive and spammy tweets, there’s a huge chance the account is fake. Just like the shady affiliate links found on their bio, these spammy tweets can expose you to the dangers of hacking and digital identity theft, so be very careful.

5. They don’t make sense most of the time

Because these accounts have to look legitimate fast, they resort to generating a bunch of tweets that just don’t make sense. Oftentimes, these tweets are sent out in spurts so be sure to check the time stamp on them – although, we doubt you have to go that far.

6. They don’t play well with others

Fake accounts do not provide you the engagement you need in order to stand out on Twitter. These generated accounts do not reply, they do not retweet, nor do they like tweets – because that costs extra.

You can tell an account is fake when it is unable to engage and converse with other users. Their only purpose is to give you  impressive numbers at first glance and nothing more.

7. They’ve followed 5,001 people

Another quick way to tell if an account is fake or not is by checking how many people they’ve followed. Twitter imposes a limit on the number of people you can follow and fake accounts are sure to have maxed out their allotment – which is 5,000 at this point. This is also the reason they are so quick at following and unfollowing users.

8. They don’t have followers

Just as they have followed 5,000 people, fake accounts barely have any followers of their own. It is hard to convince people to follow you when you have a pretty shady-looking profile. This is not to say that they do not have any followers AT ALL. Remember, these accounts are made to look like legitimate accounts at first glance so they should have a bit of following on their account – most of which are also fake.

9. They haven’t been on Twitter for very long

Fake accounts are generated on a daily basis. If you purchase fake followers from low-quality providers, you are most likely to receive some that are just a few days old. This is all the more suspicious given the amount of tweets they have on their timeline in comparison to how long they have been on the platform. Like we said, it is all about looking like a legitimate account at first glance.

10. They look like clones of each other

To top it all of, fake accounts also have a habit of copying each other. Worse, they duplicate legitimate accounts and spawn it into several other accounts. Because providers have to generate a huge amount of followers to cater to their customers, they have developed a habit of using templates to hasten the process.

They will often change the background to give the illusion of variance – but it is all just an illusion. You will also see a common thread in the way these accounts look, whether it is how their bios are structured or who they follow.

Dealing with fake followers

With all the concerns about fake followers, purchasing followers as a whole might seem such a risky strategy. When used right, it will make the process of growing your presence online faster.

Cleaning your followers list is also a good move to protect yourself from fake followers. There are a variety of tools like TwitterAudit that automatically browse your followers land delete any fake account. These tools make the work much faster. While this would result in a drop in your follower count, it ensures that all the followers that you have are real. This will cement your online popularity better.

The key here is choosing the right providers for your needs. Thoroughly review each provider to see what kind of followers they deliver. You can make a small test purchase to inspect the followers they deliver closely. Take a look at our list to find out which providers offer the best high-quality real followers that you can buy.

Not everyone can win the Twitter jackpot – especially not with fake followers. Learn to tell the difference between fake and authentic followers and make an informed choice to help you turn your campaign into a success.