Twitter users are rethinking how the digital world is influencing their personal and professional lives following the recent Twitter purge of bot accounts.

Bots are fake profiles often used by people and companies to increase their perceived number of followers and thereby enhance their personal brand. The company Devumi has landed other companies in hot water after The New York Times reported it sold more than 200 million followers to various corporations. And while having the ability to purchase fake accounts may seem beneficial to some, it threatens the authenticity of the social media experience.

It also jeopardizes personal identity. Bots mimic the identity of actual users by taking the profile details of a real account to make a fake one seem more legitimate. People think they’re following someone and engaging in authentic digital experiences, when it reality, these accounts belong to a company looking to make a cheap profit.

Regina Luttrell, a social media researcher and assistant professor of public relations at Syracuse University, said Twitter is so popular among college students due to the platform’s ability to inform, offer the freedom of self-expression to users and allow students to come together with other like-minded individuals.

“Twitter is a platform to learn as well as share, and that is part of the allure,” Luttrell said.

Twitter is a positive and useful platform that allows people to spread knowledge and express themselves through their shared content. But Twitter, like all social media, can create bad habits as well as spread fake news.

Fake accounts being bought and sold encourages people to focus on how many followers they have and how the public views them, rather than focus on the information they’re consuming. Some of my friends are so eager to either make the Explore page or become Instagram-famous by accumulating followers that they’ve decided to purchase followers.

Buying followers also has effects in the professional realm. For college students trying to boost their online presence for internships and job opportunities, Luttrell advises being mindful when putting your personal content online.

“Brands have websites, social media and blogs,” she said. “The mindset of a college student has to change from ‘I’m just a person’ to ‘I’m a brand.’”

Luttrell said fake social media accounts create a challenge for college students as well as other users, and the best way to avoid the issue is to be aware of what comes up when searching your name on any platform, especially when thinking about future career endeavors.

Unfortunately, college students are faced with a potential employer mistaking them for a fake account, which could cause an employer to get the wrong idea about the real user and potential employee. Twitter seems to be the most susceptible of all the social platforms to this fake account epidemic.

Many college students are creating professional social accounts to prepare themselves for potential employers viewing their social presence during the application process. But with the presence of Twitter bots, many college students are at risk of having fake accounts interfere with their future.

There needs to be limitations in place for people who attempt to purchase these fake accounts acting as false advertisements — because quantity doesn’t equal quality.

Kaela Gundy is a junior public relations major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at kmgundy@syr.edu.

Published on March 1, 2018 at 6:37 pm