As social media continues to be a stage for millions to broadcast anything that their heart desires, with that stage comes the desire for attention. For some it’s simply the rush that you get for being admired by other, but for many others, it’s an essential tool that can be leveraged to help a brand or business grow to greater heights than ever before possible.

Unfortunately, the path to the top in the world of social media is a long, difficult, and competitive one. As with anything challenging, especially something with a great reward for success, there are those who try to take the easy route, even it means manipulating the system and not playing fair. While you’re out there working hard to gain those followers, there are people who have turned to the dark side and decided to buy followers and likes to artificially boost their social presence in an effort to get ahead.

If you’re wondering if a friend or competitor is guilty of buying followers and trying to cheat their way to the top, there are some telltale signs that you can look for that might help you get a little bit closer to the truth. Here at Adwizar, we’re all about keeping you updated on everything you need to know for success in the social media space, so today we’ll be looking at the top things that you can look for to find out if someone is buying followers and likes.

Odd Follower/Engagement Ratio

The average engagement rate for an active social media page’s followers ranges between about two to eight percent across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. While this seems like a small percentage, it’s just what happens naturally with how many users behave on these platforms. In order to identify someone who may be buying followers, we can use this percentage as a benchmark. If you look at an account that has maybe a couple thousand followers but enough comments that you can count on one hand, it is possible that the account has boosted the amount of followers they have in some way. It’s also possible that they might be using ads that target an audience that’s too broad, resulting in followers that aren’t as high-quality and likely to engage. While not a surefire way to tell if someone is buying followers, it will definitely tell you that the growth of their audience isn’t something to really be proud of.

Vague Or Spammy Comments

Take a look at their posts and see what kind of interaction is present there. Do you notice a bunch of people posting comments that are worded so similarly that it just seems off? Or maybe you notice that all of the users that are posting follow thousands of people but are only followed by a handful, and have profiles that seem to be built out to the bare minimum. Another common sign is if the comments seem spam like, such as people soliciting others to follow their own account while not really addressing anything to do with the actual post they’re engaging with. If it looks fishy, it’s likely that something sketchy is happening behind the scenes.

Sudden Bursts Of Follower Growth

While this one may take a little bit more time to observe, its definitely one of the signs of buying followers that is pretty obvious once you see it. If you check your friend or competitor’s profile and notice that they seem to gain hundreds of followers overnight for a couple of weeks, but then suddenly stagnates, you probably have a social media scammer on your hands. While those who sell likes and followers can easily spread growth for an account over time, it’s pretty difficult to hide the sudden rise in numbers when you look at their growth, especially if that growth suddenly stopped. 

Should You Report Someone That’s Buying Followers?

In the end, if you discover that someone is buying their followers or paying for likes, the reality of the situation is that they’re digging their own grave. The more money they pour into buying followers and likes, the more they’re neglecting the actual management of their own profiles and the growth of a meaningful audience. You can report them if you like, but what you’re better off doing is focusing on what you’re doing with your own profile, what kind of shareable content you’re creating, and how you’re catering to what your audience wants so you can foster a long-lasting, meaningful connection with them.