Perhaps the exploitation of social media was always inevitable. After all, could brands really sit by and not capitalise on the holy grail of real people recommending brands and services based on their real experiences?
Recently the extent of how brands are manipulating social has come to the fore with the revelation that some brands — including very well known ones - have been buying ‘likes’ to raise their profile. There seems to be an abundance of agencies set up to sell fake ‘likes’ which are mostly created one of two ways, a) hacking profiles, made easier if people already ‘like’ other pages, or b) creating a range of pseudo profiles which are managed by back room outfits in places such as India.
To say the least, the whole concept of fake ‘likes’ risks undermining the ethos of social media as a sacred territory created for social purpose.
Firstly, social media is a place where users do not have to endure the proliferation of marketing found in other forms of media. The buying public are in control and there is an addictive sense of liberation attached to choosing to ‘like’ or to listen to ‘likes’ generated by other users. It takes the power away from the marketers and transfers it to the customer, therefore minimising the risk of false advertising or brands being complacent with their offering.
Secondly, on social media users are in control of how other people see them. Profiles are crafted, posts are written and likes are chosen that build up a portrait of who they are. So the fact that some of these ‘likes’ are being generated by hacking Facebook profiles means users are unwittingly having their self projection changed, as Channel 4’s Dispatches exemplified when they sought out the real people behind some of their bought likes. For example, poor Penny Lewis, a chef in Abergavenny in Wales had likes such as "Hot Fun", "Polygamy Uncensored" and "Matters of Size" being displayed on her friends’ newsfeed.
But it also doesn’t fare very well on the brand.
Firstly, as goes the age old adage, ‘it’ll always come out in the wash’. The reality stays the same; there are no real people behind the likes. With a bit of digging users can tell this by looking at the ‘Talking About This’ metric which measures interaction with a page as opposed to just seeing a page. So, as John Loomer, a Digital Marketing consultant explains: “If you buy 90% of your Likes, you can bet that your ‘Talking About This’ is going to be miniscule. And that tells a prospective fan who doesn’t know you bought those ‘likes’ that you are simply not interesting”.
This lack of interaction also affects your EgdeRank. This means that if people aren’t really people interacting in real ways about your brand, your content will not be deemed relevant enough to share with other (real) users.
In the end, as another old adage goes, it is quality rather than quantity that counts. By buying likes, brands are not only kidding Joe Public, but kidding themselves.
By Rhiannon Price, Research Director, Northstar Research Partners.
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