Have you taken a good look at the accounts you follow on Twitter? Initially, when you set-up your Twitter account, you likely took Twitter's helpful advice and followed 15 celebrity or popular accounts. Once you were through this phase, you took it upon yourself to find local accounts to follow using the search function with key words, phases, and people.
You happily settled into your Twitter routine, scrolling through the feed of most recent tweets.
Then it happens.
"Who is that account? Why are they showing up on my feed? I don't remember following that account."
Twitter, the micro-blogging social media darling, was launched July 2006. Its claim to fame is its blogging platform that allows users to send messages that are 140 characters or less. Secondly, it is also an extremely simple platform to navigate and update account information, including usernames.
It seems to be a trend that during large-scale, media-heavy events satirical Twitter accounts are created. Because of the timeliness of the event, these types of accounts experience an influx of followers.
For example during the 2014 Super Bowl (#SB2014) an individual created an account poking fun at the Denver Bronchos who had failed to score a point in the first half. The account, @hasdenverscored, has only 2 tweets, but over 6,000 followers.
In addition, the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games has received negative press about the less-than-desired state of facilities. Out of this problem an account, @sochiproblems, was created. This account, which is more active, has over 343,000 followers, has 256 tweets.
But what happens to these accounts once the Super Bowl is done and the Olympics come to a close?
What the creators have on their hand is a potential valuable marketing asset. What company wouldn't want to purchase an account that boasts over 343,000 followers, rather than starting at zero?
Because it is so simple to change the Twitter name, username, and account information, accounts can be easily purchased and transferred to other users. Not saying this is the right thing to do, as followers followed the account for a specific reason, but I can certainly see companies trying to leverage this opportunity.
What are your thoughts? Has this happened to you or your business?