Fake social media profiles are a huge problem for everyone, but most especially for social media professionals. When someone wants to exact some sort of vengeance on a business, all they have to do is create a fake social media profile and they're basically shielded from any backlash that may occur as a result of their outbursts. What’s worse, they can create a limitless supply of fake social media profiles, and recruit others to do the same thing, effectively shutting down businesses in the process.
About 3% of Facebook profiles, 15% of Twitter profiles, and an estimated 8% of Instagram profiles are fakes. In all, from these three social media platforms alone, there are as many as 142 million fake profiles on the Internet. We’ve heard about these fake social media profiles impacting elections, dividing Americans, and causing Facebook to clamp down on what shows up in your News Feed, but they can also impact businesses in a way that can be very damaging.
How can you fight back against fake social media profiles as a social media professional? Start by learning to identify what's a fake and what's not, and then report every fake profile you encounter.
Learn more about where fake social media profiles come from this infographic.
Infographic Courtesy of Social Catfish
