Influencers are buying millions of fake followers on Twitter, and brands are unwittingly buying the bots’ engagement.

Influencers are buying millions of fake followers on Twitter, and brands are unwittingly buying the bots’ engagement. Twitter is missing “simple safeguards” to quell the creation of bots; in fact, the algorithm favors highly-followed users and retweeted content, pushing content with fake engagement up the feed. For many, this means “virtual status is a real-world currency,” and it has major implications for any company betting on The Influencer Effect to boost their brand. (NYTimes)