How to buy Twitter followers

One of the ways you judge a brand or a celebrity (or even - maybe - a colleague) these days is by looking at how many followers they have on Twitter.

Two Olympic stories:

First, when Edwina Currie caused a fuss on Twitter by making comments about Italian Paralympic athletes during the opening ceremony I initially thought it was probably a fake account because she had fewer than 4,000 followers.

Second, celebrity managers know how important it is for their charges to have an active presence, as shown in this quote from the FT:

"An athlete’s following on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites has quickly become key in determining [how long an athlete can stay in the spotlight].
“Brands always ask how many followers an athlete has,” said Ricky Simms, director at Pace Sports Management who is Bolt’s worldwide agent. “For many companies, this is the way they want to reach their target customers.”
Olympic athletes traditionally had a short time frame to capitalise on their performance in the Games because they quickly fade from the public eye, according to marketing executives. But social media has allowed the athletes to extend relationships with fans by sharing messages, photos and videos.
Sponsorship now typically involve some social media promotion through an athlete’s Twitter feed or Facebook page. Before the Games, for instance, Bolt posted messages about his sponsors, such as a picture of a refrigerator filled with bottles of the orange Gatorade sports drink"

How do you get lots of followers?  Be very good at Twitter, or more probably, get famous among a group of people.  Greg Rutherford had only a few thousand followers in July, but now he has more than 100,000.

Or...  Buy them.  Today I received an email offering the chance to do just that; 10,000 Twitter followers for £99.  (Or 500 +1s on Google for £99, or 20,000 YouTube views for £199).  (No, I'm not going to link to the company)

As it says in the blurb:

"Please note that whilst all of these followers will be real people, they will not be profiled to meet your target market and are therefore unlikely to interact with your page or buy any of your goods or services.  This service is intended to create the perception that your Twitter page is extremely popular and increase your online credibility."

If you do use the number of Twitter followers someone has as a measure of their worth, or their influence, then use a site like TwitterCounter to see the speed of their follower growth, and look out for any sudden bumps!