Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#1

Post by floatingatoll » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 1:03 PM UTC

Signs you're following a fake Twitter account
nixintel.info

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#2

Post by Hesavard » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 1:26 PM UTC

Twitter does absolutely nothing to exterminate old fake accounts. Probably because the last time they did so and saw how many real accounts there were, Twitter's stocks plummetted down

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#3

Post by ewfwfewefewfwef » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:22 PM UTC

Hesavard wrote: post #2

Twitter does absolutely nothing to exterminate old fake accounts. Probably because the last time they did so and saw how many real accounts there were, Twitter's stocks plummetted down

I think it was in a video with to mscott where woman from twitter talked about this, yes false positives are a big problem when detecting fakes. But Twitter is working hard to keep bad bots / fake accounts away. There was no last time, right now people are working on banning fakes. It a 24/7 game.

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#4

Post by non-entity » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:24 PM UTC

Easiest way I've found to spot bots on Twitter is username patterns where both the handle and display name are similar or the same with 1 or 2 words (often a first and last name) and a random number. For example JohnDoe127474. For a more realistic example: I just went to the first trending semi-poltical topic and this was the first bottish account I found (the tweet itself is pretty benign):

https://twitter.com/Elsie43733196/status/1235724530716377088...

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#5

Post by Zigurd » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:26 PM UTC

There is a general problem with platforms and fake entities of various kinds posing as friendly, relatable individuals. This problem surfaces far less deeply than you have to dig to find a well-crafted fake portrait.

Is that really a crafty artistic person turning out handmade items on Etsy, or is it a front for a factory in China with dozens of pseudonymous identities on Etsy? They take on multiple fake identities in order to appear to be humans handcrafting their items in small batches. If one identity gets their cover blown, it is shut down and replaced.

Is your AirBnB host with a woman's first name really renting out some family-owned cottages, or is "she" a BPO messaging contact center who won't talk to you on the phone? AirBnB's UI makes you sift through tens of pages of reviews to glean hints. And that usually happens after you have suspicions due to a foulup with a rental.

I haven't yet tried one of those "sharing economy" car rentals. But I suspect they, too, have attracted aggregators posing behind multiple fake identities to escape bad reputations if need be.

Social media and all kinds of other platforms need to look for and mitigate damage to their brands from fake identities. These fakes are made, in part, to game the platforms, and, in doing so, reduce their value.

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#6

Post by 2zcon » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:29 PM UTC

>His two front teeth (red box) are different shapes and sizes. The teeth on the right side of his mouth have not been rendered properly at all. An analysis of Max’s facial features suggests he has more in common with an AI-generated fake than with a real person.

Or a real person who didn't have braces?

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#7

Post by Lendal » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:30 PM UTC

Most of this article is talking about fake photos, not fake Twitter accounts. He goes on to say that if you use your Twitter account for politics, then you are fake.

The only thing I agree with is 766 posts in a week is extreme and is an indicator of bot-like activity.

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#8

Post by DrNuke » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

Got out of Twitter after seven years using it like a breaking news website from few vetted sources: bots, venom, ads and shameless plugs just made the experience more and more unsufferable, so good riddance. Also unfollowed any contact on LinkedIn, the amount of motivational fluff and plain gibberish just astounding, something like facebook for professionals. Am I happier? Nope, but the void will be somehow filled by something more productive or just interesting.

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#9

Post by petargyurov » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:35 PM UTC

The biggest sign mentioned in the article is the insane number of tweets since the inception of the account - surely this must set off some alerts on Twitter's backend?

I know that this is an extremely difficult problem to solve and that they probably ban accounts in waves but with something as obvious as this you'd think that the ban could/should come more swiftly...

Re: Signs you're following a fake Twitter account

#10

Post by m3kw9 » Thu, Mar 12, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

Another sign is if they accidentally repeat themselves. It shows it could be a bot account