Having a strong social media presence is crucial for businesses and influencers today. However, many accounts suffer from having a high number of fake or bot followers. This dilutes engagement rates and makes accounts seem less credible. So should you take the time to delete fake followers? Let’s explore the pros and cons.
What are fake followers?
Fake followers, also known as bots, are social media accounts that are not run by real people. They are programmed to follow other accounts in order to artificially inflate follower counts. Some common signs that an account may be fake include:
- No profile photo or generic image
- No posts or content
- Generic, non-descript username
- Follows a high number of accounts
Accounts can gain fake followers in a few ways. They may purchase them from cheap third-party providers. Bots may also follow them hoping to eventually spread spam or malware. Some follow simply to make their own accounts seem more legitimate.
Should you delete fake Instagram followers?
Let’s start by looking at Instagram specifically. This platform is heavily focused on influencer marketing and brand-building. As an image-first platform, credibility and engagement are critical for success.
So what are the potential pros of deleting fake Instagram followers?
- Increases legitimacy – Real followers improve perceptions of credibility and trustworthiness.
- Boosts engagement – With fewer bots, your posts will reach a higher percentage of real, engaged users.
- Improves metrics – Deleting fake followers means your engagement and reach percentages will seem higher.
- Allows targeting – You can focus more on genuine followers who offer real marketing value.
There are also some potential cons to consider:
- Lower follower count – Your total followers number will likely decrease, sometimes significantly.
- Time investment – Taking the time to manually delete fake followers requires effort.
- Engagement changes – Post reach and engagement totals may temporarily fluctuate.
- Renewed follower growth – More bots may start following you after a purge.
Overall, most social media experts recommend routinely deleting fake Instagram followers. The benefits tend to outweigh the drawbacks, especially for brands and influencers focused on real connections and engagement.
Should you delete fake Twitter followers?
Twitter has some different dynamics compared to Instagram. While visuals and influencers play a role, Twitter also has many active information sharers and conversationalists. Credibility remains important, but engagement metrics may differ.
Let’s explore the unique pros of removing fake Twitter followers:
- Shows users and brands you tweet valuable info
- Reduces spam replies and comments
- Lessens followers acquired via follow/unfollow tactics
- Makes your content seem more relevant and authoritative
Here are some of the distinct cons for Twitter:
- Impacts vanity metrics like retweets and tweet impressions
- May temporarily limit reach to new audiences
- Requires frequently repeated maintenance
- Less critical for conversational accounts
The effects can vary depending on your goals and audience. Routinely pruning fake followers seems wise for branded business accounts looking to distribute content. However, everyday Twitter users focused on conversations may find little benefit.
Should you remove fake Facebook followers?
Facebook presents yet another case to assess. As the largest social network, Facebook contains many types of users with different objectives. For businesses, credibility remains important. But organic reach has declined in favor of paid advertising.
Some potential upsides to dropping fake Facebook followers include:
- Makes advertisements more cost-efficient
- Narrows audience targeting capabilities
- Reduces clicks and traffic from low-value accounts
- Improves overall post engagement percentages
Downsides that may apply include:
- Removes vanity engagement metrics like shares and comments
- Decreases potential reach for unpaid posts
- Limits ability to connect with active fake accounts
- Reduces follower count more than other platforms
For businesses seeking real engagement and sales on Facebook, removing fake followers appears beneficial overall. But for personal users, the effects are likely negligible compared to investing time elsewhere.
Should you delete fake YouTube subscribers?
YouTube presents a distinct scenario due to the platform’s focus on video. Creators receive income from ads based on view counts and subscriber numbers. This monetization model incentivizes inflating followers.
Let’s examine the potential advantages of removing fake YouTube subscribers:
- Increases view-to-subscriber ratios for monetization
- Improves perceptions of authority and trust
- Reduces irrelevant comments from bots
- Helps ensure feedback represents real viewers
But some disadvantages also exist:
- Lowers overall subscriber numbers which impact income
- Removes subscribers that still generate views
- Time-consuming manual process to delete accounts
- Bots may resubscribe after being removed
Due to the direct monetization implications, the impact of removing fake YouTube subscribers varies case-by-case. Smaller channels likely benefit more from credibility. Larger creators may want to keep bots generating views.
Should you delete fake LinkedIn followers?
LinkedIn operates differently than other social networks. The focus centers on professional networking and branding. Followers equal social proof and authority for many users.
Possible upsides to pruning fake LinkedIn followers include:
- Presents a more legitimate professional image
- Removes spam or solicitation outreach
- Limits association with bought followers
- Lets you focus on real professional connections
However, some potential cons to consider also exist:
- Reduces perceived authority as an expert
- Hurts viral marketing opportunities
- Diminishes passive growth hacking results
- Makes users seem less popular professionally
Overall, retaining fake followers on a user profile likely generates minimal benefit. But deleting them could also limit influence marketing potential. The effects are somewhat subjective for each user and brand.
Should you remove fake TikTok followers?
As a platform focused on short video, TikTok has similarities to YouTube combined with a young demographic. Amassing followers and views leads to creator funds and sponsorship deals.
Possible advantages of pruning fake TikTok followers include:
- Presents a more genuine image to sponsors
- Boosts engagement rates which drive reach
- Removes off-topic comments from bots
- Lets you focus content on real human users
However, some potential downsides also exist:
- Reduces total followers which impact fame and deals
- Loses follower count “social proof” for authority
- Bots may still view and share videos
- Time-consuming process to manually delete
With the added factor of monetization, deleting fake followers on TikTok has tradeoffs. Small creators likely benefit more from increased engagement. But major influencers may opt to keep bot followers generating traffic.
Should you delete fake followers on other platforms?
The impact of removing fake followers varies greatly across all social networks. Beyond the major platforms we have discussed, here are some additional guidelines to consider:
- Niche platforms – Cleaning up followers usually boosts engagement and targeting.
- Location-based networks – Removing fake accounts helps visibility with nearby users.
- Dating apps – Deleting fake profiles reduces clutter and improves matching.
- Visual platforms – Pruning bots increases impressions and reach with real humans.
In general, eliminating fake followers improves social media marketing and branding on most networks. But less-competitive personal networking sites may see less impact.
Should businesses worry about fake followers?
For brands and companies managing social media, dealing with fake followers should be a priority. Having lots of bots dilutes the audience and wastes advertising and engagement efforts.
Here are some reasons why brands should strive to remove fake followers:
- Maximizes advertising ROI and efficiency
- Boosts engagement rates which are marketing KPIs
- Creates positive brand perceptions around credibility
- Encourages genuine user reviews and opinions
Maintaining fake followers offers very limited benefits for brands beyond vanity metrics. Periodically pruning bots and suspicious accounts is advised as a best practice.
Should influencers eliminate fake followers?
Influencers on social media face more complex dynamics when evaluating fake followers. While bots limit overall engagement, they can artificially inflate popularity.
Potential upsides for removing fake followers include:
- Conveys authenticity and genuine influence
- Boosts engagement rates sought by sponsors
- Allows focusing content on real human fans
- Looks more credible to brands for sponsorships
However, some advantages also exist for keeping bots around:
- Maintains inflated follower counts
- Preserves vanity metrics like shares and comments
- Can generate passive traffic and impressions still
- Gives appearance of popularity and authority
In most cases, the increased legitimacy and engagement from pruning fake followers outweighs the vanity benefits of bot followers for influencers looking to monetize.
Should everyday social media users delete fake followers?
For regular people using social media without professional motivations, dealing with fake followers may not be worthwhile.
Some potential benefits include:
- Limits spam comments and messages
- Presents a more genuine social image
- Reduces risks associated with bot accounts
- Cleans up inflated perception of popularity
However, the disadvantages may outweigh the time needed to prune fake followers:
- Requires time spent manually reviewing accounts
- Does not affect everyday social use much
- Loses vanity of higher follower counts
- Bots may follow again after deleting them
For most purposes, average users likely gain little from removing fake social media followers from their personal profiles. The time investment rarely pays off.
Should you use automated tools to delete fake followers?
Manually identifying and removing fake followers becomes very tedious at scale. As an alternative, a number of automated fake follower deleting tools exist.
Some potential benefits of using automated tools include:
- Saves vast amounts of manual deletion time
- Provides detailed analytics about fake followers
- Allows scheduling and automating the process
- Integrates easily with multiple social platforms
However, some downsides also exist:
- Costs monthly fees for paid services
- May mistakenly remove real followers also
- Still requires monitoring and configuring
- Could seem like “gaming the system”
For major brands and influencers, the time savings usually make automation tools worthwhile despite the minor risks. But smaller accounts may not benefit enough to justify costs.
Top fake follower removal tools
If you determine removing fake followers manually or via automation makes sense, here are some of the top-rated tools to consider:
| Tool | Key Features |
|---|---|
| Social Bakers | Comprehensive analytics and insights |
| HypeAuditor | Instagram expertise and bulk removal |
| Twitter Audit | Free fake Twitter follower analysis |
| Social Impostor | Complete follower monitoring |
| Social Activity Report | Spam removal and bulk deletion |
These tools represent a sampling of the diverse options available. Carefully compare features across platforms supported and pricing to choose the best fake follower remover for your needs.
Does deleting fake followers work?
After weighing the pros and cons for your account, you may still wonder if removing fake followers will achieve the desired benefits. Here are some examples of results users see:
- Follower counts drop but engagement rises – One music artist removed fake followers and saw their audience halve but likes and plays doubled.
- Lower reach but higher clicks – A blogger removed 50k fake followers and found their impression count decreased but CTR improved.
- Temporarily uneven analytics – An influencer saw their engagement spike and dip erratically for 2 weeks post-purge before improving.
- Gradual long-term gains – Over 6 months, a brand steadily saw increased targeting effectiveness from their content after removing bots.
While some vanity metrics may temporarily decrease, longer-term engagement, influence, and credibility gains occur for most users diligently pruning fake followers. But consistency is vital.
How can you avoid getting fake followers?
Prevention is always preferable to treatment. Some proactive ways to minimize fake followers include:
- Avoid buying followers or using “get followers fast” tactics
- Use unique and complex profile names
- Make profiles private and manually approve followers
- Block suspicious accounts instead of just removing
- Limit use of mass following or automated tools
While these won’t remove all bots and spam accounts, they can significantly reduce their occurrence if done consistently.
Conclusion
Determining whether to keep or delete fake social media followers contains many nuances. While general guidelines exist, each account differs based on goals, audience, and industry. Still, these best practices apply in most cases:
- Regularly prune fake followers for brands and businesses
- Influencers should remove bots to convey authenticity
- Everyday users likely won’t benefit enough to justify the effort
- Leverage automation tools to save time at scale
- Consistency and diligence are key to seeing results
Social media marketing continues growing more complex. Keep focusing on genuine engagement and value. With fake followers under control, your content and community will steadily expand.