首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
If you think money can’t buy you friends, think again. In the online world, it’s possible to purchase a crowd of fans. One thous
If you think money can’t buy you friends, think again. In the online world, it’s possible to purchase a crowd of fans. One thous
admin
2015-09-26
48
问题
If you think money can’t buy you friends, think again. In the online world, it’s possible to purchase a crowd of fans. One thousand cost only $18 on average, according to estimates by Barracuda Networks, a network security company. Yet these friends won’t meet you for drinks after work. In fact, they don’t even exist. They are pixels on a screen.
A large share of social-media followers of the biggest companies are not human, believes Marco Camisani Calzolari, an entrepreneur and professor at Milan’s ILUM University. In a recent study he quantified the proportion of computer-generated fans or inactive users following big brands on Twitter. To decide whether a follower is human, Mr. Camisani Calzolari used various criteria, including the number of posts from a fan’s Twitter account and the use of correct punctuation in tweets. According to this research, by June 2011 nearly half of Twitter followers of computer maker Dell—about 700,000—were bots.
Some politicians also seem to have many fake followers. Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate, became the focus of media attention when his Twitter following swelled by 17% in a single day in July. On close inspection, a significant proportion of Mr. Romney’s followers appeared to be fake profiles. In Italy Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement lost the driving force when Mr. Camisani Calzolari made a similar claim about the followers of the comedian-turned-politician.
There is no indication that any of the companies mentioned in Mr. Camisani Calzolari’s paper have bought followers—rogue bots often attach themselves to people and brands without payment. But some firms do buy a social media following. Fake profiles are at the center of a very vibrant and growing underground economy, says Barracuda Networks. On eBay, the e-commerce site, for instance, the firm’s researchers have found 20 sellers offering to set up such profiles.
For start-ups a strong social media following can boost business. A small mom-and-pop shop struggling to sell its goods can look like a booming upstart thanks to a swollen Twitter account, or an artificially high number of Facebook likes. For major international companies, a small number of followers in the early stages of engagement with social media can be embarrassing at best and damaging to brand perception at worst. Buying crowds of fans—even if they aren’t engaged with the brand—can give an artificial boost to a business.
For now, the trick works. "Normal people don’t know yet that there is this black market. Most have total trust that a brand’s followers are real," says Mr. Camisani Calzolari. But brands are already finding diminishing returns. When everybody has a large following, the impact is much diminished. And consumers are starting to cotton on to sharp practices. "The number of followers is a superficial measurement unless they are engaged," argues Carly Donovan of Ogilvy Action, an arm of Ogilvy & Mather, the advertisement and public relations agency. Money can buy you friends—just not very good ones.
What does the passage mainly discuss?
选项
A、The purchase of followers.
B、The research on Twitter followers.
C、The effect of social media.
D、The fake followers of social media.
答案
D
解析
主旨题。文章开篇提到网络粉丝是可以买到的,但都不是真人。然后表明企业家兼教授的卡米萨尼的观点,即大公司的社交媒体粉丝中有很大一部分并非真人,以及他对这一方面的研究。接着指出米特·罗姆尼和毕普·格里罗等政客似乎也有许多假粉丝,并以易趣网为例说明伪造粉丝资料这一业务的发展情况。文章还谈到大量的社交媒体粉丝,不论真假都会给公司带来一定的影响。最后表明人们已逐渐意识到假粉丝这一问题。由此可见,[D]“社交媒体的虚假粉丝”为正确答案。而[A]“购买粉丝”、[B]“对推特粉丝的研究”和[C]“社交媒体的影响”分别只是文章讨论的一个方面,而非文章的主题,故均排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1iXK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Allhercousinsandtheirchildrenhavefairhair.Theunderlinedpartmeans______.
TheVictorianshadbecomeaddictedtospeedandtheywantedtogoeverfaster.Timewasmoneyandefficiencybecame【C1】______im
WriteonANSWERSHEETONEanoteofabout50--60wordsbasedonthefollowingsituation:Oneofyourclosefriendswonthef
Johnisuptohiseyesinworkatthemoment.Theunderlinedwordmeans______.
TheSpaceAge______inOctober1957whenthefirstartificialsatellitewaslaunchedbytheSovietUnion.
Peoplearelivingmuchlongerlivesthaneverbeforebutnotallenjoytheirgoldenyears.Forgetfulnessordementia,longaccep
Takingphotographsisstrictly_______here,asitmaydamagethepreciouscavepaintings.
Themainideaofthebusinessschoolacademicisappealing.Inaworldwherecompaniesmustadapttonewtechnologiesandsource
Attentiontodetailsissomethingeveryonecanandshoulddo--especiallyinatightjobmarket.BobCrossley,ahumanresource
随机试题
下列内容中应记录在既往史中的是【】
社会主义道德建设的原则是()。
Thedeclineinmoralstandards—whichhaslongconcernedsocialanalysts—hasatlastcapturedtheattentionofaverageAmericans.
护士在执行护理计划前,应思考的“5个W”不包括
依据《水上水下活动通航安全管理规定》,对未按有关规定申请发布航行警告、航行通告即实施水上水下活动,处罚不当的是()。
房地产开发经营包括()。
甲公司2011年度至2013年度对乙公司债券投资业务的相关资料如下:(1)2011年1月1日,甲公司以银行存款900万元购入乙公司当日发行的5年期公司债券,作为持有至到期投资核算,该债券面值总额为1000万元,票面年利率为5%,每年年末支付利息,到期一次
下图是我国某校研究性学习小组的同学在考察某地后所绘制的土地利用图,回答下列问题。根据当地的地理条件,为进一步综合开发农业资源应重点发展的产业部门有哪些?(至少举三例)
改革开放以来我们取得一切的成绩和进步的根本原因,归结起来就是:开辟了中国特色社会主义道路,形成了中国特色社会主义理论体系。高举中国特色社会主义伟大旗帜,最更本的是要坚持中国特色社会主义道路和中国特色社会主义理论体系。简述中国特色社会主义理论体制的组成部分及
MostBritishcouples,whetherreligiousornot,haveachurchwedding,whichcombinesthereligiousritewiththelegalcontract
最新回复
(
0
)