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  3. 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

admin2014-03-21  65
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 centre 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.
According to Carly Donovan, ______.
选项 A、half of the Twitter followers of Dell are bots
B、most people believe the followers are human
C、the number of followers is not a real measurement
D、the impact of social media following is reducing
答案C
解析 推理题。最后一段第六句提到卡莉·多诺万认为，“粉丝的数量只是一个表面的衡量标准，除非他们参与互动。”由此推出目前粉丝的数量并不是真正的衡量标准，所以选[C]。[A]“戴尔公司的推特粉丝有一半是机器程序”在第二段最后一句有所提及，但这是卡米萨尼·卡佐拉里所说的，而且仅仅指的是2011年的时候，故排除；[B]“大部分人认为粉丝都是真实的”在本段第二句中提及，但这是卡米萨尼·卡佐拉里所说的话，故排除；[D]“社交媒体粉丝的影响力在减少”在本段第四句提及，但并非卡莉·多诺万的想法，所以排除。
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