I bought 10,000 Twitter followers. Here’s why you shouldn’t.

I bought 10,000 Twitter followers. Here’s why you shouldn’t.

About a year and a half ago, I went through a phase where I wanted lots of Twitter followers immediately. The methods I was using were bringing me results, but it was slow. Plus, I didn’t feel I had the time I needed to build my account properly.

So, I bought 10,000 Twitter followers.

I don’t have those followers anymore, but the experience gave me some valuable lessons. I want to share those lessons with you.

I don’t recall how I came across the ad for 10,000 Twitter followers for $25, but the company promised me high quality, engaging followers within 48 hours and they offered a satisfaction guarantee. I figured it was a good deal, so I went for it.

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As soon as I purchased their plan, the followers started coming in. I received all the followers within hours, and they actually totalled over 11,000. Sweet, I got an extra 1,000 followers!

I decided to check on engagement the next day, and I noticed a few things that were fishy.

I wasn’t seeing increased engagement, so I decided to look at the followers. While I was checking on the new Twitter accounts that had followed me, I noticed the following:

  • They each had around 50 followers
  • They had bios copied from other Twitter accounts
  • They didn’t interact with other Twitter accounts; they only broadcasted
  • The usernames all had numbers in them
  • They each tweeted out 5 tweets at a time in 3-day intervals

These led me to believe these were fake accounts.

Because the company offered a satisfaction guarantee, I decided to contact them about a refund. I heard nothing. I contacted them again when I hadn’t heard anything after 2 weeks. Still nothing.

Luckily, I paid for the package using Paypal, so I contacted Paypal about it. Within an hour, I received a full refund.

By this point, Twitter noticed the accounts were all fake and deleted them, and my follower count dropped.

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I learned valuable lessons from that experience:

  1. Some companies lie about their products.
  2. If something sounds too good to be true, it is.
  3. Nothing replaces hard work for building followers.

Have you purchased Twitter followers? Share your experience in the comments below.

By Kim Siever

I am a copywriter and copyeditor. I blog on writing and social media tips mostly, but I sometimes throw in my thoughts about running a small business. Follow me on Twitter at @hotpepper.