Fake currency by jdurham.
Fake Twitter accounts are nothing new.
An entrepreneurial soul creates one, tweets content in contradiction to whatever is being parodied, and gains followers. Look at @NotZuckerberg and @BettyFckinWhite for instance, parodies of the Facebook founder and actress, respectively. Or @Jesus_M_Christ for a different perspective.
You know they’re not real — and by their names alone you might be tempted to mouseover to view their latest tweets and maybe click to follow too.
Then there are the Fake accounts. It’s always nice when the imposter adds the adjective, Fake, before the name. Examples include @FakeAPStyleBook for not-so-proper writing tips, @FakePewResearch for not-so-accurate statistics, and @FakeAriHerzog for not-quite me.
Yep, a mysterious person created a fake version of me last fall. It apparently tweeted for a day or so and gave up.
I discovered it the other day. I tweeted its link to a few people and they responded with jealousy.
@ariherzog @KrisColvin and who wouldn’t be? Parody is the pinnacle. Congrats, man. You’ve made it!
— Kim Sherrell (@kim) February 6, 2012
Look Mom, I’m famous!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, people say that copying something is the purest form of flattery BUT if a person sets out and writes embarrassing things on Twitter, FB or G+ it could get pretty complicated soon…
I have set up a Google filter looking for my name and variations but have not found anything yet
That’s true though this never made it to that level.
February 7, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Congrats, dude. You’ve made the big time!
I agree. The curiosity of the readers would be the one to increase the chance of the imposter to be view. And when this fake twitter has good content then the reader will most likely follow this imposter.
It’s a dirty way to promote something for me, it fools the readers. Not only that. The fake twitter is using a popular personality’s without consent by adding it to their account name just to promote their content.
I think somehow that it doesn’t give harm to anyone. It’ll be always up to the reader.
February 7, 2012 at 7:26 PM
Jiminy Cricket, some days _I_ don’t want to be me. I can’t imagine anyone else would.
I’ve seen lots of fake Twitter accounts of stars, but I can’t understand why would someone actually believe they’re real. Even if they are the official accounts of stars, everybody knows they pay someone to manage the account. D’oh!
Not necessarily. Many so-called celebrities do their own tweeting.
I dare you to name one
One? @wilw @alyssa_milano @kathyireland @queenrania @mchammer @levarburton the list goes on and on.
I grant you folks like @britneyspears don’t tweet personally all of the time, but for every person who has help there are countless others who do it all.
Unfortunately, I think the Fake Twiter Accounts are just tweeting a barage of RSS feeds they put into friend feed to saturate Twitter with keyword rich Tweets to get massive followers they can then target for their agenda.
February 10, 2012 at 5:33 AM
I think people can get paranoid about this kind of thing but imitation is the very highest form of flattery and as Kim pointed out; if someone is parodying you then you have definitely made it.
It’s a dirty way to promote something for me, it fools the readers. Not only that. The fake twitter is using a popular personality’s without consent by adding it to their account name just to promote their content.
You know your famous when people make fake accounts to make fun of you.
No idea Liz.