There have been quite a few reports about how creating fake Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) followers is big business, as many companies specialize in helping celebrities and companies make themselves appear more popular than they really are on Twitter. But apparently, a bug which was recently discovered makes it easy and far less expensive for the average Twitter user to get as many followers as they want.
Computer science expert highlights Twitter bug
In a blog, Karnesh Mehra explains the bug he uncovered. Gizmodo spotted that blog and explains just how easy it is for anyone to exploit this bug. All users have to do is create a second Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) account and then just click the “Follow” button repeatedly. In only about 45 seconds of non-stop clicking, Gizmodo’s Eric Limer was able to quickly inflate the number of people who follow him on Twitter.
Excerpt via Gizmodo:
Discovered by Karnesh Mehrah, the bug is dumb easy to exploit. Just log into a second Twitter account, go to the twitter.com/[targethandle], and then hammer on the follow button. You’ll notice the count keeps going up.
In his blog post, Mehra talks about automating the process using JavaScript, but for the average Twitter user, just clicking a bunch of times works too.
Twitter expected to fix the bug
Of course Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) will probably fix this bug. Limer said his follower count had returned to normal a couple of hours later, although the bug was still active. Mehra said his inflated follower count lasted for up to six hours.
It’s worth noting that Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has a habit of banning users who create fake accounts, along with the fake accounts they create. As a result, those who try to exploit this bug may find themselves banned, so we don’t really recommend that you try this unless you’re willing to risk getting your account banned.
Twitter shares decline
Shares of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) have been extremely volatile since the company’s initial public offering in November. Shares plummeted late last year when the company had to deal with fake accounts, and there’s a similar story today, although admittedly there are probably other factors today as well. Shares declined nearly 5% in early trading.