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Mitt Romney Gets Busted Buying Twitter Followers
Something strange is going on with Mitt Romney’s Twitter account. It looks like the Romney campaign is using the Colorado shooting as a distraction to hide their buying 100,000 new Twitter followers.
140ELECT has been keeping an eye on this and providing the data behind Romney’s suspect surge, “Romney was gaining around 3000-4000 new followers per day for the past month. Yesterday he acquired 23,926 new followers and is climbing well over 50,000 today. The hourly stats make it pretty clear where this began.”
At 4 PM on Friday, Romney experienced a sudden rise in followers. This is bizarre because hours earlier in the day, the candidate had pulled himself off of the campaign trail. Mitt Romney is doing absolutely nothing right now, yet his number of Twitter followers continues to skyrocket.
Mitt Romney’s Twitter account gained 23, 926 followers yesterday. As of 2 PM ET, Romney has more than tripled that total with 75,912 new followers. In some of these hours, the official Romney account has only had 700 mentions and 15 retweets, yet tens of thousands of, ” new people” are now following him.
Romney’s previous best day ever was June 28 when he gained 9,160 new followers. Before this Romney’s best day was April 12, when he gained 6,396 followers. Romney has seen an eightfold increase over his previous best day at a time when the candidate is not campaigning, and the nation’s attention is turned towards the Colorado shooting.
This isn’t even the first time that Romney has purchased Twitter followers. In August 2011, Peek You analyzed the Twitter accounts of all of the Republican presidential contenders, and found that only 26% of Mitt Romney’s followers were real people.
The initial data on tweets and mentions of the Romney account isn’t matching up with an account that has gotten 100,000 new followers in day. Romney gained over 8,000 new followers at 1 PM today, but only had 1,000 mentions and 11 retweets.
Romney now has 777, 835 followers. If the 26% human ratio holds true, Mitt Romney’s actual real human followers total a little over 200,000. For the record, President Obama’s campaign account has over 17,700,000 followers.
It appears that the Romney campaign thought that the Colorado shooting was the perfect time to go on a Twitter follower buying spree. With the media all covering the horrible shooting, they assumed no one would notice if they added 100,000 new Twitter followers in a day, but they were wrong.
No explanation can be found in the news cycle for why a candidate that is not even campaigning has seen such a dramatic spike in his number of Twitter followers.
It is possible that 100,000 people woke up yesterday and today, and decided that now would be a great time to start following Mitt Romney.
But the likely truth is just like the awkward and unpopular rich kid that he is, it looks like Mitt Romney is having to buy his friends on Twitter.
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151 Responses to Mitt Romney Gets Busted Buying Twitter Followers
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dusty
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 4:06 pm
desperation is slowly creeping into the GOP mind….. you watch the amount of underhanded moves, like calling a voter and telling them they dont need to vote if they registered, or sending out fake letterheads telling voters they cant vote….. its on their burner……….. but this, is too funny, if it wasnt so dangerous……….. se habla romeny?
debra dondero
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 8:54 am
i do not understand, i never write on twitter.how can you by twitter.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 9:00 am
there are people on the Internet that you can pay to add users to your twitter account. The more users you have the more influential you are supposedly. All they do is generate random names and add them to your account
[email protected]
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 9:51 am
He better not add me! If I’m “bought” will it inform me I’m now following him? Bc I’ll respond will a “hell no” and un-follow.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 9:56 am
Most names are made up and most make no sense at all. I dont think they can take user names and add them to Romneys twitter without your saying so
Ardiva
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 4:35 pm
That sounds like something Romney would do.
LeroytheAPBT
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 4:38 pm
See just goes to show you,you can’t trust a man who would put his dog in a crate and tie him up to the top of a stationwagon. #LeroytheAPBT
Victoria Lamb, MSHA
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 4:53 pm
This is just what I would expect from Romney, so there isn’t much else to say.
darbea
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 4:54 pm
I don’t use twitter, and I really don’t know how “subscribing” and “following” work. Are you saying that he paid people cash to follow or subscribe to him? How much did he pay? Or is the term “buying” a twitter term for signing people up?
(I’m really starting to feel old when I can’t keep up with this stuff)
Jeff Seastone
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:41 pm
I don’t have a Twitter account either and I don’t know all the details but it seems that there is a constant stream of comments and posts scrolling on your twitter page. When you are interested in someone you “follow” them much like “Friending” someone on FaceBook. Once you are following them, their posts show up in your Twitter comments feed.
When you look at someone’s Twitter page it shows how many people are following them. The more followers you have the more popular you are. This article accuses the Romney campaign of paying someone to make up thousands of Twitter accounts that then follow Romney in order to make him seem more popular.
Ryan
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 11:28 pm
He (or most likely someone acting on his behalf) isn’t paying real people to become his followers, he’s paying some online marketing firm to fabricate followers out of thin air. They are not real people. One look at the names will tell you as much. The names are ridiculous.
Alvin Gongora
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:20 am
I’m a Twitter-addict and I get lots of ads from companies that offer that service: buying followers for you. Its flip side is that the same companies offer to buy you as a follower of somebody else. The point is that if I’m in the business of expanding my franchise it might help to inflate my Twitt-capital to show that I have a niche in the market. Those companies might create fake Twitt-profiles, which also happens in Facebook. I wouldn’t surprise me to see Mitt doing it.
mjh
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Mitt Romney Gets Busted Buying Twitter Followers
What do you plan on doing with them, Willard?
Outsourcing them overseas?
Brandon
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:04 pm
@darbea — the accounts that Romney is accused of buying are computer generated — they don’t belong to any real people at all.
Neon Vincent
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 8:48 pm
In other words, they’re bots, just like Romney!
Also, Gingrich was caught doing this last year. There was a lot of hilarity when that happened, especially since no one was taking him seriously at the time.
Lei
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:31 pm
see! He is a job creator! LMAO!
Mike Milton
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:38 pm
Wow … 26% of twitter followers are real people for Romney da Robot
Matt Dunham
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:59 am
Well said!
Ardiva
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:04 pm
I just had a sneaking hunch. If you take a look at his followers list, you will find many “porn” ones. I get those sometimes too, but I just block them. There is no “blocking” going on in Romney’s Twitter account and the porno’s are having a nice time.
(Ps..I still don’t like the arrogant a**hole! )
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Great copy, why is willard corresponding with porn tweeets lol
Neon Vincent
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Zach Green over at 140Elect.com thinks that this is someone trying to embarrass Romney. That so many of the accounts are pornbots supports that hypothesis. It’s right up there with hackers sending pizzas to your house or subscribing you to porn magazines, none of which you ordered. That makes me wonder–has anyone checked out 4Chan lately?
brazenly liberal
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 8:53 am
The real giveaway is the avatars. Many of them were taken from longtime Obama supporters. The photo on the profile of an Obama supporter with tens of thousands of tweets and hundreds or thousands of followers will be an exact match to the “new” Mitt follower with 4 of each.
So sad yet so funny.
Dan Skinner
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:05 pm
he can buy everything he wants… it still won’t get him into the White House.
pat
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:05 pm
i seams that the closer we get to the election the more nasty the gop become i came out of the gym the other day and someone had taken gold stickers and put them all over my obama bumper sticker thus
the gop = vandelism and someone had their car keyed as they had an obama bumper sticker on
their car and someone keyed the bumper sticker problem was it was on the painted trunk lid
Nomad
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:11 pm
I can’t verify whether this is real or not but it is pretty funny anyway.
p.twimg.com/AyWqahHCEAEB-...
Even if this is a hoax, it’s a pretty good one. I mean, from all that we have seen on Romney, it’s just too believable that he would resort to doing something like.
Interesting how so few of his followers even mention him.
HADENOUGH
Jul. 24th, 2012 at 4:51 am
It’s 2 funny bcz when I checked his followers out,they all said the same things,”No tweets at this time,r blocked tweets! They hadn’t even tweeted Mitt ROBme yet,2 say,’Hi’ lol..Now if ur trying 2 pump ROBme up,why would u blk ur tweets
Obama 2012
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:15 pm
pretty hilarious… even better: Obama still has 20X more followers than Romney.
now if all of them actually go out and vote!
hnstyngov
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:22 pm
I sent a tweet to Ben Labolt last night. These were the last five in a row that had just started Following him. It’s not even that they are new Names. These names are NOT Normal American names and spellings. Lots of unusual spellings or characters. They are just ‘ made up ‘. The names make NO sense
.@BenLaBolt: this grp of #MoreFakeMitt Follwrs off Mitts twtr-all joined last nite 2gether @carneyym @olindabaxternj @guerrafuy @yettamitche
Magdalena
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Oh Romney, Romney, Romney!! Nothing that you underhandedly do surprises me anymore. If it’s nasty, rude or just plain “feigning” ignorance it’s just who you are.
Nomad
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:31 pm
@hnstyngov
Well, he’s famous for outsourcing. These name’s all probably came from overseas. :) Looks like he’s already giving American jobs away.
j
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Anyone like me that has AT & T, please when you get your next bill, or offers, let them know that you need to see them giving some money to democrats.AT & T has been giving lots of funds this election to republicans, I am going to write them and tell them 50% of their customers are democrats and we are thinking of quitting them.
Anklejive
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 11:20 am
We ditched Verizon (who also gives money to Right-wing candidates and causes) for Credo last year. I realize Credo is not available everywhere, but we love it. Great call quality and great service. A portion of every Credo bill goes to progressive and liberal causes. They’ve given MILLIONS over the years.
Anna Keye
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Oh man are they even checking the profiles they are adding? I think they shuffle them up when ever you load the followers page, but I literally got three foreign teenagers when I loaded it. One from Jakarta, another from Bogota, and yet another from Uruguay. The first listed American to come up was a lovely lady from CA, whos last tweet was “please don’t blow my high…”
darbea
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Ok, I kinda understand, and thanks for explaining it to me. I guess my next question is why would someone generate thousands of “fake” accounts – it seems the only advantage would be bragging rights, and if that’s the case, it sounds like “mine is bigger than yours”… (in that case, he’s still probably coming up short)
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Twitter is fun and can be most enlightening. For instance suppose your hobby was pottery. You could find hundreds of people who have the same interest as you, or teach pottery, and find many links to how others use, make or paint pottery. Thats how it works. Most of us here are in it for the politics. I use it for web design, for finding music and politics.
westernsmith
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 6:34 pm
The tweets probably came from China!
Artemis
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:04 am
I think you may be on to something.
Ken
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 6:44 pm
If he wins(cheats) this thing, his approval rating will be 28% on day one. Only to go down past Cheney within two months. But that’s OK for repubs whose rating is already about 8%. But the idiots will not vote them out. CU makes sure they never have to raise money again. OUr democracy is officially dead after this year. A revolution is the only way to stop them.
A Walkaway
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 7:16 pm
As long as it’s only a revolution in the ballot box.
Jackie
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 7:28 pm
I think that they would escalate to violence long before we would even consider it.
A Walkaway
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 8:47 pm
That’s what I’m afraid of.
Jackie
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Hear hear!
BLKIRISHQUEEN
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 7:45 pm
everything mitt does to try & compete with obama turns to real “ish”!!!!
he cant get over on the presidents camp. u cant buy truely smart people!!! & u cant buy smart folkz votes either!!! money cant buy everything in life. mitt is trying really hard tho…he may make it if his daddies name is bush….he found away to get his son in….for two terms no doubt…thanks jeb for the help!!!
obama 2012 all day!!!!!
Paws
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 8:09 pm
I’m just going on record: This is too damn funny! Oh my goodness, WHO is running his campaign? How embarrassing for Romney. I wonder if he knew about it or if someone running his campaign just did it on their own. Either way, this just reeks of desperation.
jmaid
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Where do I sign up? I need the money!!
The Liberal Grouch
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 8:48 pm
I’m as liberal as they come, kids. But I just have to wonder. Where’s the proof that ROMENY is buying these followers? If you have some, please share cuz I wanna hop on this bandwagon real, real bad, but I need proof it’s Romney doing it and not some numbnuts doing it to embarrass Mittster.
Kathleen Jutte
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Thank you for saying that he might not have anything to do with it. I am a Romney supporter, and when I see negative statements about Obama, I don’t automatically believe it. Let’s be sensible and realize everything we read is not true. I never get in political debates like this, but when I didn’t see any comments bringing up the possibility that this story might not be totally accurate’ I had to put my 2 cents in. Thank you for having an open mind.
Grinning Libber
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Look at blogs, news sites ,the rest remotely related to politics and you see folks that appear for all the world like paid GOP shills. They comment early, they comment often, and they cut/past from the same talking points. It’s not just Twitter. Probably get paid a few cents a word.
majii
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:03 pm
I heard about this in 2010, GL. Some GOPers hire RW bloggers to visit liberal-leaning blogs to post disruptive comments and to shill for RW politicians. I also remember when Digg discovered that RW bloggers were manipulating content on its site so that RW articles took prominence over all others. There is no length some on the Right are willing to go to to win elections. They are supposed to be sterling examples of Christianity but use tactics that give Christianity a bad name. I think this is what has led many Americans to abandon organized Christianity. Why go to church when what one gets are lies, hypocrisy, and conspiracy theories in spades instead of a message that conveys tolerance, truth, peace, and love?
Llewell
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Many of these so called fake accounts are plants or democratic trollers whose sole purpose it is to disrupt his pages. The very same thing is happening on facebook as many an account is false and run by people who oppose Mitt but who have to hide their true identity because they are doing so professionaly or for their party.This type of dishonesty is nothing new and sadly easily believed as shown by the comments here.
Olu
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Mitt Nothing>>> lol
dam spahn
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Maybe the surge of new Twitter followers came from the Cayman Islands.
Jim
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:39 pm
I also find it hard to believe that all of Obama’s twitter ‘followers’ are real. This whole thing stinks of a set up.
Michael M.
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:42 pm
This happens all the time. Many of my Twitter followers don’t respond or retweet. Also, how many of the twitter accounts out there are just spam accounts just to get you to redirect you to their bogus websites? One more thing, how does one go about buying Twitter followers?
Regardless of the answers to these questions, Mitt Romney is up to his old sleeze again.
Judith Tamock
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:39 am
To buy Twitter followers easily, just go to fiverr.com, and search for people offering to provide them. Best 5 bucks a corrupt politician could spend!
Stephanie
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 10:20 am
Mitt probably went to socialmedia-combo.com like his friends do in Germany… How disgusting …
Rogue
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:52 pm
You people can’t be serious. Since Obama’s business comment the other day, ROmney’s Facebook page has gained over 350,000 likes and his pages are getting HUGE likes. He isn’ paying anyone and this story is a flat out lie and should be removed. It is conjecture withour a single ounce of proof.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 10:57 pm
So, they have prevented you from looking at the names. I have to feel for you.
Dawn_Rainbow
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:57 am
Myth paid shill alert, typical for GOTP to send paid trolls to disturb Dem sites. Why can’t they be happy on their FAUX joke sites?
Artemis
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:02 am
So basically the phoniest candidate in human history is paying for fake friends on FB too. Thanks for the tip.
Stephanie
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 10:23 am
Yeahhh right….
ilegal
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 11:12 pm
you criticise third world countries into buying their votes and you mr RATney are the lowest of the low you are running scared of barack obama and you are doing the same as third world countries one thing is for sure the people who have dignity would never submit to your low down schemes they would have to be people like you unscrupulous and shameless as you god bless you and may your money satisfy your greed because on your own you would never. beat a real man VIVA OBAMA
big bitch
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 11:19 pm
Romney a big bitch
ilegal
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 11:28 pm
iam glad i have no religious beliefs at this time because if your. actions are a sample of what faith teaches you mr RATney i rather be faithless you my friend are only a man because your birth certificate says so but unfortunately a gay man is more of a man than you are at least they do not lower themselves to buying votes when they are against a real man VIVA OBAMA 100% a REAL MAN
Dr. Awesome
Jul. 21st, 2012 at 11:44 pm
You know, I dislike the fellow like everyone. However this is sloppy journalism. Most these accounts can be traced to Ebay accounts, they are polished photos and the name seems to be randomly generated. Most likely what is happening is someone or someones is using Romney’s account to generate followers for a mass marketing thing for e-bay accounts.
And even if I’m wrong this is purely conjecture. Are we doing the same thing the political media does on the other side of the spectrum. Jumping at things and twisting them into Faux facts?
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:14 am
it is not pure conjecture. You didnt follow the link to 140ELECT to see the evidence.
“Even if Im wrong”
You are. And they are not ebay ID’s
Dawn_Rainbow
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:47 am
For somebody who supposedly dislikes the Mythster, you’re sure doing a good job of trying to defend his honor.
This is not sloppy journalism, Myth’s not below much. You’re sloppy at pretending you’re not a Mythbot.
Artemis
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:01 am
Romney is paying people to be his friend. LOL!
carole mckinzie
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:05 am
romney buys his friends…………….
Dawn_Rainbow
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:05 am
Is there anything about Myth that’s not fake, pretense or a facade? Despicable, Myth is UNAmerican, a real kick in the gut to America.
Nancy Honeycutt
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:37 am
Everything that Willard and his followers do is fake, phony and they wouldn’t know the truth if it bit them on the ass. Unless you’re rich, I cannot see one good reason for voting for him and against yourself.
Obama is anything other than a failure. He has tried his best to keep our country and economy moving up and getting better for the 99%. All the GOP Congress and the so called “Christians”, right wing nutjobs and Tea Party folks do is obstruct, lie and do things to hurt us.
I’m liberal and proud of it. If you don’t get out and vote this year, we can expect more austerity and no progress for our county.
Dawn_Rainbow
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:42 am
You said it well. I’m Independent but completely agree with you. I can’t see myself voting for Republican ever again. GOTP are liars, crooks & cheaters. Voters should’ve learned their lesson with Nixon, they didn’t & look where we’re at for the past 12 years.
Sandy Button
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:44 am
What does he stand to gain from this shady behavior, does he just want to look popular, what a loser.
John Kieffer
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:45 am
Twitter Envy …
imgur.com/v0kZ8
Jo
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:57 am
No way I’m voting for Romney or Obama… both are so similar in what they support.
Honest Ron Paul 2012 or none… wake up people!
Paws
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:01 pm
No, they are not similar and if you think they are, you’re not really paying attention.
As for Ron Paul, I wouldn’t support that crazy lunatic for all of Mitt Romney’s money.
Gary Vaughn
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 3:18 am
Funny when it is a truth about the GOP some dittohead shill calls it sloppy journalism. Fox and CNN can jump the gun and lie and badly report a Supreme Court decision, but they are great journalists?
Jason
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 3:41 am
Considering you have zero proof of Romney being behind this, how is he busted?
Considering you have zero proof of Romney being behind this, how is he using the Colorado shootings to hide something?
Considering you have zero proof of Romney being behind this, aren’t you in fact using the Colorado shootings as a way to criticize Romney?
You should be ashamed for calling yourself a journalist.
patrice
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 am
Use yur common sense if yu have any. jeeees no one recieves 1000 followers in one day
Nan
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 7:22 am
This is typical Mitt Romney. Anyone who thinks Obama and Romney are the same and votes for Ron Paul deserves what they get. Ron Paul is one of the most dangerous people in America. If they required IQ tests to vote, Ron Paul supporters would all fail. Wake up peolpe!
Dave
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 8:52 am
Teflon and Astroturf.
tanya
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 10:01 am
no, there really could be that many gun fanatics afraid that obama will take their guns away!!!
shirley
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Ron Paul doesn’t lie? ROTFLMAO!!!!! OMG, that is hilarious!! Quick, say something else!
bran
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 10:28 am
I give you one week to point out ONE political lie from Ron Paul. The media has spent months trying to find dirt on him and found NOTHING. you think you can do better? Give it a shot then. As far as the rest of you liberals, when will you wake up and realize that Obama is doing worse than Hoover? If you ignorant SOBs even know who that is! That’s worth a chuckle or two!
Filthy Pazuzu
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Ron Paul lied about his involvement with those racist & homophobic newsletters. Repeatedly.
Wabbit
Jul. 24th, 2012 at 10:46 am
He also lied when asked a question in a debate. Outside of the event, with cameras rolling, a fan asked why he didn’t answer the question as he does outside of the public eye, and he said because it’s too controversial right now.
Jim Smith (@GutReactionPod)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 11:21 am
It is possible this rise in Twitter followers might be legit, but highly unlikely. These waves of “followers” overnight can be like cute baby/puppy/kitten video hits on YouTube (or that “Pants on the Ground” guy). And it’s already been shown that Newt Gingrich’s Twitter Million “followers” were 94% fakes.
But the REAL question is why would the number of Twitter or Facebook followers mean a damned thing as to to the actual worth of a candidate?
Seriously, just for laughs, retweet this post and ask all your followers to retweet it and see how my campaign (that I just made up a minute ago) makes me look like a real candidate.
(only tweet this part) Forget Romney and Obama. Jim Smith will make government better because he wants Internet access for ALL
Steve McCoy
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 11:48 am
Interesting article but its begging the question without any proof. How does one buy twitter followers anyway. I think this is just mud slinging.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:18 pm
I suppose you have to use twitter to understand it, but there are people who you pay to generate fake names and then add them to your twitter account. The number of followers one has is important to twitter followers
Vulpine
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 9:18 am
I have been a Twitter user and to be bluntly honest I don’t see the so-called ‘number of followers’ as anything to base a campaign on; people will follow who hate him just as much as there are those who like him. Why? Because they want to know what he’s up to and what he’s saying in order to have counter-arguments ready to plant in reply. What good are millions of followers when only a small percentage of them agree or are even legitimate?
patricia
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 11:05 am
Don’t care how many flowers a person has on twitter don’t even care how many are following me thats just plain STUPID!!!!
Prantha
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Someone on Facebook found companies that promised thousands of new Twitter followers, when she was googling how to increase Twitter followers. She found blog forums where it was explained that the “followers” that the companies sold were out of the country and/or inactive accounts. Worthless! But, helped the purchaser “look good.”
plooka32
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 3:46 am
C’mon, how much of a loser does someone have to be to buy his own twitter followers? That is just completely pathetic. And this is a presidential candidate?
I saw someone ask “why does this matter?” Of course it matters. It speaks volumes about his integrity and honesty, which combined with the immense amount of other lies he’s told with zero regard for truth, makes him a pretty sleazy guy.
Dane
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 4:56 pm
It’s real easy to buy followers. They’re companies all over twitter that will get you followers for a price. The more followers you want the more money you pay….I can see your not on twitter…
R.Bloch
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Just google “buy twitter followers”
You’ll find dozens of site that sell them….
Generally they are just made up followers, and it is used to inflate your popularity
Joyce
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:14 pm
He’s buying followers, no surprise. He’ll probably be buying votes too come November.
joycelansky.blogspot.com
Steve
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:31 pm
For a good look at Mitt’s “new followers,” take a gander:
www.facebook.com/photo.ph...
Kathleen Jutte
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 12:42 pm
Seriously, in light of everything that is going on in the world , who cares? Is this story even news worthy? What difference does it make, that he has an increase or decrease in people following him in Twitter? NONE. I would bet whoever us writing this is an Obama supporter. Stop wasting your time on non important subjects. Obviously, this is only my opinion.
JH
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:56 pm
This is important news as it shows how dishonest Romney is. From an OBAMA supporter.
SueinCA
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 3:34 pm
I second your comment. Amazing how people will overlook dishonesty so casually
BSPolitics
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 5:00 pm
So it doesn’t matter to you if a presidential candidate is dishonest? It’s a sad world when people like you get to vote. And FYI I’m not a democrat, but think it’s ridiculous so many republicans will vote for him just because he’s the republican candidate even though he’s a corporate vulture and lies constantly. It SHOULD matter to you whether he is an honest man or not. Just goes to show what kind of moral compass you have….
Will
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:32 am
Yes, because only an Obama supporter would have the journalistic integrity to dare speak out against Prince Romney and his fraudulent auctioneering. An anti-Obama person would have just covered it up.
JH
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Of course he is. All this man can do is cheat and lie. If he wins, and heaven help us, it will be because he cheated his way to the votes. Similar to another President in recent past.
silverraven06
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Who cares, it’s twitter ..A site to say absolutely anything…even if it’s garbage
Kevin
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Y’all stoop so low that you gotta make up stuff about the guy buying twitter followers? I mean seriously, who cares if he did? Y’all are some petty folks!!
Romney sucks for a choice as president, but I would vote for a chimp before I vote for Obama again.
Anyone who votes for this fool does not understand the principles of a check book. Your not supposed to write checks unless you have the money to back it up. Not only is this fool gonna bankrupt us, but at the rate he is going, he will bankrupt China too!!
ted
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 3:18 pm
You should maybe look into the vast debt that any one of your favorite republican presidents has brought upon our nation before slinging mud about. In the end you can’t run a government they way you run your household. Or maybe take an economics class. In any case do some homework before you vote….and fox news doesn’t count as homework. Neither does msnbc for that matter.
Ben
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Every president wrote checks the country couldn’t cash. It sounds like you think the country should be run like your household. This is wrong. The government should not make money. It’s purpose is to serve us and if it is making money then it is not doing everything it can to serve.
Will
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:35 am
If you honestly think a financial criminal, banker puppet, Chinese mob-facilitating tax cheat like Mitt Romney would make a better President than Obama, then i think youd be better off getting electroshock therapy on Election Day.
You might as well put Bernie Madoff as a write-in candidate if youre going to vote for Romney.
Joseph Hemphill
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 5:44 pm
congress pays the bills, not the president, don’t remember that little tidbit from civics class ?
susan o'reilly
Jul. 25th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
you are a blithering idiot!
susan o'reilly
Jul. 25th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
and your ‘chimp’ comment is racist and you know it!
susan o'reilly
Jul. 25th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
and your so called arguments are sophomoric at best, loser!
David Davidson
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Absolutely.
An associate of mine does this for a living. There are hundreds of kids being hired to make their paymasters look good via this cheerleading. And to leave negative comments about the ‘other guys’. If you ever see somebody twisting the most mundane news piece into a zinger about Obama… That’s likely a ‘troll for hire’.
David Davidson
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 4:13 pm
So anyways, take comment sections with a grain of salt. A large number of comments are in fact ‘scripted’ by somebody hired to create the illusion of mass popular support.
tellisound
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 5:12 pm
There is no evidence based on this post that Romney or Obama is “buying” twitter followers.
The whole purpose of having Twitter followers is so that they can follow what you say on twitter, respond to you (which their followers can read), or retweet what you say (again, so their followers can retweet). Therefore, buying twitter followers would be a waste of money. I’m sure Romney and Obama understand that and choose to spend their money somewhere else.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Obviously you know very little about twitter
Jay
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:52 am
As someone who works in Marketing and Social Media, it is obvious that you have no idea about the marketing/impact of Twitter.
Steve C
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 5:54 pm
If Obama can lie and get away with it for 4 years then Romney figures he can to lol.
From a Ron Paul supporter that knows, Ron Paul doesn’t lie.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 7:54 pm
Yawn
Custer'sWorstNightmare
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 2:43 am
Steve,you Paulbots are SO Pedantic.And why on Earth would you even be Negative?You should REJOICE that RMoney is such a Collossal Douchebag.It just lessens any chance he has of winning POTUS or even possibly being The GOP Nominee,even though he has Delegates.He has to Pick a VP to run with that is fully vetted.It’s harder to get to be a Veep than the POTUS.This sleaziness as Business as usual actually gives your Paranoid Paul a shot at being The fallback guy for GOP Nominee.Ever thought about it that way?The more of Romneys vile practices that come to Light,the better chance Ole RP has of getting back in the game.So it would behoove you to help widen the Grave RMoney has already dug for himself.It’s called Long Term thinking&the ability to actually completely see things through,but you Paulbots and The GOP/TEA have NEVER been good at thinking beyond next month,let alone 10 years from now.Get a clue&get busy sinking Romney,it’s the ONLY way your Nutter has a shot at POTUS!
Craig C
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 6:10 pm
Twit-der…I’d rather buy feed mice and get their opinions about life.
jim kausner
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 8:30 pm
really@ your telling me someone actually has the time to dig u this absolutley lame and unimportant garbage. so you mindlesws creatures have something to twit about
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Its easily seen. It doesnt have to be “dug up”. Espcially when someone gets thousands of new followers with names like Dfuhce
I would guess you dont mind Romney being a sleaze. But then again Im sure whioever runs his web media did the actual purchase.
Ken Davy
Jul. 22nd, 2012 at 11:39 pm
So the only proof you have that Romney is buying followers is that his follower count is going up so fast? Do you have any REAL proof?
Cathy Herman
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:22 am
Hey Mitt, send me 10 grand and i will follow you on twitter and facebook :)
Robert
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:24 am
For those that asked it’s REAL easy to buy followers on Twitter. They are fake accounts created by companies who then sell you the right to be liked by their fake accounts. It’s belief that when people see a page with many likes they are more likely to follow it as well. Also makes the news from time to time. Very, very easy to do.
Sharon Oatman
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:43 am
Hilarious! Just saying something doesn’t make it so. I am amazed at the sheepeople that have actually reposted this garbage without one word of proof. Please tell me why ANYONE would want to buy followers on social media for any reason! It makes no sense whatsoever folks-Come on!
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 6:39 am
Perhaps you should get on twitter and spend some time there, then answer your own question
Michael
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 3:04 am
This same article does point out that Obama’s Twitter account has over 17 million followers. When do you plan to do an expose to find out how many of those are fake?
James
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 3:06 am
Whether he did or not doesn’t really bother me…I’ve seen an article similar to this about Obama as well…The only question I don’t see anyone asking is…Did anyone consider the possibility that this may have been done, not by the Romney campaign, but by a non affiliated Romney supporter…or maybe even an Obama supporter trying to tarnish Romney…I’m not here to argue…I don’t care what you guys think…I’m just throwing some thoughts out there
Gretchen
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 3:59 am
Well this would certainly explain how his “We need 2 million followers” on Facebook jumped from 152,164 to over 2.2 million in less than half an hour. Magic!
Dismissia
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 4:49 am
So how many of Obama’s followers are real???
Romney disgusts me. I just cannot stand him.
Geek Hillbilly (@GeekHillbilly)
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 9:52 am
Not that I’m the least bit surprised.Mitt The Bot has not been popular among the GOP,let alone Independents.
It seems to be a typical rich kid mentality,buying the popularity that Willard craves but will never get legitimately.
patricia
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 11:14 am
YEP the rich always think they can buy popularity in fact they think they can buy anything and for the most part they do it would be a scream if people took this money for votes an then voted Oboma!!!
Matt
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 11:20 am
Two things to consider:
1) People could have been curious as to what Mr. Romney would say about the Colorado shooting.
2) Following on Twitter does not equal supporting. You can bet every Obama campaign worker follows Romney on Twitter.
Sheryl
Jul. 23rd, 2012 at 1:30 pm
This does matter. It matters because this is one more example of how government/politicians/coorporations buy followers in efforts to stir up controversy and create a movement, where none existed previously, in efforts to protect and serve their own angendas.
This article is important because 99.9% of these powerhouses who do this type of deceit are never revealed.
It happens within our government all the time…think ‘weapons of mass destruction.’ Think ‘Operation Ajax’ (1953). And the list goes on.
Big coorporations/government will stop at nothing to create movements and trends in the direction they want no matter how dishonest it is. They will hire scientists to give a falsified version of facts (think Global Warming nay-sayers); protestors, to give a politician a bad name; they will hire people to write articles, reviews, etc. online in efforts to make 5 people appear to be 5,000 to gain a following on a certain agenda that best serves their purposes.
And the majority of people fall for it everytime. Because they take what is given to them at face value. They don’t research themselves, they don’t think themselves. They think….well, 100,000 people can’t be wrong.
d
Jul. 24th, 2012 at 8:22 am
more shame goes to the souls that can be bought
David Lloyd-Jones
Jul. 24th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Crabgrass.
-dlj.
BonnieJeanneTonks
Jul. 24th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Seems Mitt’s taking a page from Rush Limbaugh’s damage mitigation team – buying followers on Twitter. How far behind is his purchase of Facebook friends?
PROTIP: If a gasbag misogynist is saying “THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO…” it’s probably NOT what you need to do.
JM
Jul. 25th, 2012 at 9:41 am
It is possible a lot of these added twitters were from a wide campaign to barrage the mitt with messages to ‘show his tax returns’, so not at all ‘supporters’ but one time requests to come clean.
Socialyy
Jul. 26th, 2012 at 9:21 am
i would like to think that he didnt purchased twitter followers, but anyone can be tempted to especially if you want to be popular overnight.