The fake-follower economy
An entire supply chain exists to inflate the one number brands still pay for. We followed the money.
Posthype StudioThere is an entire supply chain built to inflate the one number brands still pay for. Follower counts are bought, rented, and laundered through engagement pods at a scale that makes the metric close to meaningless — and the market keeps paying anyway.
We followed the money from panel sites to reseller bots to the agencies that quietly look the other way. The economics are brutal and simple: as long as a brief specifies a follower minimum, someone will sell the followers to clear it.
Why the number won't die
The fix is not technical. It is contractual. Brands that pay on audited audiences and tracked outcomes starve the fraud of oxygen. The ones still buying reach are funding the very supply chain they complain about.
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- 01A full supply chain exists to inflate follower counts.
- 02The fix is contractual, not technical.
- 03Pay on audited audiences and tracked outcomes.
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