Money can’t buy love, can buy ‘likes’

A good reputation is now apparently just a mouse click away. Consider the case of a Delhi-based educator who realised about a year ago that he needed lots of Facebook 'likes' to impress his clients abroad and approached Gaurav Dhir, who ran a social media marketing firm back then. "We dealt in genuine social media marketing and advertisements. But the person who approached me wanted a quick fix. He wanted to buy likes," says Dhir, "I referred him to someone who I knew and who could have given him likes for the money." In a few weeks, the educator's Facebook page, says Dhir, acquired thousands of likes. The person supposedly spent over Rs 1,00,000 to buy them; and joined a growing list of folks who're parting with the cash to rake in a fake reputation. 

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was recently dragged into this, accused by his rivals of buying a Facebook following, from Turkey of all places. If so Gehlot then joins the ranks of several politicians in the US, Europe, Canada and Middle East also accused of spending money for acquiring such reputations. In fact, the US Department of State also faced some flak recently for spending over $6,00,000 on buying likes for its Facebook page. 

According to a recent report by BarracudaLabs, a research firm, the industry of generating fake social media followers and fans is booming. Hundreds of websites, including a few based in India, promise to give you a truckload of likes on Facebook or followers on Twitter for just $200. See More