Almost half of Twitter brand profiles followers are 'robots': Study

Milan, June 11 (ANI): Nearly 46 percent of Twitter followers of businesses with active profiles could be robots, a new study has claimed.

Professor of Digital Languages at IULM University of Milan, Marco Camisani Calzolari, who analysed 39 companies including Dell, Coca Cola, Vodafone and Ikea, revealed that almost half of the users following them did not actually exist.

The study used a random sample of 10,000 followers for each firm, and then analysed their behaviour using software and algorithms to work out who was human, News.com.au reports.

Proper punctuation, profiles with a name, image or physical address and log-ins from different devices were indicators the user was 'probably human'.

Uploading photos from Instagram and other apps was also an indicator of humanity, the research said.

The study said Dell's Italian Twitter account, @DellOutlet, was found to have some of the worst results, with 45.99 per cent of users proving to be robots.

It revealed that Vodafone's 38.77 per cent followers were identified as 'non-human'.

Also, a smaller percentage of @CocaCola and @Pepsi followers were found to be fake, with only 15.87 and 13.13 per cent identified as robot followers, respectively.

According to the report, Prof Calzolari said that companies were not to be blamed for their fake followers because social network communications were often outsourced to third parties.

"In some cases, the web agency or media centre executives have chosen to take short cuts in order to demonstrate to companies, who are oblivious, that their activities have been successful by generating lots of new users," he said. (ANI)