Real or Fake? Facebook is Making the Call

Did you know that Eminem is the celebrity with the most likes on Facebook with 61 million fans? Or, supposed fans. Have you wondered if maybe there really are millions of people out there who genuinely like a celebrity or brand?

Facebook has now come out with an answer. In the past couple of weeks, Facebook announced it was going through and removing fake profiles from the social network. Already, we are seeing the number of fans dropping on pages all across the board, from celebrities to Facebook application pages. Facebook has reported that 8.7% of its 955 million users are fake. They also found that many of the click-throughs on ads were “bots” or fake profiles, thus generating false number readings and reducing the effectiveness of ads.

So, what does this mean for businesses? For some business or organization pages, it is possible that you will see a decrease in numbers, affecting your analytics numbers. If you purchased some of your followers, you may be hit the hardest. Facebook says, “A like that doesn’t come from someone truly interested in connecting with a page benefits no one. Real identity, for both users and brands on Facebook, is important to not only Facebook’s mission of helping the world share, but also the need for people and customers to authentically connect to the pages they care about.”

Do you agree? Just be aware, if you see a sudden drop in your likes, it is probably Facebook doing a little housekeeping.