The Ups and Downs of Being a Twitter Fraudster 101
Barence writes "PC Pro has a feature examining the psychology and motivation of people who create fake or parody Twitter accounts. The feature reveals how people behind some of the most popular parodies — such as @MrsStephenFry — have gone on to earn commercial success, while others are altogether more sinister. The man behind @Lord_Credo managed to convince many that he was a personal adviser to British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and wormed his way into political circles. He allegedly conned some out of money, took advantage of the hospitality of others, and left the professional reputation of at least one 'in tatters.' He even fabricated a malignant brain tumor, leaving one young member of the group 'utterly distraught.'"
Raise your hand (Score:3, Interesting)
If you're sick of the verb "tweet".
Re:u should deceive those u can (Score:5, Interesting)
On a somewhat related topic: In the book The Big Short [wikipedia.org] (about the derivatives crash), Lewis describes a fund manager that suffers from Asperger syndrome. A very smart guy, but not susceptible to the back-slapping and other bullshit typically used to push questionable investment products in the industry. He kept asking for numbers to back up the bankers' claims. When note were forthcoming, he did his own research and, as a result, shorted many of the derivative products on the market. He earned billions of dollars for his fund.
Sometimes, a touch of Asperger helps. Or at least one can step back and observe the social interactions*.
*I hang around with a group of behavioral psychologists. When we go out to a bar, its funny to sit and watch them observe and classify social interactions around themselves as if they were watching a cage with a bunch of chimpanzees in an experiment.
My experience with a parody account (Score:2, Interesting)
Having seen no comments yet from anyone who's actually done this...
I run a fake twitter feed, lampooning a guy known in several wide social circles known for his... lets say "interesting" personality. He's not exactly widely loved or widely hated (maybe polarizing though), but he can be counted on to have an unexpected viewpoint on basically anything. (It might be Aspergers, we don't know.) The actual guy doesn't seem to mind, because I take care to not say anything mean.
The account has turned out to be a decent hit among the people that know him. The people that love him immensely and hate him immensely both like it similarly. Also, it gives me an outlet for some creativity and humor. Finally, there is a very small rush from "pleasing an audience," even if it is only 80 or so people, and only a small fraction of those 80 knowing it is me on the other end. ...And that's about the extent of it. No commercialization, no defrauding anyone of their money, not even 100 followers. But it makes 80 people's lives, and mine, an iota better.