https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csy6zj
Hello, I'm E__ B__, and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. Today, we are looking into the fakers. They're __ing the world of Instagram. "We found that somewhere between 20 to 30% of influencers __ be artificially inflating their metrics in some way, shape or form, whether that be buying fake followers or even ... now ... people are buying / fake "Like"s / you / 's a total d__. / Fakers and f__ __ people making millions online. That's Biz Daily from the BBC.
OK, right. E__, we were talking yesterday about influencers. Uh, these are the people, regular men and women, of course, on social media, maybe they're models, maybe they're actors / minor celebrities. Anyway. They are / on Instagram / talking about their lives and their likes, and they're taking money from adverti__ firms __ __ __ stuff ... products. Fun fact that I was reading __ __ __ __ they spend three quarters of their marketing budget on influencers ... uh ... in the last week or so. E__, you've been trying to turn yourself into an influencer. Now, we talked about this yesterday. Correct me if I'm wrong. It was becoming pretty clear that you are finding this a hard work. / Yeah. So, I / influencer profile, "londonpastaguy", uh, focused on pasta, which I love eating and making, / I thought / be a good / a following / like my post__, that's __ really slow process. So, to get __ __ ground __ start looking __ __ Internet for help, and I found a help __ an unlikely place, a conceptual artist in B__, called __ __. Here he is: / So, a few months ago, I made a new project, and it's called "__", and it's like a vending mashine that __ __ __ __ you can buy "Like"s and followers for Instagram on this machine. / Right. He really is ... a faker, isn't he? / Well, he's a ... he's an artist. So, he's sort of doing it for an art project__ / yeah, he made this vending machine, and it dispenses followers and "Like"s. It's an art installation, but it works. You put in some coins, you punch your Instagram name in on your keyboard, and __ your latest post gets hundreds of "Like"s. Um, so, I asked him how it works. / I made, actually, a lot of fake accounts that will follow you or like your latest posts. / And you are __ control of them? / Yeah. / OK / at the moment, I / to become a ... a bit of an Instagram influencer myself / What is your account name? / It's "londonpastaguy", one word. / OK. / Yeah. So, what ... I've got one new post there today. I took a picture of my lunch. / Huh huh. Yeah. Do you want some extra "Like"s for it / are we looking at? / Uh, we can give you 500 / what do you want? / Wow. OK. Um ... / at the moment / zero follower / let's / got my phone in front of me, so ... / hundred now / 130, 140, 150, ... / Oh my god. OK, so, suddenly, I / "Like"s / 200 / 195 "Like"s, it says here / 250, 270, ... / Oh my god. OK. I'm getting really popular really quickly. 284 "Like"s. / Yeah / then / almost 300, and then you will ... I think, in a minute, / Oh, wow. That's so quick. It's / basically / if I look through at the "Like"s, I can / list of / that post. ... And ... / they / all / accounts that are controlled by you / are / real people / Um ... no / 541, ... still going. My lunch has never been so popular. / Yeah. And it's ... what is interesting / be / my full-time / For some people, it's a full-time job to sell those "Like"s and to ask money for it. / Yeah. What should I learn / not always real. Now __ __ __ you have zero following, but now almost 800 "Like"s / post __ / looks like / have to / find / myself / as well / Yeah / what I loved about that / that interview / that, even though you knew all of __ stuff / fake / all these followers / being b__ to you / I sensed / am I wrong? I sense / something / approval you__ receiving / if, like me, you / kind of / maybe / your most successful post / getting a thou ... I've got ... I've got / "Like"s / londonpastaguy profile / amazing / I can understand the sort of thrill / kind of feedback / response when you are not used to it / an industry, / doing / thousands of others / doing / is / like / whole / really easy to go out and find / that / many "Like"s / some money / speaking / about 2 minutes on Google / me about 15 dollars / thousand followers for that / pay / I sat back, crossed my fingers / next couple of minutes / almost / about 300 more over the last / through / around 800 / so, maybe / short-changed slightly / who / account / all look really fake / names are kind of computer-generated / a bit / generic / profiles / stock images / put / there automatically. / So, how close / very close / probably need to buy a whole lot more / level / demonstrate how easy it is / buy / few / few / I want to follow this up now / someone / who did manage / more industrial level / name / runs / marketing firm / a couple of years ago / exactly the same trick / bigger level / created / two / just / how easy / time / buy / followers / literally like for / or more. So, / what / model / took / account / only bought / didn't / captions, we didn't / just / bought followers / second / just / So, now / accounts / followers / put the accounts / platform / got / I think, a week or two weeks / sponser / these / good / good money / very / didn't check / bait / That was 2017 / since / grown exponentially / sofistication / think / get away with / same stunt now / last / actually / found / hotel / from / influencers / hotel / showcase / showcase / accounts / fake / why / email / area / country / ask / free / exchange / instagram / responded / imagine / still / has changed is that / facebook / much better / fewer / expensive / expensive / fake followers / basically / interesting, isn't it / supposedly / if / fake followers / no / second / tired of us / that's / there are, of course / audit / basically / plug / find out / actually / among / influencers / now / be / shape / form / buying / buying / fake / become / 20 / 30 / dishonest / know / fault / industry / regulated / market / regulate / sign / evolve / means / o you / fake / primary / how many / are they following / have / profile / filled / composition / example / no