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Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:15 PM

Mitt Romney Accused of Buying Twitter Followers

Source: Yahoo

Mitt Romney's Twitter account is creating controversy not because of any actual tweets, but because of a sudden and dramatic spike in followers. The presidential hopeful gained more than 135,000 new followers over the weekend; prior to that, he'd been racking them up at a rate of 3,000 to 4,000 per day. The Twitter tracking site 140elect.com noticed the extraordinary growth, and folks in the Twitterverse immediately began tweeting their own theories. Here's one: "That awkward moment when people notice Mitt Romney has been buying followers."

Others suggest the followers aren't even human. Certain signs point to the possibility that some new arrivals could be "Twitter bots," as they have trouble spelling certain words and have no followers of their own. The Romney campaign's digital director, Zac Moffatt, rejects that theory, saying, "We have reached out to Twitter to find out additional information regarding the rapid growth. "

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/mitt-romney-accused-buying-twitter-followers-183024486.html



That's the whole article. I hadn't really heard of TwitterTurf before now, but I can see it happening.

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Arrow 21 replies Author Time Post
Reply Mitt Romney Accused of Buying Twitter Followers (Original post)
mbperrin Jul 2012 OP
siligut Jul 2012 #1
Marie Marie Jul 2012 #2
Chemisse Jul 2012 #3
Grassy Knoll Jul 2012 #4
harmonicon Jul 2012 #5
siligut Jul 2012 #6
cosmicone Jul 2012 #7
Jackpine Radical Jul 2012 #8
tclambert Jul 2012 #11
Berlum Jul 2012 #9
davidpdx Jul 2012 #10
Alduin Jul 2012 #12
Vinca Jul 2012 #13
radhika Jul 2012 #14
NYC_SKP Jul 2012 #15
Jamaal510 Jul 2012 #16
Canuckistanian Jul 2012 #17
EarthCitizen Jul 2012 #18
AsahinaKimi Jul 2012 #19
klook Jul 2012 #20
LosMortales Jul 2012 #21

Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:26 PM

1. Since it happened over a weekend, I wonder if church goers were told to support Mitt on the Net

I hope Twitter can figure it out and then tell us.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:43 PM

2. Romney: I have money - I can buy stuff.

Got a problem with that? Then you are just jealous of my success.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:44 PM

3. Now that is just pathetic. Therefore classic Romney.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:25 AM

4. Somebody from Yahoo is losing his job....

Yahoo hates Obama, look at all the children in the comments after
what ever Obama news is.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 02:52 AM

5. I think it's probably all legit. Why? This:

"Others suggest the followers aren't even human ... as they have trouble spelling certain words and have no followers of their own."

If we haven't learned that that describes the average Republican voter, what have we learned?

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Response to harmonicon (Reply #5)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:43 AM

6. lol, sure, they could be both, bots and reTHUGs, just like Mitt



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Response to harmonicon (Reply #5)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:24 AM

7. hahahaha

"Get a brane morans, we is no bots, we is real."

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Response to cosmicone (Reply #7)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:30 AM

8. All your Mittens are belong to us.

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Response to Jackpine Radical (Reply #8)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 11:20 AM

11. Maybe one day he will meet the blue fairy, and she will make him a real . . .

(fill in the blank yourself).

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Response to harmonicon (Reply #5)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:31 AM

9. Legitimate payola?

Only in the Republican Homeland of Deceptive Propaganda...

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 08:05 AM

10. He can buy votes with his rich friend's money...

Buying Twitter followers then would be pretty easy in comparison.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:34 PM

12. Mitt is really pathetic.

 

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:34 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Buying Twitter followers? That's the most pathetic thing anyone can do online.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:05 PM

13. Well, we know members of the GOP often have to pay for "love."

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:05 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:08 PM

14. More context on this from Crooks & Liars

This whole Twit padding thing is news to me, fascinating.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/where-do-mitts-new-twitter-followers-

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 05:16 PM

15. "trouble spelling certain words and have no followers of their own"?

Classic Freeper!

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 05:53 PM

16. This man can buy Twitter followers,

yet he won't pay extra taxes? What a country!

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:10 PM

17. Is there a chart of Romney's followers over time?

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:11 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

That would be interesting to see.



on edit: found it!

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:40 PM

18. Buying twitter followers is sad :(

He's so "successful" he has to pay people to follow him.
It's kind of sad, actually

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 09:23 PM

19. you will know its padded when

he gets more buddies than the entire population of the United States.

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 10:39 PM

20. Huh. So he didn't get here on his own after all. (n/t)

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Response to mbperrin (Original post)

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 10:54 PM

21. Why not? He wants to buy the White House

Why not buy twitter bots? He wants to buy the White House. Mitt "Cyborg" Romney is a self-righteous liar, a predator, a self-righteous crook. To gain an appreciation of the depth and robotic sincerity of his self-righteousness, to gain an existential understanding of the cult that produced Mitt "Cyborg" Romney, and to get your socks scared off, read The Assassination of Spiro Agnew, available at:

www.amazon.com/Assassination-Spiro-Agnew-novel-ebook/dp/B0083EGJXC

Its brown-eyed, part-Mexican Mormon assassin dramatizes the Mormon superiority complex manifesting as jingoism and an anti-federal government temperament. It shows the similarities between Islam and Mormonism and reveals the secrets of Mormon mind control, the spiritual powers behind the cult.

Praise:

“With a clarity of language and vision unsurpassed in contemporary American prose, Steven Janiszewski's Assassination of Spiro Agnew takes us into a U.S. mazed with madness and Mormonism and all things Utah, a U.S. that was then and still is. Do we need a novel, even as brilliant as this one, about a young man on a divine mission to assassinate the Vice President because he is too liberal? Yes, now more than ever. Readers, welcome to a masterpiece.”
tomwhalen.com

Read The Assassination of Spiro Agnew.

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