Thursday, November 28, 2024, 12:06 | Updated 12:24 p.m.
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Compromís Alicante denounces alleged “attacks” on its Instagram account. The main profile of the Valencian coalition in the city has been unusable – and with various typos in its biography – for a month due to a “boycott”, they accuse, launching a new user since last November 6.
The nationalist spokesperson in the municipal group Compromís, Rafa Mas, has published a video on his hybrid Instagram profile – combining his political life with his personal life – where he exposes the situation, which also supposedly affects his account. “They are attacking me,” he predicts.
Video by Rafa Mas where he denounces the attack.
@mas_alacant
The accusations made by the councilor are due to the massive increase in followers on his Instagram profile, without denouncing other types of actions common in cyber attacks on social networks such as sending private messages to followers or publishing ‘spam’ information on his feed. or stories, among others.
The mayor’s account has experienced numerous ups and downs in the last month, exceeding 25,000 followers just a few days ago and the figure dropping to 16,000 this Thursday. «Someone, some or something keeps adding bots to my Instagram account that are people, fake accounts, people that do not exist, people from many countries. “They have written to me from Pakistan, Indonesia, very strange letters.”
Rafa Mas account with more than 16,000 followers.
@mas_alacant
“Don’t worry,” he tries to calm down and at the same time informs that “I am already informing Instagram”, an action that experts consider correct in the face of an alleged attack on the councilor’s account. However, they also consider the possibility that the supposed “hack” is, in reality, a massive purchase of bots.
The director of the University Expert, Strategy and Digital Communication of the University of Alicante, Irene Ramos, explains to questions from TodoAlicante that the normal thing in cases of attacks and hacks is to “steal the identity” of the user as well as their profile or “generate an account twin” in which content is published on your behalf.
Two Compromís accounts as the official one remains blocked.
FACING
From the point of view of the university professor, the situation reported by Rafa Mas corresponds more to a purchase of followers. “There may be attacks,” which are not derived from an increase in users who follow the account directly. There is a possibility, however, that a third party could have done it in the form of an offensive against the councilor.
However, Ramos clarifies that these types of attacks have greater significance in profiles of “relevant figures.” In the case of the councilor of Compromís “it draws attention” because “I find it strange that they have noticed him” and, above all, because of the massive increase in followers in such a short time. «It is very easy to create chatbots with artificial intelligence to generate followers. For four euros you get thousands.
This possible reason for the alleged attack is also a negative strategy for any type of profile, both a business brand and a public figure. Bots “do not generate a community, they are empty followers” that do not offer interaction and only cause a “loss of credibility” in the account.
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**What are the potential motivations behind purchasing bot followers on social media platforms like Instagram?**
The text provided describes a situation where Rafa Mas, a councilor for Compromís in Alicante, claims his Instagram account is being attacked. He refers to a sudden increase in followers, many of which he believes are bots.
Experts say that while attacks can occur on social media, a sudden surge in followers is more likely the result of purchasing bots.
It’s important to remember that bot followers offer no real engagement and can damage an account’s credibility.
