What is the “Twitter Purge,” Orange County? It sounds like the title of a new summer blockbuster. It’s the rather sensationalistic name given to the announcement that Twitter made recently that the company is going to be locking and removing suspicious accounts. Many companies use Twitter as part of their SEO strategy, so if you have an SEO company in your employ, they should be aware of what’s happening, and they should be prepared for it. Here’s what “The Purge” likely means for you.
It Will Be Beneficial To Advertisers
One of the reasons Twitter decided to take the action that it did was likely in response to the GDPR being implemented. If a Twitter user hadn’t declared their age, for instance, they ran the risk of being locked out under the new regulations stipulated in the GDPR. Going forward, first the accounts will be locked, and then, if it cannot be established that they are legit and active, they will be removed from the platform entirely. What does this mean to the advertiser who is thinking about SEO and the best use of their ad dollars? In essence, because these phantom accounts are being purged from the platform, it means that they will no longer be shown ads. Before this development, many phantom or dummy accounts were being shown ads, and to no useful purpose. This could very well have been a drain on ad budgets, but that will not be the case from now on.
Trust and Transparency
When this new policy went into place, it upset some Orange County Twitter users, specifically politicians and influencers who lost massive chunks of their followers. It will likely benefit them in the long run, however. What Twitter is trying to do with these purges is to ensure that there are no more accounts that are being set up for nefarious purposes. It is not uncommon for someone to try and artificially inflate their following so that they can appear to be a powerful influencer when most of the accounts following them aren’t even active.
Influencers, politicians, and brands who have lost significant followings might not have those impressive numbers anymore, but they can rebuild through organic SEO if they know how to do it. From now on, the accounts following them will be real and active. That will allow these brands, politicians, etc. to enjoy more legitimate interactions with their fans and backers. That’s much better than having 100,000 followers, but only forty percent of them are real people.
If you have an SEO company that’s running your Twitter account, Orange County, and they report a significant amount of followers lost because of this recent action, don’t panic. The Purge might seem ominous or scary at first, but it’s going to lead to a better and more transparent Twitter experience in the long run. Just instruct your SEO company to rebuild your following using proven white hat techniques, and you will soon regain the numbers that you lost.