It's odd that someone would actually pay for Twitter followers, I mean what's the point, right? But a 1.27.18 N.Y. Times story is saying that Richard Roeper has been found guilty of such a "crime." Of all people, why Roeper? He has 224,000 followers.
Now, it sounds like that's a nono in journalism as Roeper has reportedly been suspended by the Chicago Sun-Times who "will no longer be publishing anything by Roeper until it completes an investigation of his Twitter followers." I figure he'll eventually come back from this, althought the accusations are quite odd and very 2018, the reppercussions of such an act still unknoen.
Chicago Sun Times editor-in-chief Chris Fusco:
“We became aware over the weekend of issues relating to Rich Roeper’s Twitter account. We’re investigating these issues. We will not be publishing any reviews or columns by Rich until this investigation is complete.”
Lou over at HE said this:
"There's no shame in having bought followers - it's not about false ego, it's about increasing the visibility/priority of your tweets. The more followers you have, the higher your tweet gets placed in everyone else's streams - twitter considers you more influential. It's the backdoor way to buy premium service."