by Dan Moren
Is that Twitter follower fake?
Digital investigator Nixintel has a fascinating post detailing heuristics for determining if a Twitter account is likely fake. What particularly jumped out at me are the signs that a profile picture is artificially generated by a site like This Person Does Not Exist:
A common feature of TPDNE images is that the eyes and mouth of the person are always in exactly the same place in the picture. The eyes are always the same distance apart and centred in the same place. The mouth is always about one quarter of the way up from the bottom of the image and is also always centred. This occurs regardless of the angle of their head and can sometimes make for quite unusual looking faces.
Fake Twitter accounts are widespread these days, and while the post points you towards automated systems like Botometer that can do the analysis for you, it’s also worthwhile familiarizing yourself with the red flags. Because knowing is half the battle.
(Hat tip to Merlin Mann.)