Something strange is going on with Trump's Twitter followers


On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton told a tech conference that President Trump's victory over her in November came with a little help from an army of automated bots on Twitter, and alluded to reports that bots are once again amassing at Trump's Twitter fortress. "Who is behind driving up Trump's Twitter followers by the millions? We know they're bots," she said. "Is it to make him look more popular than he is? Is it to try to influence others on Twitter about what the messaging is so that people get caught up in it and lose sight of what they're trying to say?"
BuzzFeed News rated that assertion false, because Twitter had told BuzzFeed that Trump did not recently gain 5 million followers in three days, but researchers say there really is something fishy going on with Trump's Twitter numbers — which grew by 2.4 million in May, from 28.6 million to 31 million followers, or about one new follower a second. "In my expert opinion, something strange is going on," Samuel C. Woolley, research director for the Computational Propaganda project at Oxford University, tells The Washington Post. "It's consistent with other strange things that have gone on before with this politician's Twitter feed."
The numbers themselves aren't that shocking — he is president, and uses Twitter a lot — but there's "a strangely large percentage of Trump's followers — and especially his newest followers — that have only the most rudimentary account information, with no profile picture, few followers, and little sign that they have ever tweeted." These so-called "egg followers" are often, but not always, automated bots. According to analytics firm SocialRank, Trump has 9.1 million egg followers, up from 5 million in February. "The quality of the new followers is pretty bad," says Jonathan Albright at Columbia.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Some of Trump's new followers have just joined and haven't yet completed their profiles, experts say, but there's also evidence of a bot buildup. "It's probably a combination of both," SocialRank CEO Alexander Taub told the Post, "but there's something fishy." The reason people are paying attention is that Trump's bots outperformed Clinton's 5-to-1 in the days before the election, according to a study by Wooly and his Oxford colleagues. You can read more about what may be afoot at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
El Palace Barcelona: old-world luxury in the heart of the city
The Week Recommends This historic hotel is set within a former Ritz outpost moments from the Passeig de Gràcia
-
The best history books to read in 2025
The Week Recommends These fascinating deep-dives are perfect for history buffs
-
July 4 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include the danger of talking politics at a family picnic, and disappearing Medicaid entitlements
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami