Source: Telegraph
Newt Gingrich accused of 'buying' followers on Twitter
A former employee of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has accused him of buying followers on the Twitter website in an attempt to make himself seem more in touch with the grassroots.
By Alex Spillius, Washington
6:05PM BST 02 Aug 2011
The employee claimed that the Republican used a number of agencies that create inactive or dummy accounts which were made to "follow" his Twitter account.
Of Mr Gingrich's 1.3 million followers, he told the Gawker website that only ten per cent were "real sentient people who happen to like New Gingrich".
Most of his followers have odd usernames and no profile photos, suggesting they were mass generated.
