Tik Tok Fake Followers: The Facts You Need To Know

Profile photo ofCarolyn Howell, author

Carolyn Howell

Last Updated: Oct 25, 2023

TikTok 101

Want More Real Tiktok Followers?

Social media has made instant gratification the norm. But you can’t get instant gratification without followers. If you’re on TikTok, you can buy the metrics you need for a chance at a quick shot to fame. Tik Tok fake followers can superficially boost your numbers and make you an instant celebrity. Almost everybody’s doing it, so why shouldn’t you?

A group of women creating a video for TikTok.

Should You Get Fake Followers on TIKTOK?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that getting fake followers on Tik Tok is now an accepted social media reality. Some TikTokers buy them, while others get them unknowingly.

Why do TikTokers buy fake followers? Because it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to build a massive following and an impressive presence on the platform. Buying followers is a quick way to “fame.” When you buy followers, you superficially increase your numbers and get inauthentic fame. But creating the impression of popularity can give you the attention you need to become genuinely popular.

Why should you care if somebody you’re following has fake TikTok followers? Note that fake profiles are everywhere, and real users may not even be aware they have fake followers. But if a profile has more fake followers than real ones, and especially if their engagement is also mostly fake, then you should be wary. The page may not offer any real value regarding content and community.

Do Fake TikTok Followers Count? The Pros of Tik Tok Fake Followers

Given the prevalent practice of buying followers, we should address the question of whether or not having fake TikTok followers count. Can Tik Tok fake followers help you achieve anything? They may have a few, albeit short-lived, advantages.

  • A boost in follower numbers can signal TikTok’s algorithm that you should be featured on some users’ For You Pages (FYP).
  • A massive following will make you look incredibly popular.
  • A high follower count can help generate interest in your brand, drive more traffic to your profile, and earn new followers.

The Cons of Tik Tok Fake Followers

The harsh reality is having Tik Tok fake followers comes with more risks than rewards. Ensure you’re aware of the disadvantages of padding your follower count with fake profiles before you start throwing away your dollars.

  • Sooner or later, TikTok and other users will detect fake profiles among your followers.
  • TikTok will purge your account of these fake profiles, and your follower count will instantly plummet.
  • The sudden decrease in your follower numbers will hurt your brand’s overall performance on the platform and skew your analytics.
  • You will lose credibility among your real followers and other users; you may even lose your existing followers.
  • Fake followers do not deliver engagement. The big discrepancy between your follower numbers and engagement rate will also result in inaccurate analytics. To TikTok’s algorithm, it will look like your engagement level is too low. The low engagement will imply that your content is not interesting or relevant. As a result, TikTok will not show your content to your real followers and potential new ones.

A person studying a bar graph of a brand’s follower growth on TikTok.

How To Check Fake Followers on Tik Tok

Identifying Tik Tok fake followers is essential if you’re considering an influencer or a business for a brand collaboration or sponsorship. Suppose you’ve been diligently and organically growing your account because you want followers who also deliver value to your community. In that case, you should know how to spot fake profiles so you can weed them out. You can manually check fake followers on Tik Tok or use an online audit tool.

How To Identify Tik Tok Fake Followers Manually

Watch out for these signs to help you identify Tik Tok fake followers.

  1. There’s a significant discrepancy between the number of accounts they’re following and their number of followers. It’s possible that they’re not bots; they’re just happy enough taking the back seat and enjoying other people’s content. But if they check off other signs on this list, the account is likely fake.
  2. There’s very little account activity. You might see videos shared recently and nothing else, or the account has not updated their feed for months or years. You might also notice that they post content sporadically, with months of inactivity in between. The minimal and infrequent activity combined with a following high count indicates that the account is a bot or fake.
  3. Very few or zero original content. People join TikTok to create their own TikTok videos. Again, a user may want to watch other people’s TikTok. But real TikTok fans like to join the fun and post their TikTok creations. Their original videos should show who the account owner is.
  4. The bio is blank, and the profile picture is a random or unidentifiable image.
  5. Their comments on your videos are generic, without substance, or completely nonsensical.

How to Spot Tik Tok Fake Followers With an Audit Tool

An online audit tool like HypeAuditor is a social media fraud detection and analytics tool. HypeAuditor can “[analyze] fake followers and [identify] a given influencer account’s audience quality (authenticity).” You can use HypeAuditor to “analyze the quality of the followers of any TikTok account” and identify Tik Tok fake followers.

HypeAuditor offers free tools with no sign-up required. These tools include the TikTok Account Quality Checker, TikTok Follower Count Checker, and TikTok Engagement Rate Calculator.

To use the Free TikTok Audit & Fake Followers Audit Tiktok online tool, just input the TikTok account name. You’ll immediately get an account quality score, followers count, engagement rate, and the number of videos posted.

A person using a laptop to audit a TikTok account and identify Tik Tok, fake followers.

How To Deal With Tik Tok Fake Followers

If you have identified fake TikTok followers in your account, you can remove them from your followers, block them, or report them to TikTok. If you have identified fake profiles in another user’s account, you may inform the user and submit a report to TikTok.

How To Remove Tik Tok Fake Followers From Your Account

Follow these steps to remove Tik Tok fake followers from your account:

  1. Tap Profile in the bottom right.
  2. On your Profile, tap Followers.
  3. Next to the follower you want to remove, tap the 3-dot icon.
  4. Select Remove this follower.

You can also remove a follower directly from their profile page:

  1. You can find their profile by tapping Followers on your profile.
  2. On their profile, tap the 3-dot icon in the top right.
  3. Select Remove this follower.

How to Block a User

You can also block a user if you’ve determined that their profile is fake. Blocking users “disables them from viewing your videos or engaging with you through direct messages, comments, follows or likes.”

Follow these steps to block Tik Tok fake followers:

  1. Go to the person’s profile.
  2. Tap the 3-dot icon in the top right.
  3. Tap Block and follow the steps in the app.

You can also use TikTok’s bulk block feature to block up to 100 TikTok fake follower accounts at a time.

  1. Long-press on a comment or tap the pencil icon in the upper left corner to open a window of options.
  2. Tap Manage multiple comments.
  3. Select up to 100 comments.
  4. Tap More.
  5. Tap Block accounts.

How To Report Tik Tok Fake Followers

You can report TikTok’s fake followers via TikTok’s Help Center. Here’s how to report an account:

  1. Go to the profile page of the account you want to report
  2. Click “…”.
  3. Select “Report”
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions

What Is Tiktok’s Policy on Fake Followers?

According to TikTok’s Community Guidelines and, more specifically, their policy on Integrity and Authenticity:

“We believe that trust forms the foundation of our community. We do not allow activities that may undermine our platform’s integrity or our users’ authenticity. We remove content or accounts that involve spam or fake engagement, impersonation, or misleading information that causes significant harm.”

TikTok defines fake engagement as “any content or activity that seeks to inflate popularity on the platform artificially. We prohibit any attempts to manipulate the platform to increase interaction metrics.”

In direct relation to Tik Tok fake followers, the platform specifically instructs users not to “Engage in selling or buying views, likes, followers, shares, or comments” or “Operate multiple TikTok accounts under false or fraudulent pretenses to distribute commercial spam.”

For now, TikTok only removes fake profiles from accounts; the platform does not suspend or deactivate accounts that use fake followers. While having your follower numbers culled may seem like a minor drawback, remember that the negative impact on your brand’s credibility is a more serious consequence you won’t avoid.

A person logging into their TikTok account.

How To Grow Without Tik Tok Fake Followers

Using Tik Tok fake followers to boost your follower numbers may seem like a good idea. If you’re willing to be silly in a video to become popular, buying fake followers for the same purpose does not sound so bad, right? If you’re serious about building a successful brand on the platform, however, you must take the work involved in community-building seriously.

Master these best practices for TikTok growth to give your brand a solid foundation and a sharp competitive edge on the platform.

  1. Create content that genuinely represents your brand. This is the only way to connect with the people in your community or subculture.
  2. Share content that your target audience is interested in. Don’t aim to please everybody; aim to please the right people so you’ll gain the right followers for your community.
  3. Optimize your content with relevant hashtags to land on the For You Page. Know what hashtags are trending in your niche or subculture, and use these in your captions. The right hashtags will make it easier for other users interested in your brand to discover you.
  4. Post consistently and at the right times. Ensure your content reaches your followers by knowing when they’re active on the platform.
  5. Actively engage with your community. Remember that engagement is a two-way street. Reply to comments. Like other users’ posts. Participate in challenges.
  6. Use TikTok analytics to your advantage. Analyze your performance and make necessary changes to optimize your growth strategy further.

Growing Beyond Tik Tok Fake Followers

Taking the shortcut to growth is very tempting, but whatever advantages you may get from having Tik Tok fake followers would be short-lived and outweighed by the risks. TikTok is all about building and nurturing communities, unlike other social media platforms. Authenticity and active engagement are vital elements in a genuine TikTok community. You won’t get either from fake followers.

If you have a business on TikTok or are an aspiring influencer, you must invest time and effort to grow your brand correctly. This involves making authentic connections with your tribe or target audience. Creating content that fits perfectly into your community’s shared interests is just one part of the equation. Knowing how to reach the right people with your videos is the trickiest part.

You can connect with real users who are genuinely interested in your brand with the help of High Social. High Social is an expert in TikTok growth strategy. Subscribe to a High Social plan to get precise audience-targeting capability, made possible with their advanced, proprietary AI technology. Their in-house TikTok specialists will lend you their marketing expertise to help you promote your content to your target audience and generate active and quality engagement.

High Social delivers real followers who are genuinely interested and highly engaged so you can experience rewarding and lasting growth. Start growing your TikTok today!

TikTok 101