This Is Not a Bug but a Game Feature-Chapter 317 - 204: Fake Influencers, Real Sponsorship Deals! (2)
"Number of followers!"
Chen Ba succinctly stated.
In the game "I Am a Big Influencer," players all play as internet celebrities. Naturally, as influencers, they have a corresponding number of followers.
This number of followers is divided into two parts.
One part is real followers, meaning "followers" clicked by other players.
The other part is fake followers, which come from bots in the game, and account for a large proportion. Out of a million followers, there might be 900,000 fake bot followers.
Chen Ba believes there is a major issue with this set of values, primarily in distinguishing between real and fake followers!
"What do you understand as fake followers?"
"Bot-boosted followers!"
"Then let me ask you, like these bot-boosted followers, don’t they also like and comment on the influencer’s content?"
"Yeah..."
Yang Dong seemed to understand.
Engagement, that’s the crux of the problem! As long as they are active, then in the eyes of others, even bot-boosted followers are hardly different from real followers.
They are even difficult to distinguish.
Because things real followers would do, such as commenting, liking, reposting, etc., fake bot followers also do.
"That’s why I say, the game’s follower numbers are set too conservatively."
Chen Ba explained, "You seem to have forgotten about zombie and inactive followers."
In the existing game system of "I Am a Big Influencer," a player with a million followers can get an average of 800,000 to 900,000 likes and comments on their posts.
Is this normal? It’s not!
Although many of these are fake bot followers, they also like and comment.
So it seems, the follower count is somewhat conservative. This data performance, in reality, would signify a celebrity influencer with at least ten million followers.
Even put bluntly.
In reality, influencers with over ten million followers rarely get such good engagement data on their posts.
"So what are we going to do?"
Yang Dong frowned, seemingly pondering solutions to the problem.
Without Chen Ba’s reminder, he truly hadn’t noticed the game’s data system was this exaggerated.
"There are two solutions."
Chen Ba proposed his solutions, the first being to change the way follower numbers are calculated. For example, the original one million followers may become ten or even twenty million followers under a new calculation method.
The second solution is the opposite.
If you don’t want the follower count to be too flashy, then you lower the value of existing followers, reducing the volume of likes, comments, and shares.
For instance, originally with a million followers, a post could receive 700,000 to 800,000 likes and comments—now, reduce it by half or even by 70% or 80%, leaving only 70,000 to 80,000 likes and comments.
The specific execution plan is simple.
Just have those bot followers abstain from liking, commenting, and sharing, behaving honestly as "zombie followers."
"Isn’t that bad?"
Yang Dong hesitated, "When player numbers aren’t enough to support the game’s framework in the early stages, the game really needs these bots to interact and simulate a real online environment."
"Then let’s do this..."
Chen Ba thought for a moment and continued to propose, "We set a threshold, once a player’s follower count exceeds this threshold, the bots stop being active."
For example, 100,000 followers!
If the follower count is below 100,000, the bots continue to operate as usual—like and comment, and are highly active, making it hard to identify them as bots.
But once a player’s follower count exceeds 100,000, these bots enter a dormant state, becoming zombie followers, no longer participating in interactions.
"But there’s a problem."
"Suppose for a player, bots make up 90% of their followers; their 100,000 followers have low value."
Yang Dong slowly said, "While another player’s bots account for less than half, making their follower value high."
Both having 100,000 followers, the former has too many zombie bot followers, and the data of their posts clearly shows they’re inferior to the latter.
This violates the game’s "anonymous" spirit, after all, with the same number of followers, if A’s data outperforms B’s, that proves A is better than B.
"I get your point."
"You feel that, given the same number of followers, it should be more discreet and not allow players to directly distinguish their rank?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"Exactly!"
Yang Dong kept emphasizing that "I Am a Big Influencer" is a virtual game where everyone plays as influencers. If followers surpass the critical point and expose the fact that their followers are all zombie bots, that’s unfavorable.
So a shift in perspective is needed.
Setting a threshold, when follower count exceeds this threshold, bots stopping their activity is correct, with no issues.
However, on top of this mechanism, a new mechanism is needed—the way followers are calculated!
One real follower corresponds to five fake followers!
This ratio remains constant and applies to everyone. By establishing a unified ratio, the awkward situation where one set of followers can get over 100,000 likes while another only gets a few thousand can be avoided.
At least from post data, as long as their follower numbers are similar, it’s hard for players to distinguish between high and low ranks, let alone who’s the real influencer and who’s the fake.
The element of mystery is greatly enhanced!
Why create this mystery? It’s naturally to enhance the game’s immersion and depth.
True or false, virtual and real!
This is the truly enchanting aspect of the internet and is the foundation on which many influencers depend to survive. If an influencer’s facade is called out and their followers are discovered to be fake, can they still be considered an influencer?
"It’s not necessarily a one to five ratio, it could be flexibly changed, like one to ten, one to twenty..."
Chen Ba smiled, "Anyway, you have to ensure that no player ends up with all bot followers. Conversely, no player should have all real followers."
Mix real and fake followers proportionally, and then once a player accumulates 100,000 followers, the bots all shift to zombie followers, leaving only the real followers for likes and comments, only then does the game enter its second phase.
The first phase is growing followers!
Quickly reaching 100,000 followers is the main goal of the first phase of the game, which many players strive for.
The second phase no longer centers around growing followers but focuses on improving follower quality, engagement, and monetizing traffic as the main goal.
And it’s starting from this phase that players transition from beginners to qualified influencers, beginning to experience the real influencer journey...
Indeed!
In reality, it doesn’t matter, but in the game "I Am a Big Influencer," players with fewer than 100,000 followers are all categorized as beginners.
Players who haven’t reached 100,000 followers are all beginner players. Experienced players can spend a couple of days, familiarize themselves with game rules and mechanisms, and with the ultra-high "real versus fake followers" ratio, easily achieve 100,000 followers.
"We have a live-stream shopping segment and various fixed advertisements..."
Yang Dong chuckled, "This is one of the main contents of the game and the most interesting part."
Live-stream shopping, and fixed ad deals, these channels for influencer traffic monetization, have all been maximally restored in the game.
Yang Dong even suggested.
To simulate the most realistic monetization experience, he might consider contacting some advertisers from "Don’t Leave After School," allowing them to distribute some real "ad deals."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing Yang Dong’s proposal, Chen Ba’s mouth twitched, "Distributing real ad deals? So who gets the money?"
"A 70/30 split! We’ll take 70%!"
Yang Dong explained, "But this is just a concept, and after all, it’s a game—posing as influencers, taking ad deals... truthfully, advertisers probably won’t be confident."
This matter needs careful planning!
Being an influencer in the game, albeit a fake experience, players might unexpectedly receive real ad deals or live-stream shopping invitations; not even in their wildest dreams would they have considered such a development.
