The Tesla billionaire and owner of the popular social platform X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, has set his sights on addressing growing concerns over impersonation and the widespread emergence of parody accounts that mimic prominent figures on the platform.
In the latest of a series of changes Musk has made to the app since taking ownership in October 2022, the billionaire has unleashed a raft of new rules that will see satire accounts clearly differentiated from the original accounts they are trying to mimic.
The rules, which came into effect on Thursday, will require accounts that impersonate others to use words such as 'fake' or 'parody' at the beginning of their account names, as well as using different profile pictures to those of the original accounts.
“These changes are designed to help users better understand the unaffiliated nature of parody accounts and reduce the risk of confusion and impersonation,” said X in a post.
The nature of parody accounts is often to exaggerate characteristics or statements for comic or critical effect. However, there is a risk that audiences may fail to recognise the satire and view the content as factual, increasing its potential to mislead.
Several studies in recent months have flagged parody accounts as a significant source of misinformation on social media, blurring the lines between satire and deception.
In Kenya, prominent figures who have publicly denounced the effects of parody accounts include lawyers Elisha Ongoya and PLO Lumumba, as well as Embakasi East Member of Parliament Paul Ongili aka Babu Owino.
The situation has been exacerbated by X’s move to implement a so-called ‘liberalisation’ of the platform, allowing anyone to pay for a verification badge on their accounts.
MP Ongili, for instance, woke up one morning to find that a parody account bearing his name had been verified instead of his official account, forcing him to appeal to the platform’s administrators to reverse the process lest he be kicked off the platform.
For corporate brands and other individuals seeking to exert commercial influence in social spaces, the damage caused by pseudo accounts could be even more severe.
According to strategic communications specialist Valerie Mwikali, the presence of parody social media accounts has a profound effect on the perception and reputation of brands, eroding trust and credibility as well as undermining the confidence of followers.
“This erosion of trust extends to public criticism and backlash, exerting further damage to the already hurt reputation. The confusion and misinformation generated by fake accounts contribute to a distorted public perception, making it difficult for followers to identify authentic accounts,” she notes.
“Additionally, the strain on relationships with business partners due to controversies from fake accounts results in lost endorsements and strained collaborations.”
X has also hinted at plans to start selling inactive usernames to verified organisations through an auction programme, as part of efforts to free up dormant accounts and shore up revenue.
Since taking over ownership of the X platform, Musk has effected numerous policy and strategic changes that analysts have blamed for disrupting user experience and advertiser confidence, leading to lower engagement.
The changes have also been blamed for rising safety concerns on the app, with a Media Reactions survey published by market research firm Kantar last year disclosing that only four percent of marketers think that X ads offer brand safety.
The data showed that the overall trust in X ads had fallen from 22 percent in 2022 to 12 percent last year.
In Kenya, the Musk-led disruption has seen X’s performance deteriorate after it became the only social media platform whose potential ad reach in the country declined during the full year to December 2023.
The Digital 2024 Report for Kenya, published in May last year by global digital insights platform Datareportal, showed that the potential audience that Kenyan marketers could reach with ads on X had fallen by 26,000, or 1.4 percent.
The worsening performance came during a year in which the ad reach of rival platforms increased significantly, in the case of Meta-owned Facebook by as much as 41.1 percent year-on-year.
“For X itself as a brand, this downturn is an alert to re-assess its strategies within the Kenyan market and possibly other markets with similar traits,” observes brand strategist Barrack Onyango.
“It must innovate, not just in advertising offerings but also in enhancing user engagement and relevance, especially in the wake of platforms that continuously evolve to capture users’ imaginations.”
