Twitter’s Underground, Angry Customers, Data Democracies

The Strategist picks the day’s most interesting stories for the content aficionados who love the backstory and reading between the lines. Here are the gems you need to kickstart your Monday.

Fake Twitter Followers Become Multimillion-Dollar Business (NYTimes)
Yes, you read that right. This marketplace is so robust that some fake profiles are almost impossible to discern from the real deal.

Typically sold in batches, the average price for fake followers is about $18 per 1,000. Here’s a look into this this unspoken underground market.

Why I love My Angriest Customers (Inc)
Customer service is key to your content marketing strategy — but don’t expect 100% of your community conversations to be positive.

People are going to get mad sometimes. Embrace it — don’t fight what’s inevitable. Complains are awesome. The more detail, the better. Your biggest lessons worth learning are from your failures, so welcome your angry customers with open arms.

We Need a Data Democracy, Not a Data Dictatorship (GigaOM)
Word on the street is that data’s pretty big. As companies invest more resources towards this highly valuable information asset, you might be wondering what to do with it.

Keep it under lock and key? Label it as proprietary? Release it to the public for free? Somewhere along the spectrum from ‘free’ to ‘top-secret,’ there exists a happy medium. Where does your company fall? Why?

Why Your App Needs to Be Real-Time (VentureBeat)
It’s no secret that real-time apps are highly engaging.

But why? It’s because they mimic behaviors from the real world. Even content can be a tool to keep people on their toes. Here’s what you need to know about the core building blocks of real-time.

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