Will The Real Irish Followers Please Stand Up?

I do requests now.

@IrelandStandUp is the Twitter account of www.irelandstandup.org, a group who would like us to reopen our Embassy to the Vatican. Although not a cause I warm to I do recognise the site as a well designed and seems to have a decent editorial standard based on sample articles read.

The Twitter account, on the other hand, enjoys ranting about demons, evil spirits and snares of the devil and tweeting pictures of dead babies in response to a march that dare suggest Ireland fulfill its obligation to the European Court of Human Rights, something I feel they should restrict to a private account.

Anyway, I've been asked to provide some free Twitter metrics. Below is a breakdown of their followers by country:

I for one am heartened by the interest displayed in Ireland by American Catholics, representing fully 21% of those listed. We must find some way of transferring this fervent interest in diplomats' accommodation arrangements into investment and tourism. And our neighbours in the UK also seem strongly motivated to care. Perhaps our profile is slipping in Nigeria; only 1% of @IrelandStandUp's followers hail from there. Still, there is a small part of me that feels our diplomatic relations should be decided by the folk in this country, and while I respect the right of the 47% of followers who are actually based here to support this movement, it would be nice if they were in the majority.

Yes, I noticed the fake accounts.

I knew someone would bring that up. I've seen fakes before, but these were rather strange. You may want to copy and paste them to Excel to fully appreciate. My interest was first piqued when when I noticed a dozen people with the same typo in their description: " (too) assionate [sic] about Twitter and Facebook :)"

Then I noticed that many of the phrases used were on repeat. A preponderance of life coaches wanting an Irish diplomat in the Vatican seemed improbable. Passionate shoppers abounded, as did those who felt that Jesus was their bio. Some were blank. All were missing time zone and location information. All are female, all passionate Christians.

I then spotted that all these folk were made on either the 6th or the 9th of December last year, generally with a few minutes' gap between each creation. Then I saw they all had the same error in spelling their name - capital letter for the first name, lower case for lower name.

They're reasonably high quality fakes, generally set to retweet the sickly sweet like "Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation" or "Parts and parcels of truth are the most envenomed shafts which fly from the bow of Satan". Some have actually amassed quite a few followers, proving it is possible to pass a Turing test if one is pious enough. I'd say they cost more than average.

Bear in mind at this point that one cannot choose one's followers, and there's nothing to prove that it was @IrelandStandUp. Edit: @IrelandStandUp responded quickly, seemed genuinely unfamiliar with the concept of fake accounts and eager to remedy. To my mind it was most likely an overzealous fan, or a likeminded passer-by.

Meanwhile, I'll be working out which other organisations have benefited from the munificence of the fake female followers.

Name	Username	Date Created	Description
Erica austin	EricaaustinBEDP	06/12/2011 00:56	God fills my Heart. Life influencer. Thinker ...
Lindsey donald	LindseydonaldNV	06/12/2011 01:17	Christ Follower. Life is a beautiful struggle. Thinker ...
Melanie moseley	MelaniemoseleyG	06/12/2011 01:21
Julie southward	JuliesouthwardA	06/12/2011 01:34
Stacey swafford	StaceyswaffordA	06/12/2011 02:12
Allison gaulton	Allisongaulton_	06/12/2011 19:42	Child of God. Fall is my favorite season. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Elizabeth heyne	ElizabethheyneJ	06/12/2011 19:48
Veronica welsh	Veronicawelsh_p	06/12/2011 19:49	Love this gift of God: Life. Liker of vintage things. Mother & Facebook user
Sara reresby	Sarareresby_Mgv	06/12/2011 20:03	Jesus is my Bio. Down to earth. Mother & Facebook user
Veronica welsh	Veronicawelshqf	06/12/2011 20:03	God fills my Heart. Passionate shopper. Wife & love to tweet :)
Mary keir	Marykeir_Fz	06/12/2011 20:12	I live to serve Him in everything I do. Fall is my favorite season. Speaker. Life coach.
Mary keir	Marykeir_4dp	06/12/2011 20:12	Jesus is my Bio. Tweeter. Mother & Facebook user
Susan thompson	SusanthompsonBs	06/12/2011 20:15	Jesus is my Bio. Down to earth. Speaker. Life coach.
Anna shepard	Annashepard_Tne	06/12/2011 20:15	Living by faith. Liker of vintage things. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Julia greig	JuliagreigL3o	06/12/2011 20:28	Living by faith. Spontaneous, a bit impulsive :) Speaker. Life coach.
Veronica welsh	Veronicawelsh_6	06/12/2011 20:36	Christ Follower. Worship leader. Speaker. Life coach.
Sandra blake	Sandrablake_mHd	09/12/2011 02:05	Jesus is my Bio. Passionate shopper. Wife & love to tweet :)
Teresa spurr	TeresaspurrgHz_	09/12/2011 02:10	Living by faith. Passionate shopper. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Carrie fulcher	Carriefulcher_c	09/12/2011 02:10	Child of God. Life is a beautiful struggle. Thinker ...
Sarah mawley	Sarahmawleypnl	09/12/2011 02:13	Child of God. Life is a beautiful struggle. Wife & love to tweet :)
Julie southward	Juliesouthward_	09/12/2011 02:13	Christ Follower. Tweeter. Wife & love to tweet :)
Lindsay jacob	LindsayjacobXKq	09/12/2011 02:14	God fills my Heart. Down to earth. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Amy bracegirdle	Amybracegirdleb	09/12/2011 02:15	Jesus is my Bio. Tweeter. Wife & love to tweet :)
Catherine toone	Catherinetoone_	09/12/2011 02:19	I love God. Passionate shopper. Speaker. Life coach.
Stacey trevor	StaceytrevorTUy	09/12/2011 02:22	Christ Follower. Go green! Artist. Addicted to FB :)
Lindsey donald	Lindseydonald_E	09/12/2011 02:24	Jesus is my Bio. Lover of Good, Hater of evil. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Monica symonds	Monicasymonds_C	09/12/2011 02:28	I love God. Passionate shopper. Mother & Facebook user
Carrie fulcher	CarriefulchernW	09/12/2011 02:33
Amy bracegirdle	Amybracegirdle_	09/12/2011 02:35	Jesus is my Bio. Worship leader. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Amber houlding	AmberhouldingKk	09/12/2011 02:37	Child of God. Down to earth. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Dana edgeley	DanaedgeleypGg_	09/12/2011 02:39	I live to serve Him in everything I do. Down to earth. Wife & love to tweet :)
Rachel mcgregor	Rachelmcgregor3	09/12/2011 02:45
Kristina nabors	KristinanaborsS	09/12/2011 02:48	Love this gift of God: Life. Happy by nature. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Lisa dart	Lisadartu5b_	09/12/2011 02:57	Jesus is my Bio. Happy by nature. Mother & Facebook user
Mary keir	Marykeir_gky	09/12/2011 03:04	God fills my Heart. Down to earth. Speaker. Life coach.
Natalie hogarth	Nataliehogarth_	09/12/2011 03:06	I live to serve Him in everything I do. Liker of vintage things. Artist. Addicted to FB :)
Teresa spurr	Teresaspurrqom_	09/12/2011 03:10	Christ Follower. Loves beach. weather. Speaker. Life coach.
Susan thompson	Susanthompson_H	09/12/2011 03:13	Love this gift of God: Life. Lover of Good, Hater of evil. Artist. Addicted to FB :)
Heather mawley	Heathermawley_6	09/12/2011 03:21	Love this gift of God: Life. Life influencer. Artist. Addicted to FB :)
Jill hogarth	JillhogarthR3d_	09/12/2011 03:33	God fills my Heart. Love hard,work hard,play hard. Wife & love to tweet :)
Allison gaulton	Allisongaultonw	09/12/2011 03:37	Child of God. Loves beach. weather. Wife & love to tweet :)
Shannon farrimond	Shannonfarrimon	09/12/2011 03:39	I love God. Down to earth. Wife & love to tweet :)
Monica symonds	MonicasymondsYz	09/12/2011 03:48	Child of God. Go green! Wife & love to tweet :)
Amber houlding	Amberhoulding5T	09/12/2011 03:50	I live to serve Him in everything I do. Happy by nature. Speaker. Life coach.
Natalie hogarth	NataliehogarthY	09/12/2011 03:54	I love God. Spontaneous, a bit impulsive :) Thinker ...
Samantha true	Samanthatrue_uq	09/12/2011 03:58	Child of God. Passionate shopper. Speaker. Life coach.
April bracken	Aprilbracken_7Q	09/12/2011 04:05	Living by faith. Happy by nature. Speaker. Life coach.
Veronica respy	Veronicarespy_6	09/12/2011 04:06	Jesus is my Bio. Life is a beautiful struggle. Speaker. Life coach.
Sandra blake	Sandrablakeehy_	09/12/2011 04:08	I live to serve Him in everything I do. Life is a beautiful struggle. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Sarah mawley	Sarahmawleyqvt_	09/12/2011 04:14	Living by faith. Down to earth. Artist. Addicted to FB :)
Amy kilpatrick	Amykilpatrick_F	09/12/2011 04:19
Julia greig	Juliagreig_fSe	09/12/2011 04:24	Child of God. Down to earth. Mother & Facebook user
Samantha true	Samanthatrue_As	09/12/2011 04:30	God fills my Heart. Love hard,work hard,play hard. Thinker ...
Cynthia nelson	CynthianelsonMw	09/12/2011 04:35	Jesus is my Bio. Life influencer. Teacher. (too) assionate about Twitter and Facebook :)
Laura houlding	Laurahoulding7L	09/12/2011 04:37	I live to serve Him in everything I do. Liker of vintage things. Thinker ...
Samantha true	Samanthatrue_oF	09/12/2011 04:50	Love this gift of God: Life. Life influencer. Artist. Addicted to FB :)
Denise spurr	DenisespurrXYy	09/12/2011 05:06	Child of God. Passionate shopper. Mother & Facebook user
Denise spurr	DenisespurrK4k	09/12/2011 05:22
Vanessa edgeley	Vanessaedgeley5	09/12/2011 05:27	Jesus is my Bio. Life is a beautiful struggle. Thinker ...
Susan thompson	SusanthompsonDg	09/12/2011 05:33	Love this gift of God: Life. Happy by nature. Wife & love to tweet :)
Amber houlding	Amberhoulding_j	09/12/2011 05:41	Jesus is my Bio. Tweeter. Speaker. Life coach.