Is Lady Gaga Being Followed by Fake Twitter Monsters?

Does Lady Gaga really have 20 million followers or are a lot of those fake? I've heard she's got a lot of fakers.
—Stormy S., via Facebook

You speak of a widely circulated report indicating that a whopping 30 percent of Lady Gaga's Twitter monsters are fakes—or, as she might put it, creations. The allegation comes courtesy of a British company called StatusPeople, which claims to have a system for ferreting out bots, inactive users and other not-so-real Twitter followers. (You can see the app—and look up Gaga's current Twitter stats--for yourself here.)

But does that mean that the Lady isn't exactly Gaga for the truth? Well, not so fast.

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According to social media marketing experts, an increasing number of celebrities are recruiting fake followers, and they probably don't even know it. (Don't know if this is the situation with Lady Gaga, a request for comment from her camp wasn't immediately returned.)

Instead, members of some celebrities' teams—publicists, managers, record labels, agents—are often purchasing fake followers on their behalf. The reason?

"It's bragging rights, it demonstrates how hot your career is, and those followers are an important tool that can be monetized for marketers," a social media marketing expert who consults with celebrities explains to me. "So, yes, celebrities can profit from fake followers, directly and indirectly."

Directly, as in a celebrity getting paid thousands of dollars to Tweet about a product to their so-called myriad followers. Or indirectly, as in charging more for an endorsement deal based on overall perceived popularity.

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"I, in fact, have recently counseled my own celebrity clients against using paid or fake accounts, but they are getting a lot of pressure to have them," my expert adds.

So what are these followers, and where do they come from?

"They can be bots, or they can be a group of ‘zombie' accounts created by a very smart programmer," the social media guru explains. Those zombie accounts can then be ‘ordered' to follow a set of Twitter accounts that make them look like a certain demographic—say, young moms, or teen metal fans.

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Those accounts are then sold by brokers—yes, really—in bulk.

"Depending on the quality of the follower, you are probably looking at 50 cents to $2 per follower," the social media marketer dishes. (Many brokers offer followers for much, much less.)

If a third of Gaga's followers really are bots or zombies, she's not alone. StatusPeople's faker score for Justin Bieber claims that 22 percent of his followers, too, are fake.

Lady Gaga, Popeye Now Share Something in Common (photo)

Lady Gaga has gone nautical with her latest tattoo. Although likely unintended, it’s a tribute to the most famous seafarer of all Popeye the Sailor Man. Both now have sea anchors adorning their skin.

Gaga posted a photo of her new tat on her Web site, littlemonsters.com. And let her fans in on the development over Twitter.

“Thanks Hank and @amstattoomuseum for my New Ink!!” she wrote. “We miss you already, see you at the ball!”

The tattoo is the singer’s 11th going back to her first, a musical treble cleff, when she was 17, since covered by another tattoo.

Her tattoos are as famous as she is. In fact, there’s even a Web site, unrelated to the singer, devoted to her various inkings. At this rate it’s going to be in business a long time.

On odd fact about her tattoos, Gaga only gets them on her left side. Her right side is completely unmarred in honor of a request by her father to try to stay “a little bit normal,” according to the site.

Gaga picked up the latest tramp stamp on the European leg of her “Born This Way Ball” tour. She hit the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum in the Dutch city and got the tattoo on her, you got it… left ribcage. “New Tat. Stamp of His Mermaid” she wrote, with a shout out to “Hank” the artist who applied it.

Last month, she revealed the title of her upcoming album, by getting “ARTPOP” tattooed on the outside of her left forearm. The tat caused a bit of a stir because she posted a photo of it on littlemonsters that made it look like it was on her right arm. But it was just a mirror image, according to the site.

Gaga’s other tattoos include a peace sign on her left inner wrist in memory of Beatle John Lennon, a rose tattoo on her lower back by Kat Von D and three white daisies on her upper left shoulder. She also has a tattoo to her dad, a unicorn on her arm and a “Little Monsters” tattoo.

What do you think of Gaga’s latest? Check it out above.

Lady Gaga wants to ‘screw around’

Lady Gaga has no plans to settle down with her actor boyfriend Taylor Kinney anytime soon, insisting she wants to "party and screw around" like other young women her age.

The Bad Romance hitmaker recently celebrated her one year anniversary with The Vampire Diaries hunk, and while they have shown off their love publicly by playing bride and groom in an arty new promo for her single You and I, she is adamant she will not be walking down the aisle for real in the near future.

She tells Vogue magazine, "I'm just having a really good time performing, making music, flying around the world to see so-and-so...

"Look, I'm 26, and I want to make records and party and screw around and wear fake Chanel and do what every other 26-year-old girl wants to do. I don't want to settle down and live in a house yet or anything. I just want to keep riding this rainbow."

PETA: 'Lady GaGa, Rihanna are like desperate freaks'

Rihanna and Lady GaGa have been condemned for wearing animal skin by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The animal rights group had once praised GaGa, but targeted the star for criticism when she wore a wolf stole in a poster for Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills.

Rihanna has now been slated by PETA as well after being photographed wearing snakeskin boots while in London last week.

PETA said in a statement: "Rihanna may not have a clue that snakes killed for boots are often nailed to a tree and skinned alive. Of course, they can't go on Oprah to cry about it.

"Wearing reptile skin is creepy and callous, and it makes her look even more out of touch. She and Lady GaGa seem so desperate to be freaks instead of recognised for their talents that you have to wonder if they realise that they are being laughed at."

GaGa previously responded to PETA's previous attacks by saying she respects the group's views, but also asked for a similar respect in return.

"I am choosing not to comment on whether or not the furs I purchase are faux fur-pile or real because I would think it hypercritical not to acknowledge the python, ostrich, cow hide, leather, lamb, alligator, 'Kermit' and not to mention meat, that I have already worn," she joked.

Kim Kardashian, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Jennifer Lawrence have also come under fire from PETA for wearing animal skin.

Watch Rihanna's 'We Found Love' music video below:

Lady Gaga Unveils New Anchor Tattoo on Twitter During 'Born This Way Ball' European Leg

The 'You & I' star had that new body art done during her stay in Amsterdam while on tour.

Lady Gaga has unveiled her latest tattoo in the midst of the European leg of her 'Born This Way Ball' world tour.

The 'Marry The Night' star performed across Finland, Sweden and Denmark last week and showed off her new body art after visiting the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum during her stay in the city.

Lady Gaga posted a picture of the new artwork on both Twitter and her social networking site LittleMonsters.com, which shows a small black anchor on the left side of her abdomen.

"New Tat. Stamp of His Mermaid," Gaga tweeted on Saturday (1st September). "Thanks Hank and @amstattoomuesum for my New Ink!! We miss you already, see you at the ball!"

The anchor is one of a number of tattoos Gaga already has across the left hand side of her body, including a unicorns head, a peace symbol and a bunch of white roses.

Gaga's mermaid comment could refer to her appearance in the music video for 'You & I', which cast her as a mermaid opposite current boyfriend Taylor Kinney as her love interest.

Check out a picture of Lady Gaga showing off her new tattoo below (Credit: Twitter):

The star has been working on her third album 'ARTPOP' for several months now, ready for an expected launch in Spring 2013.

Lady Gaga performed last night at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen in Denmark, and will perform this week in Koln, Germany on Tuesday (4th September) and Wednesday (5th).

Lady Gaga hits back at Madonna, flashes bum on stage

The war between Lady Gaga and Madonna has hit rock bottom.

Following the Queen of Pop's repeated rear-flashing on her MDNA tour, Gaga exposed her own g-stringed derriere to 13,000 people at her Born This Way Ball in Helsinki, Finland.


Telling the crowd, "I don't give a f--- what people say. We don't give a f--- what people say, we know the truth" (referencing a lyric from her album track 'Bad Kids'), Gaga launched into a cover of Madonna's 'Like a Prayer'.

Was it a veiled response to Madge performing a mash-up of 'Born This Way' and 'Express Yourself' at her own concerts (see video below)? That's certainly what the verdict on various international entertainment sites has been.

Daily Mail points out that Gaga's "I don't give a f---" comment is "clearly a reference to Madonna's song, 'I Don't Give A'" from her MDNA album. Well of course!

Gaga still hasn't come out swinging at Madonna since the 54-year-old singer slagged off Gaga's 'Born This Way' in January, calling it "reductive".

To which Gaga politely responded, "If the queen says it shall be, then it shall be".

Madge took another stab at her pop rival in July, saying "I'm a really big fan of 'Born This Way'. I'm glad that I helped Gaga write it". Ouch.

Bring on a game of thrones between these bum-flaunting foes!

Lady Gaga's Copenhagen Peacock Inspiration Amidst PETA Backlash

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's actually Lady Gaga! The eccentric singer was spotted leaving Hotel Skt. Petri in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sunday (September 2).

Gearing up for her Parken show, the 26-year-old pop star donned a lavish ensemble in a black and grey animal print dress, matched with a large headpiece, which was embellished with feathers.

It's definitely apparent that the Mother Monster does not care about the most recent backlash from animal rights group PETA.

Miss Gaga and Rihanna are the group's newest targets, and in a statement members wrote, "Rihanna may not have a clue that snakes killed for boots are often nailed to a tree and skinned alive,” adding, ”Of course, they can’t go on Oprah to cry about it.”

Continuing on with their case, PETA said, "Wearing reptile skin is creepy and callous, and it makes her look even more out of touch. She and Lady Gaga seem so desperate to be freaks instead of recognized for their talents that you have to wonder if they realize that they are being laughed at.”

As previously reported by GossipCenter, Lady Gaga fired back at the group, writing on her little monsters website, "I do not however support violent, abusive, and childish campaigns for ANY CAUSE.”

She went on to add, "Particularly one that I respect. ‘Animal Rights.’ I am choosing not to comment on whether or not the furs I purchase are faux fur-pile or real because I would think it hypercritical not to acknowledge the python, ostrich, cow hide, leather, lamb, alligator, ‘kermit’ and not to mention meat, that I have already worn.”