Former ESPN personalities Britt McHenry and Ray Lewis are among the celebrities accused of being clients of a company that engages in fraudulent social media behavior.
The New York Times published an expose on Saturday about a company called Devumi, which they say sells Twitter followers and retweets to anyone who wants to appear more popular online. Devumi is said to have 3.5 million fake Twitter accounts it operates and uses to help boost the following an seeming popularity of its clients. Devumi doesn’t only operate in the Twitter space; they also can juice views on YouTube, plays on SoundCloud and endorsements on LinkedIn — basically any way one would want to appear more popular.
Within the sports field, The New York Times profile identified ESPN’s Joey Galloway, MLB player Brandon Phillips, Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell, and former Baltimore Raven/ESPN analyst Ray Lewis as those who have been clients. Former ESPN reporter turned political commentator Britt McHenry is also identified as another client.
Many celebrities, companies, and personalities engaged in the practice of purchasing a social media following to appear more popular and influential. There’s an endorsement bias that goes with seeing higher amounts of followers or retweets coming from someone’s profile. The thinking is people are more likely to follow or retweet these accounts because they already seem more credible and important. The fraudulent nature of this behavior is a serious concern, especially when it’s estimated that 15 percent of Twitter’s accounts are phony.
Neither McHenry nor Lewis work for ESPN any longer. McHenry lost her job in April and said it was for political reasons. Lewis stopped working for ESPN in 2016 and then joined FOX last year.
