Love Triangle star accused in buying 130,000 Instagram followers to boost profile
EXCLUSIVE: Love Triangle star accused of buying 130,000 Instagram followers to boost her profile, as her social media numbers skyrocket after show ends without explanation
A contestant on Stan’s Love Triangle dating series has been accused of buying more than 130,000 Instagram followers in an attempt to boost his online profile.
Fitness instructor Patrick Hong has drawn attention after his followers mysteriously shot themselves without explanation.
Hong’s follower count has increased by 131,500 in the past 30 days, which is unusual growth compared to his co-stars, who are only followed by several hundred people.
Love Triangle star Patrick Hong (pictured) has been accused of buying more than 130,000 followers on Instagram following his stint on Stan’s original dating series.
Social Blade’s statistics show that his followers have increased by several thousand at a time without explanation, often indicating bot activity.
Fake profiles often have usernames with strange combinations of numbers and letters. Many of Patrick’s followers have usernames like this.
“Two days before the last episode, she only had 4,000 followers… two days later, her account starts increasing by 10,000 and 20,000, but no one was commenting or liking her videos,” a co-star, who wished to remain anonymous, said. to Daily Mail Australia. .
Data from Social Blade shows that Hong’s follower count has increased by 131,500 in the past 30 days, which is unusual growth compared to his co-stars, who had several thousand followers.
“If they were real followers, his new girlfriend would have gained followers too, but she still has around 1,500.”
“The sad reason why Patrick buys followers is because he needs constant validation from people because he was really unsure of himself,” they added.
According to one of Hong’s co-stars, the aspiring fitness influencer filmed himself buying followers and later bragged about having the highest number of followers on the show.
“Two days before the last episode, she only had 4,000 followers… two days later, her account starts increasing by 10,000 and 20,000, but no one was commenting or liking her videos,” a co-star, who wished to remain anonymous, said. to Daily Mail Australia.
“He was quick to talk about having a blue tick. He was desperate to make it as an influencer after seeing how quickly people on other shows like MAFS could make a living after going on a show and it just didn’t happen.
“He just wants to pretend and show that he’s a great online trainer because now he has a blue mark.” He had a personal Instagram account that he was going to use for the show, but then he ‘deleted’ it and used the only one he had, which was his business account… How convenient.’
Getting verified on Instagram comes with a host of algorithmic benefits, and it also makes an account more attractive to potential advertisers.
When approached for comment, Patrick laughed off the claims, saying: ‘Thanks for the green updates. Tell them it’s around $100 per follower if anyone is interested.’
Typically, 100,000 ‘instant’ Instagram followers can be purchased for around $742 AUD.
“He just wants to pretend and show that he’s a great online trainer because now he has a blue mark.” He had a personal Instagram account that he was going to use for the show, but then he “deleted” it and used the only one he had, which was his business account,” they added.
