A few weeks ago a reader of mine asked me what I thought about “Fake RSS Counters.” I was pretty shocked that I’d even be asked such a question. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone want to fake their RSS count?”
(your participitation in this topic is greatly appreciate & you’ll see why below)
I started to do some google searches with the term, “faking RSS subscribers” and I was shocked to find out that there are actually people faking RSS counters/subscribers. INSANE!!
Why would people wanna do this? Maybe to show “social proof” and come across as more of an “authority?” Maybe to use it as a marketing gimmick to actually gather more RSS Subscribers.
There’s actually a way that you an expose these people “Faking Coolness,” so Posers beware! Here’s a simple tool called “Feed Analysis” that shows you how many RSS Subscribers that a blog actually has.
I dare you to go to some of your favorite blogs that have an RSS and see if they’re “keeping it real” or Faking Coolness. You might be surprised.
So why write a post about this? Why spend the time spending any energy on this topic? Well for one, I was shocked to see a couple people that I “thought” were credible are in fact faking their RSS Subscriber Count.
So last night on SuccessfoolTV I brought these ‘finding’ (LOL) to my viewers and with 75 folks on the show, no one saw the benefit of lying about your RSS Count and faking that you’re cool. Some folks were disgusted, others called these fakers liars, and a bunch of other things.
(A replay of last night’s SuccessfoolTV is below the list below)
People were glad that I brought this to their attention as a lot of them did not even realize that people would go to such lengths to make themselves seem more “credible.”
So I started to think of some reasons why people fake their RSS Counters. With the help of folks from Twitter and my show last night, I decided to come up with a top 10 list of why people fake RSS Subscribers.
Top 10 Things I Think About People Who Fake Rss Subscribers:
1. Will go out at all costs to Fake Coolness (people will eventually find you out)
2. They don’t do what they’re Passionate about so they decide to be posers
3. Show lack of Integrity
4. It’s Lying via Felicia Slatterly on Twitter
5. Its ‘Wankerish‘ via Justin Brooke on Twitter
6. It’s Lame via Rodney Ruford on Twitter
7. They’re Embarrassed by their RSS count because no one is reading their blog
8. They’re Misleading their followers and people that trust them (for now)
9. Egotistical. They feel the need to fake that they’re an ‘authority’
10. They will eventually be Exposed or Come Clean. Their long-term success depends on it
I’m interested to see what YOU think about people who Fake RSS Subscribers. Lets expand on this list.
Leave your comments below.
Here’s last night’s show on SuccessfoolTV.
I think it shows a desperation for success that they aren’t achieving honestly. It’s also a lack of integrity that would make me question them in other ways.
Building up a good readership is tough, but I won’t pretend that things are going any other way for me. After all, if you don’t have a lot of readers there aren’t even that many people seeing your faked up numbers. And when you’re discovered, your credibility takes a huge hit with the people who would have been reading your stuff without the big numbers.
Alejandro,
Nice post, man. Directly after your broadcast last night I wrote an article about the topic. I gave you credit of course but also just updated a link to include this article you wrote.
I love your passion and personality, keep it up!
~Matt Koshko
Yo Ali! Apologies for missing the LIVE show last night, but I’m watching the replay now!
P.S. Still think “Faking That You’re Cool” is the better name…
I never would have thought to do that. Spoofing subscribers to make you look more credible…lame. What’s next?
I say that these Clowns should take their code faking skills and learn to create good content instead. Do like the name from Cypress Hill and just B-Real.
Simple equation, [good content = readers]
I believe one reason people fake RSS feeds is due to their own insecurities. In all likelihood, they lack faith in their message, in their followers and/or potential followers. They falsely believe that they are being judged not by the quality of their information, but by the number of subscribers. Truthfully, do you really want subscribers who are only interested in your numbers not your valuable information?
In addition, it perpetuates the myth that more subscribers is always better when really what you are after is QUALITY subscribers. A few key readers can spread your message far more effectively than many who don’t care and don’t really read or follow you.
“lack faith in their message.”
you’re 100% right.
i think folks lack faith when they’re not doing something that they simply love doing.
quality of quantity is definitely true.
you can always have both but i’ll always choose quality…
I think this is a great topic Alejandro
FeedAnalysis is a great tool if that person is using only feedburner as RSS and Email delivery 
However, I know, like myself that my subscriber count includes not only Feedburner but also those stats that include my email subscribers, not through Feedburner… I actually use AWeber as my email feed provider 
I think in the end, you can tell from a lot of things a person does, their overall presence only whether the numbers really match up
Great stuff! Love the new design!
you’re correct.
the numbers always tell the story
This is a cool tool! I know I don’t have many readers subscribe yet, but that is why I follow authorities, and keep plugging along. Either I will get me message out and will eventually have lots of readers, or I will go the way of the dinosaurs (blog-wise). I know from experience, you can’t fake success successfully.
you cannot fake success my friend – you’re right!
it’ll eventually come back to you.
fakers always get figured out
Wow…that’s crazy, can’t believe people do that. Great tool though!