Using an army of robots to dominate Twitter

Jim Vidmar controls an army of 10,000 Twitter robots that he sells to up-and-coming rappers, musicians, and anyone else who needs them. The Wall Street Journal tells how he deploys them to boost his clients’ standing, using thousands of pretend people to spout designated hashtags and keywords that propel artists hungry for fame and gigs into Twitter’s trending topics. The Wall Street Journal explains how Vidmar bought a recent batch of robots for $58 from a vendor in Pakistan, why Philadelpha-based rapper Philly Chase calls using Vidmar’s services “the best decision I ever made,” and how the owners of fake accounts are finding easy ways around Twitter’s spam crackdowns.