Have you ever seen comments on a celebrity’s profile that looked suspicious or a little odd? There’s been some ‘social media fabricating’ for the past few years not only in the U.S, but also China. Hit the jump to find out what’s really going on behind those fake accounts.

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Two researchers have been putting the pieces together for the last three years about a group called “The 50 cent party.” These groups are paid 50 cents per post in Chinese currency to write comments praising certain Chinese government decisions and officials.

A lot of the times, Chinese workers are all in one room constantly responding or commenting on special posts aimed at important topics of conversation. To put things in a clearer perspective, one in every 178 comments on Chinese social media are fabricated. Some examples are the following:

“Many revolutionary martyrs fought bravely to create the blessed life we have today! Respect to these heroes.”

“Respect to all the people who have greatly contributed to the prosperity and success of the Chinese civilization! The heroes of the people are immortal.”

This trend has picked up in the last three years making it bitter sweet for China’s world of social media. Due to the increase in “fake comments”, sites have been down right blocked, causing online businesses to hurt.

A U.S trade representative shared:

“Over the past decade, China’s filtering of cross-border internet traffic has posed a significant burden to foreign suppliers, hurting both internet sites themselves, and users who often depend on them for their business.”

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