Candidate’s mystery ‘likes’ vanish

THE 2,000

‘likes’ that mysteriously appeared on a local election candidate’s Facebook page over Christmas disappeared overnight last week – along with some that were there beforehand.

Sean Tyrrell, from Ballymun, had laughed off suggestions he bought the

‘likes’ to boost his online profile in the run up to May’s elections and last week he told Northside People that while he was somewhat annoyed, he wasn’t too bothered by their disappearance either.

Tyrell’s campaign page had gained just over 300 likes by early December last. However, during the holiday period they were mysteriously boosted by around 2,000 new likes, many from Istanbul in Turkey.

The sudden surge attracted the attention of political activists who took to social media to query Tyrrell’s new likes in what he believes was an

“orchestrated campaign

? against him.

Tyrell said it didn’t concern him that his likes had plummeted overnight on January 16, but added he was disappointed that some of the ones he had built up before the 2,000 appeared had also vanished.

“That’s about a month and half’s hard work gone down the drain in terms of getting likes,

? he said.

The independent candidate says he’s no idea where the likes appeared from and is equally mystified as to where they’ve now gone.

“All I want to know is why I’m the one caught up in the middle of all of this?

? he said.

Tyrell believes he is being targeted by political rivals and is confident that somebody, or some group of individuals, are using so-called

‘click farms’ to

“mess with the likes on my Facebook page

?.

Click farms, which are typically based in Asia, employ low-paid workers who are given multiple social media accounts to

‘follow’ or

‘like’ for clients who pay around half a cent per click.

Tyrell says he’d never heard of

‘click farms’ before the controversy and is convinced the

‘likes’ are part of a plot to undermine his campaign.

“I noticed on the night of the 16th the likes had dropped to 179,

? he said.

“This confirmed to me that somebody or a group of people threatened by my candidacy has tried (unsuccessfully) to sabotage my campaign.

“I find it difficult to understand just why some people feel so threatened by a 20-year-old independent.

“I certainly don’t have money to be wasting on fake likes. I have to sell my PS3 to raise money for the campaign.

“Unfortunately during this fiasco I have actually lost a number of my real likes that the page received before the Christmas period, so I would encourage as many people as possible to like Vote Seán Tyrrell #1 to try and bring the page up to its original level of support before I was targeted by these unknown cowards.

?