Five fake Twits worth following

Social media pundits may say building your followers on Twitter is all about "being authentic".

But for brilliant fake account holders, pithy sarcasm rules. iTnews has complied a list of the top five fake Twitter accounts we think it's worth following.

BP's Global PR

The latest fake account to capture the Twitterverse is BP's Global PR. With no shortage of official commentary to bounce off as BP fumbles through its response to the Deepwater Horizon mess, the fake tweet stream has gathered over 150,000 followers on a meagre 250 Tweets over 52 days.  

"Sending some lawyers down to the Earth's crust to deliver a Cease and Desist. That oughtta do it," the jokesters announced yesterday. 

The operators of the fake account, which also run the website streetgiant.bigcartel.com were asked this week by BP via Twitter to clarify that they were not the real BP.

The operators have since added the disclaimer in their bio: "We are not associated with Beyond Petroleum, the company that has been destroying the Gulf of Mexico for 52 days."

But as the mess continues and stock plummets, BP is fighting back.

BP_America's social media team has tweeted some 460 times about the progress of the clean-up and provided links to interviews with its top brass to counter the criticism. But in a sign of the mood in the US, the official tweet of BP has managed to acquire just under 14,000 followers.

"Will Twitter please shut down @BP_America - no one can tell if it's a joke! #bprebrand", the jokesters at BP's Global PR asked last Wednesday.

Godwin Grech

Infamous former Treasury official, Godwin Grech, who had supplied Twitter fan and one time Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull with poor information in the so-called Utegate affair, is another fake account worth following. 

According to the jokers behind this fake account, Godwin Grech works at 7-Eleven these days and muses about his customers. His biography states that he is a "Fake Former Treasury wonk with skills in creative writing. Moving to Melbourne, the knifecrime capital of the world." 

The "wonk" has almost 7,000 followers, and after a hard day at the corner store, sometimes he fells like a "?" (pawn).

Despite the new shop assistant role, the fake Grech has enough energy to indulge in political, arts and business commentary.

Fake Stephen Conroy

Long time fake Twitter account Fake Stephen Conroy - which gained notoriety after former Telstra employee, Leslie Nassar, took over the account -  is still going strong after a few months of relative quiet.

His bio reads: "Filtered Internets; Cleaner. Fresher. Smoother. An experience you'll love, from a government you can trust." 

The account is no longer associated with Nassar, but still has over 4,000 followers. 

Fake Stephen Conroy most enjoys having a crack at the Minister's plans for an internet filter, which among other concerns has the potential to slow down internet speeds.

"So here I am making it faster... the winner of #MasterChef is Alvin. Also, Spoiler Alert!"

Fake Fielding

FakeFielding, the parody of Family First Senator, Steven Fielding, capitalises on the politician's penchant for non-sequiturs, nonsense and poor spelling.

"You know, you don't want to jinx your chickens before they've hatched and all that, but there was a vibe out there today," FakeFielding observed yesterday.

Last week he asked serious questions about Australia's energy supply: "But how does the coal fit through the power lines? So many questions."

And he had some theological questions about God's intent in leaving behind prehistorical evidence: "Maybe God put dinosaur skeletons down there with the copper and nickel and stuff just to throw us off the sent."

Not really Centrelink

Since 24 May 2010, centrelinkgovau has been actively responding to tweets about the Government agency several times per day.

According to its account description: "We're following you. Answering all your complaints about us. Giving you as few options as possible. Note: not really Centrelink."

Despite its disclaimer, centrelinkgovau has taken some users by surprise. Yesterday, one user asked (in capital letters) "WHY IS CENTERLINK FOLLOWING ME. I've never even interacted with Centerlink!!"

centrelinkgovau wrote simply: "We just like freakin' dudes out."

The account is characterised by dry, cold responses. When one user wrote "i love not being able to go to centrelink. I click a button & saves me 2 hrs of my life", it responded "Centrelink. Making rejection faster".

Another user complained: "I have to call Centrelink. But the home phone's downstairs where it's cold." In its retweet, centrelinkgovau wrote:"Not as cold as our hearts".