ETYMOLOGY
The term emerged during Weibo's rise in 2009 when a celebrity was exposed for having 70% fake followers. Cybersecurity experts identified these "zombies" through:
Registration spikes at 2-4 AMNonsensical usernames like "dh83ksj2"Concentrated IP clusters
A 2013 China Central Television investigation revealed industrial-scale operations using "cloud control systems" to manage 200,000 accounts from single devices. Post-2020, AI-powered "smart zombies" evolved to post emoji comments and like content.
Modern examples include:• Livestreamers complaining: "I offered free gifts for follows, but 80% new followers are zombies!"• K-pop style fan clubs manipulating data: "10K reposts but only 200 real comments - obvious bot inflation."
This mirrors the global issue of social media authenticity, but with uniquely Chinese tech infrastructure enabling mass fabrication.