X (Former Twitter) Views Boosted to Make Money Spreading
People Posting Frequently Called ‘Impression Zombies’
Japanese Tweets from Pakistan, India, Middle East
Japanese Users’ Attachment to ‘Nihon’ Stimulated... To Make Money
A man in his 30s living in Karachi, the capital of Pakistan, spends most of his time posting on X (formerly Twitter). His posts are not in his native language or English, but in Japanese. Most of his posts are so-called "Ilppong" (a term that stimulates Japanese people's pride in Japan), ranging from trivial matters like "This happened today" to messages such as "Japan is a very good country" or "I sympathize with Japan, which suffered from the earthquake." The reason this man, who has no connection to Japan, posts in Japanese on X is money.
Japan's NHK reported on the 11th about the identity of 'Impression Zombies' rampant on social networking services (SNS). Impression Zombies refer to people or phenomena that continuously post to increase views and exposures on SNS. The term is a neologism created in Japan by combining the English words "impression" and "zombie." The report's core is that as X provides revenue based on views and exposures, Impression Zombies are spreading to South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
This Pakistani man has been posting topical content such as cricket, his hobby, on X for the past 10 years. However, starting in January, triggered by the Noto Peninsula earthquake and the Haneda Airport incident in Japan, he began posting about the earthquake in Japanese. He did not speak Japanese but used a translation tool to post in Japanese. Within a week of the earthquake, his posts garnered 2 million views. Of course, his income is minimal. Currently, his monthly income is 8,000 yen (approximately 73,500 KRW). As the head of a household supporting his wife and two children, he diligently posts multiple times a day on X to earn extra income. Among his friends, some reportedly earn around 8,000 yen per month from X, similar to his earnings.
As Impression Zombies spread domestically and internationally, there is also a lot of fake information and meaningless content. NHK stated, "An investigation of 50 accounts repeatedly posting in Japanese on X found that 22 accounts were from South Asia or the Middle East, including Pakistan, India, and the UAE (United Arab Emirates)." They added, "From October last year to May 8, these 50 accounts posted more than 40,000 Japanese posts." Among them, some accounts posted over 1,000 times a day, raising suspicions that macro programs were being used.
A university student in Islamabad, Pakistan, told NHK in an interview, "English, the world's common language, does not work well," and added, "Japan is a large market on X, but there are not many people in Pakistan who can use Japanese, so you can earn money through exposure." An expert interviewed by NHK said, "In emerging and developing countries such as Pakistan, India, and African nations, young people without jobs are desperate to make money through SNS," and "This phenomenon will continue for the time being."
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