Lady Gaga Facebook: Justin Bieber, Shakira and More Lose Fans as 'Operation Unlike' Purges Fake Page 'Likes'

Pop star Lady Gaga lost over 34,000 of her approximately 53 million Facebook "Likes" on Wednesday, while new mommy to-be Shakira managed to lose around 26,000. Why are so many fans turning on some of their favorite artists? Well, that's not actually the case - the "Likes" deleted from Lady Gaga and Shakira's Facebook pages were deemed "fake" by the cyber-world geniuses over at the mega-popular social networking site. Facebook, Inc. recently announced that it is attempting to purge all accounts of fake "Likes" in what has been deemed "Operation Unlike." Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, and even the popular app game Texas Holdem Poker have all been victims of bogus Facebook "Likes," and the site is ready to wipe out all the imposters.

Facebook has teamed-up with Techcrunch to conduct "Operation Unlike." The hit social networking service released a blog statement in August explaining that all accounts linked to fake "Likes" would be deleted: "On average, less than 1% of Likes on any given Page will be removed, providing they and their affiliates have been abiding by our terms."

Facebook's new automated efforts will remove fake Facebook likes "gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk likes."

Numerous businesses and celebrities may lose a bunch of "Likes" during "Operation Unlike," but it's all for the betterment of Facebook. Page administrators at Facebook will get a more accurate count on user engagement and demographics when most fake "Likes" are finally purged. Since the Facebook "Like" option has become so popular, many marketers are able to build up their brand by turning to the social media network to see what most people are currently "in to." Less fake "Likes" leads to less scam, which means an individual will get a more authentic version of whatever it is that they are looking for on Facebook. Just take a look at the vastly changing numbers already: the Biebs drops 27, 859 "Likes" while hip-hop queen Rihanna loses 28, 275. Now that's a lot of fake accounts, no wonder where all these celebrity death hoaxes come from...