(1) You can pay services to dramatically increase your twitter following. And when you use one of these services, you get a very random and strange mix of accounts.

(2) They said that someone emailed them to say that he saw them "on CNN or something". So the person who just saw the mention on TV doesn't even know which network he was watching? Or from a different angle, HJOE management didn't want to obtain specifics as to what the mention was or where it was made?

With the info that people are digging up about this massive twitter increase, it just doesn't make much sense.

I don't have any factual basis for saying any of this. But it's fair to offer up these considerations, as management's assertion lacks verifiable factual basis as well.