Social-Media-Integrity-ML-and-NLP-Approaches-to-Fake-Profile-Detection

This project is a Fake Account Detector developed using Flask, Keras, and machine learning. The system is designed to identify fake accounts on social media or websites by analyzing patterns and user behavior data. It uses a trained machine learning model (saved as a .keras file) to make predictions based on user input.

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🚀 Step-by-Step Guide to Set Up & Run Your Project

1️⃣ Navigate to Your Project Directory

Make sure you're in the right directory before running commands:

cd C:\github\Social-Media-Integrity-ML-and-NLP-Approaches-to-Fake-Profile-Detection

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2️⃣ Create and Activate a Virtual Environment

If you haven’t set up a virtual environment yet, do it now:

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows

✅ Make sure your virtual environment is activated (you should see (venv) in the terminal).

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3️⃣ Upgrade pip (to avoid outdated dependencies issues)

python -m pip install --upgrade pip

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4️⃣ Manually Install Key Dependencies First

Installing these first helps prevent version conflicts:

pip install flask pandas numpy tensorflow scikit-learn gender-guesser

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5️⃣ Fix requirements.txt (If Needed)

• If requirements.txt contains astropy==7.0.0, replace it with:

  astropy==6.1.7
  

• Save the file before proceeding.

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6️⃣ Install the Remaining Dependencies

Once core packages are installed, install the rest:

pip install -r requirements.txt

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7️⃣ Verify Installation

Check if all required packages are installed:

pip list

✅ Make sure the following are installed:

• Flask
• pandas
• numpy
• tensorflow
• scikit-learn
• gender-guesser

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8️⃣ Run the Application

Now, navigate to the backend directory and start the app:

cd backend
python app.py

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🔧 Troubleshooting Common Issues

🚨 ModuleNotFoundError (If any package is missing)

If you get an error like ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'X', install it manually:

pip install X  # Replace 'X' with the missing module name

🚨 TensorFlow Compatibility Issues

If TensorFlow is causing problems, install a stable version:

pip install tensorflow==2.10.0

🚨 Clean Virtual Environment (If issues persist)

If things are still broken, try starting fresh:

rmdir /s /q venv  # Deletes existing venv (Windows)
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install flask pandas numpy tensorflow scikit-learn gender-guesser
pip install -r requirements.txt

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🎯 Final Notes

• Always activate the virtual environment before running app.py.
• Keep requirements.txt updated with the correct versions of dependencies.
• If facing issues, check the error logs and install missing dependencies manually.

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