In this digital age, only newborns don't have an Instagram account. That's of course, overstated, but some people might just agree with it, and this is exactly the reason why a lot of users are doing everything they can to grow their audience.
However, Instagram is now stricter with people using the platform who are using different apps to get more likes and followers that are not organic. On Monday, the photo and video-sharing social networking service notified all users who use apps to automatically leave spam comments or the infamous follow-then-unfollow method in an attempt to get more followers.
These inauthentic follows, comments and likes violate the platform's policies. Instagram sends these users a warning notice through the app itself, asking them to change their password and stop using these apps.
The platform also reiterated that users who continue using these automated apps will notice an impact on their Instagram experience, and may not be able to gain full access to the platform's advanced features. Additionally, the people behind this famous social media platform also want users not to let other platforms to access their accounts especially that it will lead to being hacked.
Others will even use it to send spam to other users, such as the growing apps Instagress and Social Growth that have been shut down. "We've built machine learning tools to help identify accounts that use [third-party apps for boosting followers] and remove the inauthentic activity," reads the announcement.
Other growing apps like Boostio, Archie, and InstarocketProX are charging users between $10 and $45 a month. These apps claim that they do not violate any policies although Tech Crunch suggested that they actually do. It is said that the company called Devumi also offered users to buy inorganic Twitter followers, and most people that use this are the A-lister celebrities.
Now that Instagram is serious with its undertaking to take down fake likes, comments, and follows, many users may notice audience drop in the next few days. The platform will immediately send a notification to a user as soon as they notice bogus activities within the app, telling them that they are removing these inorganic followers, likes, and comments.
Instagram makes the move after Facebook took down millions of fake accounts that are used to immobilize and influence elections around the world, spreading false information such as fake news. Such an act is deemed reckless and will be brought to an end immediately.
