In a feat to combat fake follows, likes, and spammy comments, Instagram has started reinforcing strict rules and has already started removing fake likes, follows, and comments from accounts associated to third-party services. Apps like Instagress allow Instagram users to add fake followers, likes, and spammy comments that accounts utilize to raise engagement across the platform by violating policies.
According to Instagram, users who have either used third-party apps to follow and unfollow other accounts and to raise the likes and comments count on their posts will see a drop in the total followers, likes, and comments respectively as Instagram will remove it and discourage users from practicing such a gig in the future. It will also prompt the users to change their password in order to keep their accounts safe in case if the third-party services have received their login credentials.
Based on the press release, Instagram has stated that it has integrated advanced machine learning moderation tools that will identify accounts that have violated Instagram’s policies and/or used any of the third-party service or any other technique to escalate the followers count in any manner. It has also warned that some accounts might even see cutback with only a few features left accessible while other features on the app will remain unavailable, however, there is no timeline available for it.
Instagram started taking down fake accounts on its platform by early 2014 but the present move marks the first time Instagram has disclosed taking down likes and comments that make Instagram a haven for influencers who associate themselves with brands and advertise their products by earning a ton of money over it. There are some accounts with as low as 1,000 followers or say ‘nanoinfluencers’ that have put product advertisements too in order to get paid exorbitantly.
Instagram’s parent company Facebook has been taking down fake accounts and as per a figure, it has taken down 754 million fake accounts on its platform last quarter which is a colossal number. After several social media websites started removing anything which is fake, call it followers or likes, comments, shares, etc, many popular third-party apps that help grow followers count like Social Growth and Instagress have shut down, however, there are few premium services that still continue to thrive maintaining their claim of adhering to Instagram’s policies which they don’t actually follow.
So, if you are using your Instagram and see a fall in followers count, it could be because either you used a similar growth service or people in your account used it to grow their accounts.
