Skip to main content

Instagram purges fake followers, likes, and comments generated from other apps

Instagram

Instagram accounts bloated with fake likes and follows using third-party apps are about to be deflated. On Monday, November 19, Instagram shared that a machine learning update will be purging the platform of the inauthentic likes, follows, and comments created through third-party programs.

Instagram says that a new machine learning tool is now identifying accounts that used third-party apps to artificially boost their follower count as well as posting interactions. The inauthentic activity, Instagram says, will then be removed from the account. Since giving out the username and password to these types of apps can pose security risks, Instagram is also asking these users to go through a password reset.

Using an app to gain fake followers and interactions are already against Instagram’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use — what’s changing is that Instagram now has the ability to recognize which accounts are using the apps and which followers and interactions were generated from that app. Instagram already works to remove fake accounts, and today’s announcement expands its efforts to remove fake follows, likes, and comments. While the followers may be fake, comments and likes can help boost a post farther up in the algorithms to be viewed by more real people, making automated third-party apps popular.

“Every day people come to Instagram to have real experiences, including genuine interactions. It is our responsibility to ensure these experiences aren’t disrupted by inauthentic activity,” Instagram wrote in a blog post.

Users affected by the fake purge will see an in-app notification, along with a shortcut to change the account password to lock the third party app out of the account. Other users, Instagram says, may have unknowingly given out login information to a third-party app. These users will also be notified, and Instagram suggests they change their passwords.

Like other social networks, Instagram users often complain about bots and spam. Today’s change comes after Instagram locked out several bot platforms last year that automated different interactions, including Instagress and Mass Planner.

Instagram isn’t done with the fakes purge either — the company calls today’s announcement “just another step.” The platform says additional updates will be rolling out over the next few weeks that also focus on “tackling inauthentic activity.”

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Instagram test could ditch private messages, launch Messenger-like Direct app
1305060 autosave v1 2 37020033 m

Instagram’s private messaging could soon be getting new features — but that’s only if the platform’s split turning Direct messages into a separate app makes it through testing. Instagram recently began testing a separate split app for Direct, similar to how Facebook messages split into Messenger in 2014. Instagram vice president of product Kevin Weil announced the test via Tweet on Thursday, December 7.

The stand-alone Instagram Direct app is currently being tested in Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Uruguay — and if users in those areas choose to install the separate messaging app, the regular Instagram app loses the ability to send private messages. Instagram’s motivations behind the split are similar to parent company Facebook’s decision to create Messenger — as a separate app, the messaging platform can integrate more features than what was possible while co-existing inside the same framework with the rest of the social network.

Read more
Want more likes? Check out Instagram’s 2017 trends, from puppy faces to travel
how to use Instagram Stories

With just a month left to claim to 2017, Instagram is sharing the top trends of the year, from the most-used filters to the most popular non-human accounts (which goes to the Pomeranian @jiffpom). The annual look back on Instagram's 2017 trends can help users figure out what’s popular and why and perhaps drive a few additional likes to their photos.

The year's most-used Instagram filters are actually identical to the list from 2016, with Clarendon in first followed by Gingham, Juno, Lark, and Moon. Instagram’s augmented reality face filters only launched in May, followed by a launch for live video in the fall -- so the most-used face filters is all new data, but it suggests users should choose animal faces for the win. Instagrammers opted for the puppy the most, followed by the bunny, koala, genius, and love inside Instagram Stories.

Read more
Instagram fans can now Story and Save all they like from mobile browsers
1305060 autosave v1 2 37020033 m

Instagram Stories are going beyond the app — After launching the ability to see Stories on mobile browsers over the summer, on Thursday, November 17 Instagram announced that users can soon post to their Stories without the app, too. Posting to a Story, as well as saving posts to review later, is coming to Instagram.com on mobile browsers in the next few weeks, the company says.

Stories allows users to post several short video clips of their day, providing friends with a brief visual breakdown of the day’s happenings. The feature, which launched a year ago, was previously only available inside Instagram’s app. Now, the social platform is bringing the feature to the mobile web.

Read more