Instagram plans to take crack down on automated apps that are used by people to post fake comments, likes and follow-unfollow people to gain more followers.
Instagram plans to take crack down on automated apps that are used by people to post fake comments, likes and follow-unfollow people to gain more followers. Starting today the photo-sharing app will begin removing inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity.
The photo-sharing app has built machine learning tools to help identify accounts that use these services and remove the inauthentic activity. Such third-party apps that are used to generate inauthentic likes, follows and comments violate our the company’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use.
The company is taking several steps to control the spread these kinds of activities on its platform. For starters, Instagram will send an in-app message to accounts that are identified using these kinds of services. The message will alert the user that Instagram has removed the fake likes, follows and comments given by their account to others. The company will ask the user to secure their account by changing the password.
«People who use these types of apps share their username and password, and their accounts are sometimes used by third-party apps for inauthentic likes, follows and comments. Not only does this introduce bad behaviour into the Instagram community, it also makes these accounts less secure,» the company states on its official page.
Instagram also discourages users from sharing their login credentials with any third-party apps. Not all of these third-party apps are dependable. Sharing your account credentials with some of these apps can lead to their account been hacked. The company advises to change your account password if you have shared you details with any such apps.
Instagram has grown into being one of the popular platforms used by brands and celebrities to gain more popularity. The New York Times this year reported that more and more users are turning to these third-party apps to increase their number of followers. The report talks about a phenomenon called nanoinfluencers or people with as little as 1000 followers are trying to promote products on social media. These apps have become a thing across all social media platforms. The same report claims that many popular personalities have also bought fake Twitter followers from a company called Devumi.
