Instagram, owned by Facebook, announced yesterday that the company is taking steps to clean up the platform. As a part of this clean-up, Instagram will remove all the “inauthentic” likes and follows from the platform. This has been known as the ‘Big Purge’ and is likely to affect most of the accounts across Instagram. Earlier this year, Twitter also took similar steps in order to remove follower bots and many famous Twitter accounts got affected. Now, we may see similar things happening on Instagram as well.
However, the effect of this purge is believed to be drastic on Instagram. Because it is known that there are various “Influencer” accounts on Instagram having fake bot followers. Now, this purge will eliminate all those followers by banning the bot accounts which will reduce the follower count significantly. Therefore, this is a test of sorts for all the accounts on Instagram and some of the big accounts are likely to be affected. The main effect will be felt on those accounts who are known to buy fake followers or likes on their post for some amount.
It is believed that Instagram will be a platform to trust after the Purge has been completed. This is because all the fake followers will be removed from the platform and only the authentic accounts will remain. This will also show the accounts which have genuinely gained followers rather than buying them. Also, we all know that Instagram is a platform where most of the brands are present and the Influencers have been running promotional campaigns for different brands as well.
After this purge, the brands will also become aware of the real Influencers on Instagram and not the ones which have gained lots of followers in very little time. “Accounts we identify using these services will receive an in-app message alerting them that we have removed the inauthentic likes, follows and comments given by their account to others. We will also ask them to secure their account by changing their password,” says Instagram in its official statement on this purge.