Social networks like Instagram play a crucial role in defining the online presence of individuals, brands and companies. Instagram, known for its visual approach and vast user base, has become an essential platform for image building and interaction with the public. However, this success has also brought with it challenges, one of the most notable being the prevalence of fake followers.
Fake followers are accounts that are mostly created by bots or managed by entities that do not represent real users. These accounts are often used to artificially inflate the number of followers of a profile on Instagram. At first glance, a high number of followers may seem beneficial, as it suggests popularity and reach. However, the reality is more complex.
Why you should eliminate fake followers
The presence of fake followers on an Instagram account can have a significant negative impact. In terms of credibility, accounts with a high percentage of fake followers are often viewed with skepticism by both real users and brands seeking authentic influencers for partnerships. On the other hand, from a technical point of view, fake followers distort performance metrics such as engagement and interaction rate, which is crucial for evaluating the real impact of an account.
These are the main negative impacts:
- Credibility and Reputation: The presence of a significant number of fake followers can seriously damage the credibility of an account. Real users and brands are often skeptical of profiles with a high proportion of fake followers, which can lead to a decrease in trust and perceived authority. This is especially critical for influencers and brands looking to establish authentic relationships with their audience and potential collaborators.
- Engagement and Organic Reach: Fake followers distort engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares rates. Since these followers do not interact in a meaningful way, accounts with a high number of them often experience a decrease in their interaction rate. This is crucial, as Instagram uses algorithms to determine the visibility of posts, and low engagement can lead to a reduction in the account’s organic reach.
- Data Analysis and Decision Making: For brands and users who use Instagram data to make strategic decisions, the presence of fake followers can lead to erroneous analysis. Metrics inflated by inauthentic followers do not accurately reflect actual account performance, which can lead to ill-informed marketing or content decisions.
- Risk of Sanctions from Instagram: Instagram has stepped up its efforts to combat fake accounts and inauthentic behavior on its platform. Accounts that have a high number of fake followers may face action from Instagram, including decreasing visibility, removing fake followers, or even suspending the account.
- Impact on Advertising Investment: For those who invest in advertising on Instagram, fake followers represent a waste of resources. Advertising campaigns designed to reach a real audience can be compromised as a portion of the budget is allocated to impacting inauthentic accounts, resulting in a decreased return on investment (ROI).
- Misalignment with Public Expectations: In a context where users seek authenticity and transparency, the presence of fake followers can be perceived as an attempt at deception or manipulation. This can lead to a disconnection with the audience, negatively affecting long-term loyalty and engagement.
As you see, maintaining an authentic follower base on Instagram is not only a matter of reputation, but also a strategic necessity for those looking to use the platform effectively. This article is dedicated to exploring methods and best practices for identifying and removing fake followers from an Instagram account (although the method is valid for any social network, including TikTok), thus ensuring the integrity and authenticity of the online presence.
Next, the strategies and tools available to address this problem will be detailed, highlighting both manual and automated methods, and the ethical and legal implications of this process will be discussed.
How to identify fake followers
The first crucial step in the process of clearing your Instagram account of fake followers is effectively identifying these inauthentic accounts. Fake followers often exhibit certain common characteristics that make them distinguishable from real followers. Here are some key indicators:
- Incomplete or generic profiles: Many fake followers have profiles that lack detailed information. This may include the absence of a profile photo, non-descriptive or generic bios, and lack of self-posts.
- Inconsistent activity: These accounts often have irregular activity. For example, they may have a disproportionate number of followers compared to followers, or show no recent activity in terms of posts or interactions.
- Suspicious usernames: Fake followers often have usernames that appear random or automatically generated, made up of an incoherent combination of letters and numbers.
- Abnormal interaction patterns: These accounts may display unusual interaction patterns, such as liking a large number of posts in a short period of time or massively and rapidly following and unfollowing accounts.
Once these characteristics are identified, Instagram users can turn to tools and applications specifically designed to detect fake followers. These tools analyze various factors, such as account activity, follower/following ratio, and other indicators to provide a more accurate assessment. Some of these apps even offer detailed analytics that can help identify not only fake followers, but also inactive or low-engaged accounts.
It is important to highlight that the use of these tools must be done with discernment. While some are free and easy to use, others may require subscription or payment. It is always essential to ensure that the chosen tool is reliable and respects the privacy and data of Instagram users.
Manual method
Manually removing fake followers on Instagram is a process that requires time and attention, but offers complete control and avoids the risks associated with automated tools. Below are the key steps and considerations to carry out this process:
- Reviewing Follower Profiles: Start by reviewing your followers’ profiles. Look for indicators of fake accounts such as missing posts, generic or missing profile photos, usernames with a random mix of numbers and letters, and a low follower-to-following ratio. Spend time analyzing the recent activities of these accounts, such as their engagement on posts, to confirm whether they are authentic or not.
- Blocking or removing followers: When you identify a fake account, you can choose to block it. This will remove the user from your follower list and prevent you from following them again or viewing their posts. Instagram also allows you to delete followers directly. By doing so, the account in question will stop following you without receiving a notification about this action.
- Limitations and Cautions: Manual deletion is a time-consuming process, especially for accounts with a large number of followers. There is a risk of mistakenly deleting legitimate followers, so it’s crucial to carefully review each account before making a decision. Please note that Instagram has limits on the number of actions you can take in a short period of time to prevent automated behavior. Removing excess followers can trigger these restrictions.
- Regular maintenance: Conduct regular reviews of your follower list to keep a check on the growth of fake followers. Implement practices to deter fake followers, such as avoiding the use of generic, mass hashtags, which often attract these types of accounts.
The most important thing is to always maintain transparency with your audience. If you decide to do a significant follower cleanup, you might consider communicating this to your actual followers to maintain trust. Removing followers should be done ethically, ensuring that legitimate users are not negatively affected.
Use of automated tools
For Instagram users facing large numbers of fake followers or looking for a more time-efficient solution, automated tools offer a viable alternative. These tools use algorithms to identify and remove fake followers efficiently. Some of these tools ask for your account login and password, so it is important to trust them 100% (personally I prefer that they do not ask for access information, that they perform analysis and that I take care of the manual deletion).
Below are key aspects to consider when using automated tools:
- Selection of automated tools: There are various tools and services available in the market. It is crucial to do your research and select one that is reliable and has good reviews. Evaluate each tool’s features, such as the ability to detect inactive or fake followers, and whether it offers detailed account analytics.
- Advantages of automated tools: Automated tools can process a large number of followers quickly, resulting in significant time savings. Some tools offer detailed analysis based on various indicators, which can improve the accuracy in identifying fake followers.
- Disadvantages and cautions: Despite their efficiency, these tools can make mistakes, possibly eliminating legitimate followers. Many automated tools require a subscription or payment for use. Make sure the tool does not violate Instagram’s privacy and security policies and protects your personal data.
- Ethical and compliance considerations: It is vital to choose tools that comply with Instagram policies and terms of service to avoid penalties to your account. Maintain transparency about your use of these tools, especially if you manage a brand or influencer account.
Even after using an automated tool, it is important to do regular tracking and monitoring to maintain the quality of your follower list. It may be necessary to adjust the tool settings or perform additional cleaning periodically to maintain the authenticity of the followers.
List of tools that can help
Here is a list of automated tools that can be useful to remove fake followers on Instagram:
- Social Audit Pro : A tool designed to audit Instagram profiles and determine the authenticity of followers.
- Hype Auditor : This free tool, powered by HypeAuditor, helps assess audience credibility and detect fake followers.
- Cleaner for Instagram, Follow Cop, : Applications available for mobile devices that allow you to stop following, block and delete followers. They are not in the app stores, they are only downloaded via APK, so be very careful with them.
- SpamGuard : Works as a spam cleaner and also helps remove Instagram followers.
- Unfollow for Instagram : This application focuses on eliminating fake followers from the Instagram account, although it does not reach 4 stars in the user rating.
- SocialBlade : Although it is best known for its analysis of YouTube and Twitch profiles, SocialBlade also offers tools to analyze followers on Instagram.
Remember that Instagram requires that interactions on the platform be authentic. The creation of fake accounts, the purchase of followers and likes, and the use of bots to artificially inflate popularity are prohibited practices. Actions that qualify as spam, such as following and unfollowing many users quickly, can lead to account restrictions. If it detects activity that violates its policies, Instagram may take measures ranging from warnings to suspension or permanent deletion of the account. Accounts that violate the rules may experience a decrease in visibility, affecting the reach and engagement of their posts.
Also Read | How to use Instagram without having an account
