Instagram Is Starting To Crack Down on Fake Influencers
Chris Harper — December 21, 2017 — December 21, 2017
In the social media world, the number of likes and followers you have is a direct indicator of the popularity (and often, the credibility) of your brand. When you see an Instagram account with 1M followers, you instantly label it as an authoritative source.
Why does it matter to be an authoritative source? Well, for starters it means more money! If you’re doing your homework on a company you’re thinking about using and see that they have a large following, you’re more likely to trust the company or that the product is one of quality.
The other way money makes its way into your follower count is through influencer marketing. Brands want to tap into existing audiences and when they see you have a niche audience of 1M+, they’re willing to throw some serious money your way.
This is no secret to brands and influencers, which is why they’ve been finding ways to hack or pay the system in order to increase their follower and post engagement numbers over the past several years. We’ve seen sites like Instagress pop up (which has since shut down) that automate repetitive tasks like following and unfollowing pages as well as liking and commenting on posts.
This automation-and-payment-for-engagement type of activity has been on Instagram’s radar for a while now, but they are finally starting to take more serious action against it.
Over the past several weeks, Instagram has shut down third-party sites and apps like Instagress, InstaPlus, and PeerBoost that automate human interaction on Instagram, a violation of Instagram’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use.
These crackdowns come in conjunction with Facebook’s recent release of guidelines and algorithm updates to its own platform which tells us we’re in store for some serious changes in 2018 to the Facebook universe of apps and platforms.
What does this mean for businesses and influencers?
The best way to beat the algorithms and stay relevant even after guidelines change is to be authentic, informative, and consistent with your content. Hacking the system will get you the short-term payout, but won’t be a viable business solution for the long-run.
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