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Your Instagram Followers May Have Dropped – A Bunch of Celebrities’ Sure Did

If you recently awoke to find you now have significantly fewer followers on Instagram than you once had – get used to it. They’re likely not coming back. Instagram has just initiated a purge o...
Your Instagram Followers May Have Dropped – A Bunch of Celebrities’ Sure Did
Written by Josh Wolford
  • If you recently awoke to find you now have significantly fewer followers on Instagram than you once had – get used to it. They’re likely not coming back.

    Instagram has just initiated a purge of sorts – an attempt to rid the network of fake and spammy accounts.

    This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Instagram said it was going to do this over a week ago.

    …As more people join, keeping Instagram authentic is critical—it’s a place where real people share real moments. We’re committed to doing everything possible to keep Instagram free from the fake and spammy accounts that plague much of the web, and that’s why we’re finishing up some important work that began earlier this year.

    We’ve been deactivating spammy accounts from Instagram on an ongoing basis to improve your experience. As part of this effort, we will be deleting these accounts forever, so they will no longer be included in follower counts. This means that some of you will see a change in your follower count.

    Most of you won’t see any impact. If you’re one of those who will see a correction, you will receive a notification in the app directing you to additional information.

    While the average Instagram user probably didn’t see too much of a dip (unless they were in the habit of buying fake followers), some high-profile accounts saw a giant dive in follower counts.

    Based on data collected over at 64px.com, the top loser when it comes to followers is Instagram itself. The official Instagram account lost nearly 19 million followers , nearly 30 percent of its total base.

    Big celebrities like Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Beyonce, and Kim Kardashian were also affect by Instagram’s crackdown on illegitimate accounts. They lost 5.7%, 7%, 3.7%, and 5.5% of their follower base, respectively.

    But nobody was hit like Justin Bieber. Apparently, he had the most fake followers of all. The recent purge axed over 3.5 million of his followers, a nearly 15 percent drop.

    I know it looks good to have more followers, but come on. Do you really want a bunch of spambots as followers? Does that really make you feel good?

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