If you are a frequent Instagram user, you’ve probably run into your fair share of spam. Any popular photo on the service is routinely inundated with spammy comments – something that is an annoyance to both the photo’s poster and its viewers.
Although that spam is still there, you can take comfort in the fact that Instagram knows it sucks and is working on it.
“Hi Instagrammers! We’ve appreciated all of your feedback on spam comments, and we want you to know we’re working hard on this to make sure spam doesn’t take away from your Instagram experience. There’s no quick fix, but we have a team of engineers working every day to tackle the issue and we hope you’ll notice their improvements. If you do see spam, please delete and report the comments to us, or visit that user’s profile, tap the button in the top right corner and select “Report for Spam.” Thanks for helping to keep the Instagram community a great experience for everyone!” said the company in a photo comment.
Instagram isn’t the only social network that’s turned their focus to spam problems. Last week, Pinterest announced a site-wide spammer purge to remove suspicious and fake accounts. Pinterest said that this move would help “protect the integrity” of the site and “ensure followers are real people who are interested in what you share.” For Instagram, it’s no different – they want users to feel like interactions with their content are genuine, instead of some lame promotion for a sketchy product or a pathetic plea for followers.
Instagram sure needs to focus on keeping the user experience top-notch, as they recently made the decision to cut of Twitter entirely. Instagram photos no longer show up on Twitter, as Instagram is doubling down on forcing Instagram users to get the Instagram experience, well, on Instagram.