It’s no secret that some people use fake followers on Instagram to inflate their numbers and make themselves look more popular than they really are. But how to spot fake Instagram followers? ?
You’ve posted consistently, used the right hashtags, and interacted with other users. So why isn’t your follower count growing as fast as you want it to?
It could be because fake accounts are following you. This post will show you how to tell if an Instagram follower is fake and what you can do about it.
Contents
What are Fake Followers?
Before we get into how to spot a fake follower, let’s first define what we mean by “fake.”
A fake Instagram follower is an account that’s run by a bot or a real person who is paid to follow other users and like their posts. These accounts are usually created for the sole purpose of inflating someone’s follower count. They don’t interact with other users, leave comments, or post their own content.
How to Spot Fake Followers?
The first step is to take a gape at the account’s follower-to-following ratio. If they’re following a significantly higher number of people than are following them, that’s a red flag.
Another sign is if the account has a sudden surge in followers with no corresponding increase in activity on their part (e.g., they’re not posting any new content, they’re not commenting or liking other people’s posts). Inactive accounts or accounts with few photos are also likely to be fake.
So, how can you spot fake followers on Instagram? Here are a few things to look for:
- Accounts with few or no posts: These types of accounts are usually created solely for the purpose of following other accounts. If an account has very few posts or no posts at all, there is a good chance that it is a fake follower.
- Accounts with few or no followers: Another way to spot a fake follower is by looking at the number of followers they have. If an account has very few followers relative to the number of people they are following, then there is a good chance they are only following people in order to get follow backs.
- Inactive accounts: Fake followers will often be inactive, which means they haven’t liked or commented on any posts in a long time. To check an account’s activity, you can click on the “Following” tab on their profile and scroll through their activity feed to see when they last liked or commented on a post.
- Generic profile photos: Many times, fake follower accounts will have generic profile photos like an egg or a stock photo instead of a real photo of themselves. This is usually an indication that the account owner isn’t really interested in engaging with other users on the platform.
- Suspicious comments: Another way to spot fake followers is by looking at the comments they leave on other people’s posts. Fake comments are usually generic and oftentimes don’t make sense in relation to the post itself. For example, a common type of comment from a fake follower might be something like “great post! keep up the good work!”
- Low Engagement Rates: The engagement rate is calculated by dividing the number of likes and comments on a post by the number of followers the account has. This metric gives you a good idea of how engaged an account’s followers are with its content. Generally speaking, accounts with large numbers of fake followers will have low engagement rates. This is because most fake accounts are created by bots that don’t interact with content in the same way as real humans do.
Comments vs. SpamWords
Another way to tell if someone has fake followers is to look at the comments they receive. If most of the comments are generic phrases like “nice pic!” or “follow for follow!” it’s likely that they’re from fake accounts. Real comments usually contain meaningful conversation starters or questions about the content of the post.
Follow/Unfollow Ratio
A high follow/unfollow ratio is another sign that someone might have fake followers. This happens when someone follows a large number of people in the hopes that they’ll follow back, and then promptly unfollows them when they do.
A healthy follow/unfollow ratio should be around 1:1—for every person someone follows, they should also have one follower. Anything above this ratio could be cause for concern.
Conclusion
If you suspect that an Instagram account has fake followers, there are several ways you can confirm your suspicions.
Check the account’s engagement rate, look at the comments its followers leave on posts, and see how much personal information is included in their profiles. By taking these factors into consideration, you can separate the real from the fake and get a better idea of which accounts have a genuine influence on the platform.
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