Harshita Agrawal is the Founder at eSocMedia. She is a social media and influencer marketing specialist who spends most of her time behind the screen. She's also an avid reader and a travel enthusiast.
For those who are majorly focused on growing their Instagram accounts know a lot about Instagram growth services and automation tools. Because they have definitely, certainly tried these tools to boost their Instagram followers and engagement.
The Instagram growth services have been around a few years where Instagram bots help in auto-following, auto-commenting, mass liking, mass polling, and more. These tools have adapted themselves to various Instagram algorithms and trends.
When Instagram launched Stories, automation tools launched mass Instagram story views. When Instagram launched polls, the tools released auto polling. They have always stayed a step ahead until Instagram started taking drastic steps to curb automation on their platform.
Are Instagram Growth Services Required?
For those who have been thriving on fake engagement on Instagram, would say that Instagram growth services are a must. They help them in glittering their Instagram accounts with fake likes, comments, automated DMs, and followers when they actually earn none.
On the other hand, Instagram users who browse Instagram for real experiences want to receive content that’s genuinely popular. They don’t want to interact with content that’s boosted by fake growth. Also, inauthentic engagement hampers the reality of the Instagram posts and serve as a false impression on what people are actually liking.
Another disadvantage of Instagram growth services is for brands and businesses working with influencers on the platform. With massive fake engagement on the platform, it’s hard for brands to trust the authenticity of influencers. Tools like HypeAuditor are required to make sure that influencers, businesses want to hire are real or not.
How is Instagram curbing Growth Services?
In 2019, Instagram has not just been blocking users or changing algorithms, they have also resorted to blocking IP addresses to prevent inauthenticity on the platform.
An Instagram automation tool, Instavast that had to redesign their tool in August 2019, said:
“As you may know, Instagram has recently rolled out a new update which has caused a lot of difficulties for all the automation tools, including Instavast.
They stop auto-activities based on the IP address of the accounts. They don’t block the account itself, just the account’s access from the suspicious IP addresses.”
The attempt by Instagram has made Instavast change their tool along with its pricing. The tool increased their pricing for adapting themselves to the changing Instagram accesses. Also, it became technically complicated for users to use the tool now.
When another tool, Instagress, was shut down in 2017, it caused a mild panic because Instagram was now restricting third-party services that use bots or engaging on your behalf.
Most recently, in January 2020, a famous tool Social Drift was finally shut down by Instagram. Though the tool was shut down by Instagram in the US in 2017, the tool continued to exist using VPNs.
It was since then, that Instagram has been actively involved in curbing inauthentic engagement on its platform. In 2019, Instagram announced removing fake accounts, blocking accounts, or asking users to change passwords if they have used a third-party app. If you’ve shared your log in credentials with an app offering likes or comments, Instagram may ask you to change your password.
Recently, many people have been sharing screenshots of Instagram temporarily blocking their Instagram account when using mass story viewer to increase story views. Because these services use bots that rapidly increase views, Instagram’s smart algorithm detects it and blocks the account.
Other steps taken by Instagram to limit growth services involve blocking comments, likes by minute and hours. Instagram has set limits on follow-unfollow, likes, comments, and DMs to make sure the third-party apps do not infiltrate Instagram.
Are Instagram Growth Services actually Expected to Cease by 2020?
As I said in the opening statements, Instagram growth services have always been a step ahead of Instagram. Every time Instagram finds a way to stop them, they find another way to beat them and become more powerful. Despite all the efforts by Instagram, you can still find hundreds of Instagram growth services that work flawlessly. You pay them and they get the job done.
These apps follow Instagram rules by following/unfollowing within Instagram limits to make sure your accounts are not banned. As they work perfectly, there are still many Instagram users using them despite Instagram’s attempt to stop them.
Hence, it cannot be said conclusively that 2020 will be the year when Instagram growth services will be gone for good. The Instagram fever is uprising with everyone trying to make a mark, giving these services thousands of customers every day.
For these services to actually go, Instagram will have to attack and not just defend. Let’s see if Instagram attacks in 2020 and takes a bigger step in curbing inauthenticity on the platform.