Instagram is looking for a solution after a number of users reported seeing noticeable drops in their follower counts. Over the last day, Instagrammers have flocked to Twitter to report their follower counts had sunk. Folks with smaller accounts reported the number dropping less than 50 people, while others said they’d lost more than 1,000. And as Fast Company points out, much-followed celebrities Selena Gomez (currently 143.2 million) and Ariana Grande (145.2 million) lost 2 million and 3 million, respectively. YouTube makeup artist James Charles saw a sizeable drop on his account. why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis — James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019 He was far from the only one: anyone else losing instagram followers? i just lost 8k… — CURBI (@CurbiOfficial) February 13, 2019 Not happy. Lost over 40 followers on instagram overnight. Either a lot of people hate me because of something I did in their dream or instagram have a SERIOUS issue. — Amy Hamerslagh (@amylois2003) February 13, 2019 Have just lost 500 Instagram followers in a second! What’s going on? @instagram — anainparis (@anamoonn1) February 13, 2019 Some people assumed the drop was from Instagram doing another purge of fake followers and bot accounts. But according to the platform, the issue is actually a glitch that causes follower numbers displayed on users’ profiles to fluctuate. We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible. — Instagram (@instagram) February 13, 2019 Once Instagram figures out what’s gone wrong, affected accounts will likely see their follower numbers return to normal.<doc-sep>Update: Instagram says the issue will be fixed by 9AM PST on Thursday. Update: we’re expecting to have this issue resolved by 9 a.m. PST tomorrow. We understand this is frustrating, and our team is hard at work to get things back to normal. — Instagram (@instagram) February 13, 2019 Instagram confirmed today that an issue has been causing some accounts’ follower numbers to change. Users began noticing the bug about 10 hours ago and the drastic drop in followers caused some to wonder if Instagram was culling inactive and fake accounts, as part of its fight against spam. We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible. — Instagram (@instagram) February 13, 2019 “We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible,” the company said on Twitter. why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis — James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019 so I just lost like 4K on Instagram and it unfollowed like 100 people within a matter of minutes? what’s going on 😩 like I’m not mad about my follower count cause I’d rather have less spam followers and better engagement but like why is it unfollowing people?! — stephanie duran (@ItsSteephh) February 13, 2019 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWER CULL 📉 Last night Instagram removed inactive / bot accounts from all accounts, globally. I’ve woken up to an inbox full of messages from concerned people / influences and brands who have in some cases, lost millions of followers while they were asleep!🤭😅 pic.twitter.com/ItUXqqmwQT — Steve Bartlett (@stevebartlettsc) February 13, 2019 The Instagram bug comes a few hours after a Twitter bug messed with the Like count on tweets, causing users to wonder if accounts were being suspended en masse or if they were just very bad at tweeting.<doc-sep>Instagram is investigating an issue that’s causing some of its most popular accounts to appear to lose millions of followers. “We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now,” Instagram wrote on Twitter this morning. “We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible.” Popular YouTube creators, including James Charles and Zach Clayton, who each have millions of Instagram followers, began tweeting about the issue last night. Other popular Instagram users, including celebrities like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez, saw losses in the millions. “Why did I just lose over half a million followers, Instagram,” Charles tweeted. “[What you doing], sis?” A report from Fast Company originally suggested that “Instagram took actions to remove millions of accounts the company believed to be inauthentic,” but it’s unclear if that’s the case following Instagram’s tweet about the issue. Many companies, including Instagram, do sporadic sweeps of their user bases to remove spam or inactive accounts. The company announced in November that it was gearing up to reduce the number of inauthentic accounts on the platform. “We will begin removing inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity,” a blog post from November reads. “We’ve built machine learning tools to help identify accounts that use these services and remove the inauthentic activity.” The Verge has reached out to Instagram for more information. Update, February 13, 9:35 PM ET: Instagram issued a tweet Wednesday night alerting users that the glitch should be fixed by 12PM ET on February 14. A rep for the company told The Verge there is no additional information about the problem at this time.<doc-sep>NEW A vastly improved search engine helps you find the latest on companies, business leaders, and news more easily.<doc-sep>
Some Instagram users have been reporting a drop in their follower count over the last 24 hours. While everyone was wondering if Instagram is coming down hard on fake followers, Instagram has acknowledged that it is indeed a bug. The company says it is working to resolve it as quickly as possible. Some users have even reported a massive drop in their follower count. The Facebook-owned app responded on Twitter claiming the issue affects some Instagram users. In a statement, Instagram said, "We're aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We're working to resolve this as quickly as possible." Some Instagram users have reported that they've lost as many as 4,000 followers, as a result of the new bug, while some celebrity users are claiming they've lost millions of followers. Popular celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande also been affected by the new Instagram bug. why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis — James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019 Instagram must be clearing out the inactive accounts because I just lost 20,000 followers a second ago.... tf — Alice (@Pineapplebrat) February 13, 2019 Social apps such as Instagram and others do routine clean-ups, where inactive and fake accounts are wiped out, but in this case, Instagram has agreed that it is indeed a result of a glitch, which is likely to be fixed soon. Back in November, Instagram had announced that it will be working towards removing fake likes, followers, and comments from its app. These largely included accounts that used third-party apps to spam other users. Instagram had said it will use its machine learning tools to identify such spammers on its network. Recently, Twitter has been facing a similar glitch, where users' retweets and likes were affected. Some people had been reporting issues with notifications, likes, and retweets on its platform. Twitter is currently working on fixing the issue. In case you've noticed a drop in your follower count on Instagram recently, there's no need to worry. All your followers should show up when Instagram fixes the bug.