Here's why you may have lost loads of Instagram followers overnight Certain celebrities lost millions of followers in the past 24 hours. A number of well-known influencers on Instagram are confused as to why they lost a substantial amount of followers on their social media account overnight. Advertisement This is because Instagram have deleted millions of accounts, which they believe to be inauthentic or "bots". A purge took place between Tuesday and Wednesday, which saw plenty of popular Instagram accounts lose thousands and even millions of followers. Eagle-eyed Insta users noticed that Ariana Grande lost close to 3 million followers, while Selena Gomez lost almost 2 million. In a blog post, the social media platform said that the process behind determining whether or not an account was inauthentic was relatively straightforwards: "We're taking a number of steps to limit this kind of unwelcome behaviour. Accounts we identify will receive an in-app message alerting them that we've removed the inauthentic activity given to their account from others. We will also ask them to secure their account by changing their password. Accounts that use these types of apps share their username and password, which is sometimes used to give inauthentic likes, follows and comments to others." Make-up artist James Charles is one of many people who has taken to Twitter since the purge to voice their confusion: why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis — James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019 Advertisement Oh yes the purge of IG followers was real for everyone today — AJA OSHUN 🌞🧡🦋🍯👑 (@ajaoxum) February 13, 2019 Advertisement Influencers are in a panic this morning after Instagram gets rid of all bot & inactive followers globally. But surely a more real, active & engaging follower base is better then an overinflated fake one? 🤷🏽‍♂️ — Alex SHAQ Shafiq 🐝🖤 (@InkedUpSHAQ) February 13, 2019<doc-sep>IF YOU WOKE up this morning to check your Instagram and noticed something a little off, you weren’t the only one. Yes, you might have spotted some of your favourite influencer taking to social media this morning to bitch about a sudden loss of followers on their Instagram pages, well, Instagram has now released a statement saying they are investigating the issue. But what actually went on after we all went to bed last night and before we woke up? Early reports suggested that Instagram took actions overnight to rid the platform of accounts they believed to be fake. As we are increasingly aware, many Instagrammers buy followers through multiple website in the form of bot profiles, however, there are some that gain these bot followers unbeknownst to them. People were outraged, especially those who saw significant drop in their follower numbers. why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis — James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019 Source: James Charles /Twitter Whoops! We couldn't find this Tweet Whoops! We couldn't find this Tweet Influencers like James Charles took to Twitter to question what is now being called ‘The Purge’ complaining that he had lost over half a million followers in just a few hours. And he wasn’t the only one. The tweets of complaint have been coming in thick and fast, with people tagging Instagram to complain about losing as little as 20 followers overnight. Friends & I noticed our IG followings dip a little (some lost way more than others, prob spam accounts/inactive users) but while finding out what happened I searched 'Instagram followers' on Twitter...it's lots of people moaning like the world has ended coz they're -20, I can't! — Melanie Murphy (@melaniietweets) February 13, 2019 Source: Melanie Murphy /Twitter However, others were quick to comment saying that if some influencers had seen a dramatic drop in followers, it probably had something to do with how many fake accounts were following them in the first place. CEO of Social Chain, Steve Bartlett, couldn’t help but laugh at the state of panic people were in about the situation, saying: “I’ve woken up to an inbox full of messages of concerned people/influencers and brands who have in some cases lost millions of followers while they were asleep.” 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 — Steven Bartlett (@SteveBartlettSC) February 13, 2019 Source: Steve Bartlett /Twitter Since the hysteria, Instagram have commented on the situation, releasing a statement earlier today saying the issue was being investigated. “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.” 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 Source: Instagram /Twitter However, if the overnight ‘glitch’ was a deliberate act to shut down fake accounts then it shouldn’t have come as a surprise after, according to Fast Company, Instagram announced they would be doing so back in November. “We’re taking a number of steps to limit this kind of unwelcome behaviour,” they wrote at the time. “We will begin removing inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity. We’ve built machine learning tools to help identify accounts that use these services and remove the inauthentic activity.” Some of those affected by last night’s issue are now saying they’re seeing their follower numbers return to normal. While those who stand to profit from their follower numbers are right to be upset about the sudden dip in figures, if 'authenticity' really was as important as many of them like to repeatedly say it is, they'd be glad that their updated numbers are a true representation of their influence. All I'll say is, I'd be glad if Insta did a cull of my account - why I followed every cast member of every show I watched back in 2012 is beyond me. DailyEdge is on Instagram!<doc-sep>When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up forfor the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks UPDATE ONE: The glitch that caused Instagram followers to disappear from user accounts has not been fixed for everyone using the app or website. There are still reports coming in from those affected by the bug, which saw hundreds of followers disappear, while others saw themselves unfollowed from other accounts. Instagram confirmed several hours ago that the trend of users losing followers from their account was a glitch, ruling out a new purge of bots and fake users. However, Instagram has not revealed a timeline for how long it will take for them to fix the problem, with the latest update on the subject coming 12 hours ago. "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," a message from Instagram confirms. ORIGINAL: It’s unclear if tonight’s changes to Instagram are meant to be happening or if it is something that is down to an internal error. No statement has been shared by the company, who remain silent on what is happening to online accounts. And whatever it is, Instagram users are losing followers, some affected more than others. Reports are coming in of some accounts seeing hundreds lost, while others are reporting much higher numbers.<doc-sep>A major bug on Instagram is bringing a lot of distress to its users, seeing upwards of millions of followers being lost to most accounts on the social media platform. Discovered earlier today, the glitch has also affected many celebrity accounts including Kylie Jenner‘s, who saw more than two million of her followers “lost.” The likes of Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber also lost 1.9 million and 1.7 million followers, respectively. Ariana Grande, who stepped down from performing during Sunday’s GRAMMY Award show, saw her followers drop from 145 million followers to 143 million. Along with the aforementioned celebrities, Instagram influencers have also noticed the discrepancy, seeing their hundreds or thousands of followers being reduced. The social media giant has already posted a statement via Twitter assuring users everything will soon resume back to normal. “We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now,” the post reads. “We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible.” Though many believe this to be a bot purge set in place by the app to clear spam profiles, Instagram made it clear that this is not the case. The platform went on to state the issue will be fixed on Thursday, February 14 by 9 a.m. PST. In more tech-related news, 230 new emoji are set to release this year. 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 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<doc-sep>
Instagram has a confirmed bug that is causing some users to lose a significant number of followers. In addition to losing followers, the number of accounts users are following back is also going down in some cases. 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 why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis — James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019 Advertisement Continue Reading Below 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 company acknowledged the issue and said it’s working on a fix. 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 Instagram tweeted another update roughly 12 hours later saying it’s expecting to have the issue resolved by 9 am PST (12 pm EST) on Thursday. Advertisement Continue Reading Below At the time of this writing, Thursday at 1 pm EST, there has been no further update and no sign of the issue being resolved. It’s being speculated this issue is related to the fake follower purge that Instagram announced last year. However, that has not been confirmed. If the issue is connected to the fake follower purge the company likely would have said so, rather than say it’s working on a fix. I will update this story if and when Instagram confirms a fix has been implemented.