(Image source from: techobserver.net)
Instagram on Wednesday witnessed a major bug as popular Instagrammers started losing millions of followers.
Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform, which enjoys more demand than parent company, saw several popular celebrities experiencing a considerable drop in their follower count.
Though many made suppositions that Instagram might be cracking down on fake or inactive accounts on its platform, Instagram confirmed that that is not the case and its a glitch.
“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 said on Twitter.
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
The Instagram bug is accountable for tearing down the follower counts of a number of Instagram’s popular users, including Canadian singer Justin Bieber as he lost 1.7 million followers while reality TV star Kim Kardashian lost 1.9 million.
Singer Ariana Grande also saw her Instagram followers dip from 145 million to 143 million. Reality TV star-turned-entrepreneur Kylie Jenner and singer Selena Gomez also suffered a loss of more than 2 million in terms of followers.
In addition to mainstream celebrities, popular YouTube stars too experienced big drops in their Instagram follower count.
James Charles, a prominent internet personality who is a model and a make-up artist said in a tweet, “Why did I just lose over half a million followers, Instagram wyd sis (sic)”
why did I just lose over half a million followers @instagram wyd sis
— James Charles (@jamescharles) February 13, 2019
The YouTube creator has nearly 14 million followers on Instagram. Likewise, another Youtube star, Stephanie Duran, well known for her make-up videos said Twitter, “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?!”
so I just lost like 4K on Instagram and it unfollowed like 100 people within a matter of minutes? what’s going on
— stephanie duran (@ItsSteephh) February 13, 2019
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?!
According to reports, along with celebrities losing millions, users who have not many followers are experiencing the same.
Rumors suggested the photo-sharing platform was on a drive to delete fake or inactive accounts as WhatsApp has been in a bid to stop fake news and other online offenses. Numerous online platforms experience routine maintenance or a quick sweep to determine bots and spam accounts which sometimes may or may not include a systemwide bot purge. This was at one time experienced by Twitter users as well.
Although, now that Instagram has officially confirmed that it is a glitch and not a clearing, however, it still remains ill-defined whether the Instagram bug is wiping out the fake accounts, causing genuine followers to unfollow or problems in reflecting the number of followers.
This bug comes after Twitter had an issue with its ‘like’ count leading many of its users to think that the microblogging website was suspending accounts.
-Sowmya Sangam
