18 June 2020

How to Get Rid of Instagram Bots

1Frameworks

6Insights

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Frameworks in this episode

Marketing7 steps

Four-Signal Instagram Bot Audit

Score suspicious followers, remove confirmed bots, and restore real engagement

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take03:36

Anyone Promising Thousands of Organic Followers Is a Red Flag

Jasmine rejects services that promise rapid organic growth through hidden automation. She argues that shortcuts can produce bans or hollow audiences, whereas durable growth comes from content, conversations, and sustained work.

Guaranteed rapid organic growth claims are suspect
Automation can create followers without genuine interest
Artificial engagement risks account penalties
Real growth depends on conversations and consistent effort

“If anyone comes to you and says they can grow your account by thousands, organically run away.”
Jasmine Star · 03:40

“There is no better way to grow your following than by having conversations and putting in the work.”
Jasmine Star · 04:17

#organic growth#instagram marketing#automation#account risk

Explainer· 3

Explainer02:11

How Instagram Mass-Viewing Bots Manufacture Attention

Mass-viewing services program accounts to view large numbers of Instagram Stories so recipients notice the viewer and potentially follow it. The apparent view is not genuine interest; it is a high-tech follow-for-follow tactic designed to attract profile visits.

Bots artificially view Stories on behalf of paying profiles
A sudden spike on one Story can indicate mass viewing
The goal is to provoke curiosity and earn follow-backs
The resulting view count overstates genuine audience interest

“Well, basically bots are the result of people using services to artificially view stories on behalf of their profiles so that those people will see…”
Jasmine Star · 02:18

“It's probably because of mass viewing.”
Jasmine Star · 03:07

#instagram bots#mass viewing#story views#fake engagement

Explainer05:51

The Two Behaviors That Attract Instagram Bots

Bots commonly discover users through large hashtags and the audiences of prominent celebrities, athletes, and influencers. They then target those users to sell something or gain follow-backs that make the bot-controlled account appear legitimate.

Large hashtags expose users to programmed bot activity
Following prominent accounts can trigger bot targeting
Some bots are designed to sell products or services
Others seek follow-backs to manufacture legitimacy

“There are two ways bots and fake accounts will target you.”
Jasmine Star · 06:00

“Now the bots primarily will likely target your account to sell you something or for you to follow them so that their account is legitimized.”
Jasmine Star · 06:31

#hashtags#bot targeting#influencers#spam

Explainer10:23

Why Fake Followers Can Keep Real Followers From Seeing Posts

Instagram evaluates content partly through engagement signals such as likes, comments, shares, and saves. If content is initially shown to bots that do not respond, the platform may infer that it is irrelevant and limit distribution to genuine followers.

Follower count does not guarantee content distribution
Inactive bots produce weak early engagement signals
Weak signals can make content appear irrelevant
Fake followers may indirectly reduce reach to real customers

“And if the content is shown to a bot first and the bot does not engage your real followers, won't see it as a result.”
Jasmine Star · 10:51

“So the algorithm will assume it's irrelevant.”
Jasmine Star · 10:58

#instagram algorithm#reach#engagement#content distribution

Story· 1

Story06:57

The 5,000-Follower Account That Stopped Growing

A business owner admitted using an automatic growth service that liked hashtagged posts to solicit follow-backs. After Instagram cracked down on artificial engagement and she stopped the service, her growth stalled for six months and her engagement remained dead.

The service automated likes to generate reciprocal follows
Instagram cracked down on third-party artificial engagement
The account retained inflated numbers but lost momentum
Stopping automation did not immediately restore authentic reach

“And oftentimes when somebody says, Oh, I'll grow your account by thousands.”
Jasmine Star · 07:26

“Like I haven't got a single follower in six months in my engagement is completely dead.”
Jasmine Star · 08:43

#growth services#fake followers#instagram crackdown#engagement loss

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway11:16

A Full Party of Mannequins Is Still an Empty Room

Jasmine uses a party filled with mannequins to distinguish visible audience size from genuine participation. Removing fake followers can make metrics look smaller, but it reveals how many real people are actually present and available for meaningful interaction.

A crowded-looking account can still lack real participants
Removing bots exposes the true audience size
Lower vanity metrics can represent healthier engagement
Audience quality matters more than apparent fullness

“So even if your party looks full, it's fake.”
Jasmine Star · 12:06

“Remember your account will go farther with a thousand highly engaged followers, then 10,000 fake followers and passive viewers just scrolling on by.”
Jasmine Star · 12:24

#audience quality#vanity metrics#engagement#analogy