Instagram and Third-Party Apps: Monitoring, Policies, and the Bandwagon Effect

Instagram, a social media giant with over a billion active users, often faces the challenge of maintaining its policies while addressing new forms of abuse and spam. One of the key issues is the use of third-party apps that help influencers grow their pages. This article delves into the current stance of Instagram, the bandwagon effect, and the challenges faced by influencers who are trying to comply with the platform's policies.

Current Stance on Third-Party Apps

It is difficult to predict with certainty what future actions Instagram might take, but it is certainly possible that the platform could take a firmer stance against third-party apps that violate its policies. Instagram has already taken action against some types of third-party apps, such as those that sell fake followers or engage in automated actions that violate the community guidelines.

As for apps that help influencers grow their pages, Instagram’s policies on this issue are somewhat unclear. The platform has stated that it does not support the use of automation or bots to gain followers, likes, or comments, but it has not explicitly banned all third-party apps that offer growth services. This ambiguity makes it challenging for influencers to understand what is allowed and what is not.

The Bandwagon Effect

Janice, an influencer, shares an interesting insight: followers are attracted to accounts that are seen as successful or “winners.” This phenomenon, known as the Bandwagon Effect, is a psychological principle where people feel a greater need to conform to the majority. According to Janice, if an account has more followers than it follows, the account is perceived as a winner, leading to an increase in followers.

How Does the Bandwagon Effect Work?:
"People want to be identified with the successful and the popular. Naturally, when someone has a large following and is not following many others, they are perceived as a winner. Therefore, the perceived success of an account can lead to an increase in followers. However, this growth is often organic and not through the use of automation or bots."

Challenges for Influencers

Despite the bandwagon effect, Instagram recently announced that they will not allow the use of apps for mass unfollows. This decision means that influencers now have to manually unfollow those who have unfollowed them, a time-consuming and laborious task. This could be particularly problematic for influencers who manage their accounts outside of work hours, such as Janice, who runs a blog and has a family.

Manual Unfollowing Process:
"Since you can see who the unfollowers are, you have to take your time and individually unfollow them. This process can be a significant time crunch for influencers who have limited time. From personal experience, Janice found this task to be an enormous headache, and she eventually gave up trying to use apps for mass unfollowing due to the complications she faced.”

Conclusion

As Instagram continues to update its policies and algorithms, the use of third-party apps for growth and manipulation becomes increasingly restricted. Influencers need to be aware of these changes and adapt their strategies accordingly. The bandwagon effect remains a powerful force in the growth of accounts, but influencers must also ensure they comply with Instagram’s policies to avoid account suspensions or other penalties.

For more information on the apps that Instagram allows or disallows, refer to the following resources:

Unfollow App: 13 Quick and Free Unfollow Tools for 3 Social Media Sites

Overall, it is crucial for influencers to understand the nuances of the bandwagon effect and the platform’s policies to grow their accounts ethically and sustainably.