With over 2 billion monthly active users, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms today. Many people and businesses use Instagram to build their brand, promote their products/services, and connect with potential customers.
However, due to Instagram‘s popularity, some users resort to buying fake followers or using bots to artificially inflate their follower count and appear more popular than they really are. This can be misleading for brands looking to work with influencers or assess a user‘s credibility.
Fortunately, there are several effective ways to check if an Instagram account has fake followers. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover:
- What are fake Instagram followers and why should you care?
- How to check for fake followers on your own Instagram account
- How to detect fake followers on other Instagram accounts
- The best Instagram fake follower checker tools
- Tips to get rid of fake Instagram followers
Contents
What are Fake Instagram Followers?
Fake Instagram followers refer to bot accounts or inactive profiles that are following an Instagram account. They are not real people genuinely interested in the account‘s content.
Some telltale signs of fake Instagram followers include:
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No profile picture – The account has no photo or a generic avatar as profile picture.
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No posts/stories – Little to no posts on feed or stories shared.
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No bio info – There is limited info in the bio section.
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Follows/followers ratio imbalance – The account follows significantly more accounts than it has followers.
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Irrelevant followers/following – The accounts followed or following have no relevance to the user‘s niche or interests.
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Suspicious username – The username contains random letters/numbers rather than a real name.
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Suspicious engagement – Gets very few likes or comments on posts compared to follower count.
There are several reasons why people buy fake Instagram followers:
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Appear more popular – More followers give the illusion of popularity and influence.
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Attract real followers – Some people follow accounts with high followers, so fakes help attract real followers.
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Earn money – Accounts with more followers can earn more money from branded content deals.
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Improve search rankings – Accounts with more followers show higher in Instagram search results.
However, having fake followers can do more harm than good for your brand. It can lead to:
- Lower engagement rates since fakes don‘t engage with your content
- Distrust from real users who can detect the fakes
- Penalties from Instagram for violating their terms of service
That‘s why it‘s important to regularly check your followers and purge any fakes.
How to Check for Fake Followers on Your Instagram Account
Here are some easy ways to evaluate the quality of your own Instagram followers:
Analyze Your Followers List
Go to your Instagram profile and check the list of accounts following you. Look for any profiles showing the suspicious signs mentioned earlier like no DP, posts, odd usernames etc.
Check the ratio of followers to following. If an account follows 10x more accounts than they have followers, it could be a fake.
See if your followers are within your target audience and niche. Unrelated accounts could be bots or purchased fakes.
Compare Followers/Likes Ratio
Cross check your number of followers with the average likes and comments you get on your posts.
If you have 10k followers but get only 100-200 likes per post, your engagement rate is very low, indicating lots of inactive or fake followers.
A healthy account should have an engagement rate of 2-5% or more.
Check Follower Growth Patterns
See if you got any sudden spikes in followers gained, especially overnight. Gaining thousands of new followers within a short span is unlikely unless you had a viral moment. This could signify bots were used.
Also look for any drops in followers. If you lose followers after a growth spike, it‘s likely those were fake accounts deleted by Instagram.
Use Analytics Tools
Third-party analytics tools like Iconosquare and SocialBlade provide insightful stats related to fake followers.
Key stats to check:
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Audience authenticity – Percent of real vs fake followers
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Audience quality – Percent of active, engaging followers
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Followers growth analysis – New followers gained over time
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Unfollowers analysis – Follower drops and unfollow reasons
These tools examine multiple factors to determine fake followers, giving you an accurate assessment.
How to Detect Fake Followers on Other Instagram Accounts
If you‘re considering working with an influencer or assessing another user‘s credibility, here‘s how to spot if their followers are authentic:
Check Profile and Followers List
Do a quick check of the user‘s profile looking for any unusual activity:
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Does the high follower count match up with their engagement and content quality?
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Are there any bots or suspicious accounts in their followers list?
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Does their growth in followers align with growth in posts and engagement?
Compare Engagement Metrics
Compare their number of followers with their average likes, comments, and story views. Engagement should match their follower size.
Watch out for engagement under 3% which indicates inflated followers. For example, an account with 100k followers should get 3k+ likes normally.
Analyze Follower Sources
See where most of their followers are coming from – are the majority from specific countries, profiles, or posts? Strange follower sources can point to fakes.
Use Fake Follower Checker Tools
Fake follower checking tools like SocialAudit and IG Audit use algorithms to quickly identify which of a user‘s followers are real vs fake.
They examine factors like profile authenticity, post engagement, follower sources etc. to make this assessment.
These tools generate reports showing the percentage of fakes and other insightful stats related to the quality of followers.
Best Tools to Check Fake Instagram Followers
Rather than manually evaluating followers, you can use automated fake Instagram follower checker tools to easily and accurately detect fakes.
Here are some of the best options:
SocialAudit.io
SocialAudit is a popular fake follower checker tool for Instagram and other social platforms like TikTok and Twitter.
It analyzes followers based on over 10 quality factors including profile legitimacy, friend demographics, engagement etc.
The audit generates a report showing the percentage of real vs fake followers, their locations, active status, and more valuable insights.
SocialAudit offers different subscription plans depending on usage needs.
IG Audit
IG Audit examines your Instagram followers for authenticity by checking profile quality, activity level, and engagement.
It classifies followers as fake or inactive if they show little post engagement and comments. The tool also detects any bots or suspicious accounts.
It generates a report highlighting your percentage of fake/inactive followers, their locations, growth analysis, and other vital stats.
IG Audit has a free version with limited checks or paid monthly plans for full reports.
HypeAuditor
HypeAuditor analyzes Instagram followers as well as YouTube channels and TikTok profiles for fake/bot accounts.
It classifies followers into categories like megafans, potential fakes, inactive, etc. based on over 10 engagement and authenticity factors.
The audit report shows the percentage of each follower type, quality score benchmarked to your niche, and changes in followers.
HypeAuditor starts at $25/month for individuals and goes up based on usage needs.
SocialBlade
SocialBlade provides Instagram stats and analytics to identify suspicious growth and engagement that signals fake followers.
Key stats checked:
- Followers/following ratio imbalance
- Sudden spikes or drops in followers
- Low engagement rate compared to followers
SocialBlade has a free version with basic stats and paid premium plans that provide more data.
Instagram Insights
Instagram offers limited analytics under Insights that can help identify drops in followers and very low engagement posts.
Though not as comprehensive as third-party tools, this is a free option accessible within your Instagram account.
Tips to Get Rid of Fake Instagram Followers
Once you’ve identified the fake accounts following you, take these steps to remove them:
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Report fakes – Tap the 3 dots next to a follower’s name, then Report to have Instagram review the account.
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Switch to private – Temporary switch your account to private so that all your existing public followers will have to request to follow you again. Decline request from any fakes.
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Remove with follower tracker apps – Use an app like Cleaner for IG which lets you mass remove fakes from your followers list.
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Post consistently – Keep engaging your real followers with high-quality posts. Any remaining fakes will eventually stop following you.
The key is to focus on building an engaged community of real, targeted followers – not just an inflated vanity metric of followers.
High-quality followers will lead to greater customer reach, brand awareness, and sales for your business on Instagram.
Conclusion
Having fake Instagram followers can negatively impact your account credibility and marketing efforts. Routinely checking your own as well as potential partners‘ followers for authenticity is crucial.
Look for suspicious signs like no profile pic, weird usernames, and engagement/growth imbalance. Use free Instagram Insights or rely on more comprehensive fake follower checker tools.
Removing fake followers ensures you have an active, genuine audience to boost your Instagram marketing results. So take the time to cultivate real followers who actually care about your brand.
