Instagram has changed a lot from when it first started – you could see the latest posts first, but now it is centered on the photos and stories that have the most number of likes and interactions. This has also changed the approach of many businesses and people in general.

If you are just starting off on the site, it is easy to be thrown off by the changing nature of the site. However, you are not alone. Many people have complained about how the site is operating now, as they know it is becoming increasingly difficult to gain followers and likes. The groups of users that have a major stake in how the site operates are two, since they are the ones that gain the most revenue – influencers and business people (as they are trying to promote their businesses on the platform).

In light of that, many social media influencers prefer Instagram compared to other platforms, and many of them will get money in exchange for sponsored posts that are closely tailored for their audience. Many aspiring influencers see the platform as a way of earning some income, since the ones who are most established there earn thousands of dollars in revenue.

The road tom becoming successful look easy enough in theory. After all, you only need to cultivate your following, make brands notice you and offer you the budget to become an influencer, and then select one of them and sign a business deal.

The challenge of this approach

The problem with showing you have a large following is that it does not help you stand out from the crowd of thousands of influencers. After all, many businesses see the value of having large numbers, because these numbers prove that you have social clout and people can easily jump on your bandwagon.

What makes it even more difficult is the changes to the platform itself, which have made it more difficult to reach more people and grow your follower base. This has made many brands and people to consider a controversial shortcut, deciding to buy automatic Instagram likes.

The process of buying Instagram likes

There are usually two services that you can utilize when you want to buy likes on Instagram. One way peopledo it is buying them from fake accounts that sell likes. The other kind (more commonly used) is using services that sell bots specially designed for Instagram, and these bots follow actual accounts and like random people’s posts on your behalf.

The expectation here is that they will notice and follow you back, as well as liking your own posts. When the bots notice that the person has not followed back, they then follow and make the account maintain a more ideal following/follower ratio.

Because of their demand, many companies have come up to offer these services. Usually, the first method is more tiring and it fails to boost your interactions. The second method seems to be more interactive and is therefore seen as more effective in its approach.

Engagement=promotion on the platform

Instagram has become a platform where they consider the interactions you have in order to boost your page. The more of it you have, the more you will be featured on the aspirational Explore page, which can help your content go viral, in addition to your account.

The major issue with using this method is that it is very easy for people to see through. For instance, an account that has multiple fake followers, and has no posts of its own or interactions is a major red flag, and shows there is suspicious activity going on.

The second method described uses the logic of reciprocal relationships, which is common in some platforms such as Facebook, or in other words, the concept of ‘follow me and I follow back’. In numerous cases though, the followers will fail to realize that the bot unfollows their account some days later when they did not expect it to happen.

Some bots can even go on to leave the most generic comments you will ever find, such as ‘great job’ or ‘nice!’ without telling you anything else. If you are not used to them, you may think that an actual person saw your post, liked it and decided to comment something. However, if you have been around long enough, you will notice this tactic very quickly.

The worst case scenarios can even happen with these bots too, because they can comment these useless comments on the most unlikely of posts. For instance, you post a picture of your uncle who passed on, and the bot comments the usual ‘nice’ – leaving the situation awkward and bitter. Even though this may not happen in actual reality, the truth remains that these bots are hard to control sometimes, and they can find their way to the wrong places.

Even worse still, the internet never forgets. So, if a bot accidentally commented something strange on someone else’s post, you are guaranteed that that case will be brought up again in future. You do not want to risk your credibility just because of some likes.

The reasons why buying Instagram likes is a bad idea

There are some reasons that justify you not buying likes. First, it makes your engagement levels seem bad, and the developers of the site can terminate your account when they see it is not generating honest and authentic reactions.

The second reason is that it hurts the engagement ratio in the long term. The platform does not measure the number of likes a post gets – it instead checks the likes you have on posts in relation to your number of followers.

The third reason is that it is not sustainable, as it does not promote useful interactions with your audience that create brand loyalty.

Final thoughts

When all is said and done, buying Instagram likes is not a good idea to follow, as it will take up all your energy and resources in trying to boost your account. Do it legitimately, and you will grow the audience organically and legitimately.