Dive Brief:

• After purging millions of fake accounts, Instagram still has around 8% of accounts controlled by bots.
• Fake accounts are ferreted out by comparing accounts followed to followers, and how often users posted Instagram content to Facebook.
• Social media platforms conduct an ongoing battle against fake accounts used for nefarious purposes from spamming to selling social connections.

Dive Insight:

Toward the end of last year Instagram conducted a mass purge of its 300 million active monthly users to rid the social platform of fake accounts, an event dubbed the “Instagram Rapture.” After research by an Italian security firm, it was found Instagram still has around 8% fake accounts, operated by autonomous bots following users -- often selling those connections -- and sending spam, including posting to Facebook, the parent company of Instagram.

Security researchers find fake accounts in part by tracking account’s following to follower ration and how often the account shares content with Facebook. In another tactic, they spent $100 to buy 20,000 fake accounts and then tracked the activity of those accounts. Researchers found 71% of face accounts had full profiles, including first and last names, bio, photo and a location.

Probably most disconcerting for marketers, the researchers concluded that popularity metrics, such as likes and followers, can be misleading and “do not deserve high consideration.”