The Instagram “like” button for stories. Introduced in February of last year, the function is a simple method to provide social story producers some fast love and attention. Nonetheless, it appears that close friends and followers are not the sole users of this tool.
There has been a recent increase in the number of bots connecting with Instagram users’ stories, and people are demanding an explanation. So, why are Instagram bots viewing and liking your story? Let’s find out.
Why Do Bots Like Your Instagram Posts?
Unsettling is one explanation for the increase of bots liking Instagram stories. On Reddit, several users are attempting to explain this behavior, and one person suggested internet stalking as a possible explanation.
According to the thread’s explanation, some websites let you discreetly view the Instagram stories of other users using bots. Therefore, when bots appear in your story views, it’s possible that an anonymous user from a third-party website is accessing your material.
Thankfully, Buzzfeed News reporters were able to dispel this claim. After attempting numerous of these websites to watch and like their coworkers’ Instagram stories, they discovered that the Reddit explanation was flawed.
ALSO READ: How To Fix Roblox Error Codes 2022!
On February 14, Instagram story likes will celebrate their one birthday, thus the function is still in its infancy. The story ‘like’ button is a low-risk option for authors to stand out. It was designed as a quick and simple way to convey favorable thoughts regarding other people’s material. Herein lays a possible cause for the recent bot behavior.
Because many of the anonymous accounts who like your stories are bots, they’re attempting to attract your attention and direct you to a questionable link in their bio. When you click on such links, you are frequently asked for personal information in order to “access” their material, which is a popular phishing tactic.
How Can You Block Instagram Bots?
Make your Instagram account private to avoid bots from liking your Instagram story. Nevertheless, not everyone can (or desires to) stick to this strategy. Changing your Instagram story settings is a second line of defense.
Creating a “Close Friends” story is a foolproof approach to exclude bots from your story’s likes and views, as you manually select the accounts that can read your story material.
Instagram appears to be aware of the issue and taking all necessary steps to resolve it. A representative for Meta told Buzzfeed News,
“We continue to invest in anti-spam technology and our safety and security team of over 40,000 people, who are focused on keeping spam and other sorts of harmful content off our platforms.”
YOU MAY LIKE: What is Watchtok? Tiktok Has Its Own Community for Watchlovers
However, until Meta delivers on this promise, we recommend sticking to private accounts or Close Friends stories!
Instagram Bots Are Mocked Online
Despite the unfavorable nature of the proliferation of Instagram bots, social media users have (once again) managed to maintain a lighthearted attitude.
A few individuals “appreciate” that they can always count on bots to like their Instagram stories, while others emphasize the repetitive nature of bots flocking to new content.
Why is This Taking Place?
One theory is one that you may not enjoy. According to Reddit users who are seeing bots liking their Instagram stories, this can occur when folks you have blocked (or simply don’t want to be exposed) secretly want to view your posts. There are websites that can assist them with this, creating bot accounts on their behalf.
In my experience, the likes from bot accounts do not even appear as views while viewing your Instagram story. Instagram appears to be excluding them from views, but cannot yet disable the notifications. And it is relentless.
Making your account private is one approach to prevent bots from accessing it, but that won’t assist those of us who need Instagram to be public for work or simply don’t want it to be private.
READ MORE: How to Find Tiktok’s Voice Changer Filter? Know About Viral TikTok Trend
Also, as tedious as it may be, begin to extend your close friends’ stories by adding more and more people, and post there instead of on your primary account until Instagram fixes the bot epidemic we’re all experiencing.