UPDATE ONE: Instagram has confirmed that today’s trend of users losing followers from their account is a glitch.
This means that an Instagram follower purge is not ongoing and numbers should return to normal in the future.
Instagram has not revealed a timeline on how long this process may take or when lost Instagram followers might start reappearing.
“We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible,” a message from Instagram confirms.
ORIGINAL: It’s unclear if tonight’s changes to Instagram are meant to be happening or if it is something that is down to an internal error.
No statement has been shared by the company, who remain silent on what is happening to online accounts.
And whatever it is, Instagram users are losing followers, some affected more than others.
Reports are coming in of some accounts seeing hundreds lost, while others are reporting much higher numbers.
From what has happened in the past, it appears that this could be a purge of accounts being led by Instagram to cut down on bots.
No statement has been released by the tech giant on the subject, so it’s impossible to confirm whether this is what is happening tonight.
The only difference with the current situation and what has happened in the past is that some users are reporting seeing a different number of followers when they use the website over the Instagram app.
“I Just lost 500 followers,” one Instagram user reports, “I’m not getting nearly the amount of views on my videos, photos, or story, all my message requests are gone.
“I just lost a lot of followers too! It’s showing a different amount on browser vs the app!” another adds.
There are reports that celebrity accounts have been hit the hardest, with some seeing millions wiped from their total follower count.
If this is something being done on purpose by Instagram, a statement on the subject should be shared by the company in the coming hours.
Instagram Account purges have happened in the past but have usually been announced before they have been put into action.
MFL…