TL; DR: Don’t be fooled by what other people say. The follow/unfollow method does not work!
If you’re trying to hack Instagram and gain more followers, there is one method that seems like a no-brainer. Follow dozens, if not hundreds, of accounts in your niche and then unfollow them after a couple of days.
It’s called the follow/unfollow method, and it’s been described as the best way to increase follower numbers over the years. With 2023 approaching, we wanted to know if the Instagram etiquette of following/unfollowing really works.
Judging the follow/unfollow method and whether it works for new creators?
Yes, Instagram has already cracked down on accounts that use this technique. However, armchair connoisseurs continue to recommend it to new creators. We’ve always been skeptical of breakouts, and this was no different. So, to settle the debate once and for all, we decided to give it a whirl!
What is the Follow-unfollow hack?
It is exactly what the name suggests. You follow people for a while and then unfollow them to inflate their numbers. This is what you do:
- Find as many accounts associated with your niche as possible.
- Click Follow on each of these accounts.
- This will send a notification to each account holder.
- Chances are they will look at your profile.
- They may follow you back because they like your content (or simply because they feel it’s a polite thing to do).
- Let a few days pass.
- Then unfollow all of these accounts, regardless of whether they follow them or not.
whats the result? In a perfect world, you’d gain more followers — the holy grail for all content creators everywhere. In the real world, the Instagram etiquette of following/unfollowing faces is quite a few loopholes and rarely gives you a healthy follow-to-follower ratio.
Why isn’t the Follow-Unollow hack a good strategy in 2023?
The follow then unfollow style sounds like a sound. But it is not a good strategy for many reasons. for one, You may end up following random people who may not be helping the community you are building. And remember, for a content creator, a loyal community is the most important part.
You can block work.
Whenever Instagram detects an account using the follow-uncollow method, they block it. What is a work block? When actions are blocked, you can’t do anything with your account, like like, comment, or follow.
This is when Instagram senses that you interact more than average in an hour or day.
until then?
It may take a few hours or a few days. It depends on how severe the punishment Instagram gives you. Sometimes, the platform may consider deleting your account!
How to stay within Instagram follow limit in 2023?
There are times when content creators really want more people to follow than usual. If this moment ever happens to you, remember to stay within limits. Instagram Follow the hourly limit For the year 2023 it is 200. Follow more and you could get banned or disabled. the Follow the limit on Instagram per day 1000 accounts.
A safe strategy for not going over the next limit is to capitalize on 50 people per hour and 200 people per day max. (FYI, we recommend this if you absolutely need to follow users. Not as part of a follow/unfollow method).
What happens to your reach and engagement with the unfollow follow method?
Not good stuff, we can assure you of it.
Let’s say you have about 2k followers. You start by manually following about 20 or so accounts a day.
Since you follow very few accounts per day, no action will be blocked. But you won’t see your followers increase either.
Side note: You can use bots for the unfollow method. But they tend to attract unwanted attention, which you don’t want. Plus, doing it yourself is free.
When you start following twenty (24) people every hour, you will gain followers – around 200+ every week. Seems too good to be true, doesn’t it?
that it.
Your followers will increase, but your engagement rate will decrease. Why? Because the number of likes you get remains the same, even though the number of followers increases. Remember, the people who follow you with this hack are not interested in your content or interacting with you. They simply want inflated numbers.
Do you think it’s still worth it? it’s not like that.
Why again?
Because when you stop using the follow/unfollow method, your engagement rate will go way down. If your average photo like is 300+, you will see less than 80. Besides, sooner rather than later:
- You will start losing followers.
- It will not appear on the Explore page.
- You will not rank on the hashtag.
- Your account will die.
Even posting more content or curating better content won’t reengage you!
Should you use the follow/unfollow method on Instagram?
Decisively, no.
It’s an acronym. Even if it helps you get more followers right now, it doesn’t help in the long run. Any creator who really wants to grow and use Instagram as their platform should invest in better and original technologies.
Unconvinced? Then keep this in mind:
- Once you stop, your account will no longer be visible.
- You may have more followers now, but it will decrease.
- Your engagement will be funny
if You don’t want to be penalized, you need to keep using the trick. But then, if Instagram catches you in the act, the punishment can be more severe. Furthermore it, Even if you keep hacking, follower growth will stagnate after some time.
In short, it’s a tightrope walk.
You can’t follow too many people in one day, or you will get banned. You can’t follow too few accounts per day, otherwise you won’t get more followers. Finally, you cannot extend the non-sequential proceed method. The cost of applying the trick is very high. It does more harm than good.
The essence of the follow/unfollow method
We offer you a warning: all budding creators (read: less than a thousand followers) can use the follow/unfollow method on Instagram. It will give you the required exposure to gain traction in 2023. As long as you are careful to stay within your Instagram follow limit.
However, as people who love to build a community of creators, our advice is to follow real accounts that will help you mature as a creator. To all the other creators (over a thousand followers), we say put your blood and sweat into organic ways to raise the level of followers. Also, follow the trends that are making it big next year.
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