The acquisition of illegitimate metrics on social media platforms, specifically in the context of Instagram, without incurring any monetary cost, is a practice that involves inflating follower counts through artificial means. This can include the use of automated systems or services that provide non-genuine accounts as followers. These followers typically do not engage with the content creator’s posts and exist solely to increase the perceived popularity of the profile.
The perceived benefits of artificially inflated follower counts relate primarily to perceived social validation and potential opportunities arising from that perception. Historically, this practice has been employed by individuals and businesses seeking to project an image of influence or authority within their respective niches. However, the presence of such inflated metrics can erode trust with authentic users and may violate the terms of service of social media platforms. Furthermore, algorithms designed to detect inauthentic activity increasingly penalize accounts engaging in these practices.