TechCrunch reports the influx of fake views is related to a new tactic where spammy accounts are “watching” stories to appear more real and gain new followers in the process.
This growth hack sprung up after Instagram began cracking down on bots and paid likes and followers back in November.
The idea is that if spam accounts are “viewing” stories then they won’t get flagged for being a bot, or having paid likes and followers.
TechCrunch speculates this is being done by third parties with sophisticated setups:
“Some of these growth hackers probably have banks of phones set up where Instagram Stories are ‘watched’ without being watched.”
The types of accounts responsible for fake story views range from Russian models to social media agencies, to public figures trying to grow their presence.
Needless to say, this is not the way to grow your presence on Instagram. Inauthentic activity is taken seriously and it will get penalized sooner than later.
Instagram confirms to TechCrunch that it’s aware of fake story views and is working on ways to reduce the activity,
The solution will involve implementing new measures specifically for stories. Instagram did not offer any further details.
For now, the only way to stop story views from spam accounts is to make your account private.