If your Instagram is feeling a little deflated, well, you're probably seeing nothing compared to the losses social media celebrities felt when the app winnowed out spam and purchased follower accounts this week.
It's no secret that many popular fashion bloggers purchase followers. The long-accepted practice has often been seen as just part of getting a newbie blog off the ground. Now, Instagram warns users that it will be deactivating spam accounts on “an ongoing basis.” While its impossible to tell which of the lost followers from #Instapurge2014 were deliberately bought ones, as opposed to fake spam accounts, the results here are still pretty eye-opening.
According to Racked (which cleverly screenshot the top bloggers' follower counts pre- and post-purge), Aimee Song of Song of Style experienced the most extreme decline, going from 1.9 million followers to 1.8, a 5% decrease. Behind her came What I Wore (down 3.1%) and Cupcakes and Cashmere (3%). Interestingly enough, Rach Parcell of Pink Peonies (who Racked claims has been accused of buying followers in the past), only saw a 1% decrease. Bottom line? When it comes to Instagram fame, the numbers can — and will — lie. (Racked)