As the popularity of Instagram grows, so does the presence of spam bots that infiltrate comment sections and message requests. They not only compromise the user experience but also hinder genuine engagement on your organic and sponsored posts.
Instagram has measures in place to report and block bots manually to safeguard your audience and enhance engagement.
However, you can create a safer, more credible, and more engaging environment for your Instagram community by automatically stopping spam bots.
In this article, we will explore 2 easy and accurate ways to stop spam bots on Instagram from razing your brand reputation and improving overall engagement on your profile.
Why Do You Need To Get Rid Of Bots On Instagram?
Having bots on your Instagram account can cause significant damage to your brand reputation. There are a host of problems associated with having them.
Let's see some of the top issues you may encounter:
-
Fake followers become a dead giveaway: If you resort to follow bots to boost your follower count instantly, people will quickly notice that your followers are fake. It's not a good look for your credibility and authenticity.
-
The risk of getting shadowbanned: Instagram has strict policies against fake followers, and they may shadowban accounts that use such tactics to create a false impression of having more followers. This can severely limit your account's visibility and reach.
-
Engagement woes: Fake followers brought in by bots won't genuinely engage with your content. So, despite having thousands of followers, you will likely see little to no engagement on your posts. It's disheartening when your content doesn't resonate with your target audience.
-
Unfollows become a common occurrence: When new followers are from a different geographic region and have no connection to your content, people will eventually unfollow you. It's important to build a genuine and engaged audience, not a bunch of random followers.
How To Get Rid Of Bots On Instagram Automatically?
By now, it is clear that Instagram bots are annoying, & do more harm than any good.
But, it is a menace that Instagram users need to deal with until Instagram brings an anti-bot measure that will tackle this issue once and for all.
But what can you do in the meantime if these relentless bots are plaguing your Instagram account?
There are 2 paths here:
1: Use Instagram's Built-in Spam Filters
Instagram has built-in spam filters that can help you reduce the number of spam bots on your account. These filters can be found in your account settings under "Privacy" > "Hidden Words." You can use these filters to block spammy keywords and phrases from appearing in your comments and messages.
This includes content that may be inappropriate, disrespectful, or offensive, even if it doesn't violate Instagram's Community Guidelines.
You can also create a custom list of words to hide.
-
Hide comments: Comments that contain common offensive phrases, words, or emojis are automatically filtered out or hidden. This setting is turned on by default, but you can turn it off at any time.
-
Advanced comment filtering: You can filter out even more comments containing offensive words or phrases. However, comments from people you follow and who follow you will not be hidden. This setting is turned off by default, but you can turn it on at any time.
Go to "Settings and privacy" > "Hidden words." Select “Manage custom words and phrases” under “Custom words for messages and comments” & add the keywords. Go back and toggle the “Hide Comments” & “Hide Message Requests” options if you wish to hide both comments and message requests containing the keywords you just added.
- Hide message requests: Message requests containing scams or offensive content will be hidden by default. However, you can change this setting to have them appear in your inbox.
Note: The hidden comments and message requests are still included in your total comment and message counts. The person who sent the comment or request will not be notified that it has been hidden.
Instagram's built-in spam filters are a great way to reduce the amount of content by bot accounts. But they have a few disadvantages:
-
You might still need to manually review bot comments or messages that have slipped through the cracks.
-
Cannot delete spam comments automatically
-
Comment moderation on ads is challenging & needs to be done from the Ad Manager dashboard
-
Cannot use advanced comments filtration for specific posts
If you use advanced comment moderation tools like Statusbrew, you can overcome the above challenges.
2. Using Advanced Comment Moderation
If you are in search of an advanced comment moderation tool that accurately stops spam comments from appearing on your organic and sponsored posts, your search ends here.
Statusbrew provides you with greater control over setting up moderation rules to filter out bot comments based on your specific needs.
You can define custom criteria and keywords to identify and block bot comments while allowing genuine interactions to shine through.
Statusbrew even provides a centralized dashboard that consolidates all your social media comments, including those from Instagram. This makes it easier to manage and moderate comments across multiple accounts, ensuring consistent brand messaging and swift responses.
How To Stop Spam Comments Using Advanced Comment Moderation?
- Open Statusbrew & head to the Rule Engine
- Select Add new rule
-
Give a name to the rule
-
From the Data sources, select the Facebook pages on which you wish to moderate comments (no magic involved here, you need first to connect your FB Business Pages with Statusbrew to select them)
-
Select Trigger type as Message received
-
Select Add conditions -> Message Content -> Apply & add keywords
-
Select Add a new Action -> Hide comment
- Click Submit & you are all set to hide comments with the keywords specified on all your Facebook pages
Something To Consider:
You can automate actions based on (any one or more) of the following conditions that you specify:
- Based on the type of conversation like Instagram Comment, Instagram Ad Comment, Instagram Mention, & Instagram Message
- If the message has attachments or not
- Based on the number of links and mentions in the conversation
- Based on the sentiment type of conversation that is Positive, Negative, Neutral, or Mixed
- Based on the language of the conversation
- Based on the particular text of the post
- Based on the internal labels of the post
- Based on the name of the contact
The following actions can be taken when a specific conversation meets all the conditions:
- Get alerts on Slack, Microsoft Team, the Web app, or your email as soon as a bot comment is received
- Add customized labels to bot comments & track the number of bot comments on your account using analytics
- Assign bot comments to specific team members to take care of them
- Move the bot comments to a dedicated inbox for easy moderation
- Delete bot comments to get rid of them altogether
- Hide & delete comments only under specific posts
- Automate your entire comment management workflow by adding several conditions and actions
1000+ customers have increased their click-through rate on ads by using Statusbrew’s comment moderation. You can also be among them!
When Should You Hide & When Should You Delete Spam Comments?
Knowing when to hide or delete spam comments depends on the specific situation:
Hide spam comments when:
-
Minimal impact: If the spam comment is relatively harmless or doesn't have a significant negative impact on your audience or brand, hiding it can be sufficient. This helps maintain a cleaner comment section without drawing attention to the spam.
-
Moderation purposes: Hiding spam comments can serve as a moderation tactic to maintain a positive and respectful online community. It sends a message that spam will not be tolerated while avoiding unnecessary confrontations or engaging with spammers.
-
Avoid escalation: If the spam comment is inflammatory or offensive, hiding it can prevent further escalation or negative interactions. You reduce the chances of others responding to it or engaging in a heated exchange by removing the comment from the public view.
Delete spam comments when:
-
Genuine harm: If the spam comment contains malicious content, phishing attempts, or harmful links that could pose a risk to your audience, it's best to delete it outright to protect your followers from potential harm.
-
Violation of community guidelines: If the spam comment clearly violates Instagram's community guidelines or terms of service, deleting it is necessary to maintain compliance and demonstrate a commitment to upholding those standards.
-
Reputation management: When the spam comment directly targets your brand reputation, deleting it shows that you prioritize the integrity of your online presence. Removing such comments helps protect your brand's image and credibility.
-
User experience: If spam comments are overwhelming and negatively impact the user experience, deleting them can improve the overall quality of your comment section. This will ensure a more positive and engaging environment for your audience.
Apart From Hiding & Deleting Bot Comments, What Else Can You Do With Bot Accounts On Instagarm?
Remove The Bots Manually
If you have a personal account with fewer than 10,000 followers, manually removing bots can be a straightforward and effective approach. Just switch to a personal account and set it to private, so the bots you remove won't instantly follow you back. Follow these steps to remove bot accounts manually:
- Go to your Instagram profile.
- Tap "Followers" to see a list of accounts following you.
- Scroll through the list and identify the bot accounts.
- Tap the "Remove" option to unfollow them from your account.
Block the Bots That Follow You
If you have more than 10,000 followers, manually removing all the bots can be time-consuming. That's when blocking comes in handy. When you block an account, they will not be able to send you messages or comments:
- Go to your profile.
- Tap the "Followers" tab to see who's following you.
- Identify the bot accounts and open their profiles.
- Tap on the three dots icon on the top of their profile.
- Tap "Block" and confirm the blocking process.
Put An End To Spam Bots On Your Instagram Account!
Don't let spam bots hinder your growth on Instagram.
Still, there are so many bot accounts on Instagram it can be a tedious and time-consuming process to report and block each and every bot account manually.
You can automatically stop spam bots & have a safer Instagram experience with Statusbrew's automated comment moderation. Choose Statusbrew to ensure a spam-free and vibrant community on your Instagram.
Give it a FREE try with a 14-day free trial & experience the difference for yourself!
Statusbrew is an all-in-one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and even Google My Business.
Explore the Statusbrew range of social media tools
Cancel anytime!