We all get that rush of dopamine whenever we get a social media notification, whether it’s a message, a like, or a comment. The thought of someone putting that much effort to tell you that they liked what you’ve put out, even if it’s just liking your Instagram story, feels so flattering. Except when the person who liked it, might not even be human at all.
If you have a public account on Instagram, you’ve likely encountered random accounts that don’t follow you liking your stories or commenting on your posts. Their usernames usually consist of a generic name_random set of numbers, with sexy photos (usually of women) as their profile photo and their profiles would usually have a suspicious link that leads to dodgy porn sites. While the idea of bots, a.k.a automated accounts, that mimic human behaviour on social media isn’t new, the huge increase of bots incessantly liking people’s Instagram Stories is worrying.
Why Are There So Many Porn Bots On Instagram?
First things first – we have to talk about the WHY of it all. As social media and your private browsing history has proven: sex sells, and what usually comes next? Money. As with just about everything these days, it all comes down to following the money. These sex bots are created to like your Instagram Stories, since liking stories shows that they’re doing “authentic behaviour”, which means only things that real people would do. By doing so, they can bypass Instagram’s monitoring systems and avoid being identified as bots. Essentially, these bots may be liking your story just so that their accounts won’t be removed.
When a bot likes someone’s story, there’s a huge chance that person would click into the bot’s account to see what’s up. And if they happen to click on the link on the account’s bio, they’ll most likely end up on affiliate marketing websites – just porn-related ones. The business model is similar to how influencers on Instagram make money. For example, a fashion influencer will post a picture of a new trendy bag that she’s been carrying around. They’ll then provide “affiliate links” to purchase the bag, and every time someone clicks on those links, whether or not they actually spend money on the website, the influencer will earn money from the company selling the bags, or whatever business website they are sharing their affiliate links to.
Just like how influencers earn money each time someone clicks on their affiliate link to the clothes they’re wearing, porn bots make money from getting you onto porn sites. The business of the affiliate website will pay the controller of the porn bot for generating traffic to their website. Some websites would even bait users into providing their personal information such as their email addresses before showing them the porn. Yes, with the promise of some kind of porn, and the endless supply of horny people, it’s no surprise that people can make serious bank with this tactic.
Where Do They Come From?
While you may think that porn bots are operated by a computer programme, in reality, porn bots are basically poorly made Instagram accounts that are made by real people to make some quick cash. They’re known as adult affiliate marketers, and they’re the ones posing as porn bots. As we mentioned, sex sells, and you may be surprised at the lengths people would go to to get porn. So it’s easy for anyone to pose as a porn bot and get users to click on their link to an affiliate website.
However, there is also the possibility that people are using a third party website to stalk you. Yes, if you’ve been noticing some bot accounts in your story view lists, it could mean that someone is watching you. Like how some people would make a ‘burner’ account or a finsta to stalk people, instead of using their main account, some have opted for a different approach. There are a bunch of story generator websites that allow people who you’ve blocked, or whoever that does not want to appear on your view list, to watch your Instagram Stories privately.
How Can We Stop It?
By now, Instagram is well aware of the problem and has been trying to stop this issue. According to a spokesperson for Meta, the company has been blocking millions of accounts every day. But if you really want to get rid of these porn bots once and for all, the best way to do it is to just make your account private. As for users who still want to have a public profile, if you’re really uncomfortable with receiving likes from porn bots, you should just report the account and block them. The report will be sent to Instagram’s systems for analysis, which can lead to the removal of the account.
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