7 Common Instagram Myths Debunked by Company Insiders

Nikara Johns

More than 1 billion people use Instagram every month, and as the social media platform continues to rise, it’s only natural that rumors and myths have begun to swirl. On Tuesday, the company’s fashion partnerships team, featuring managers Besidone Amoruwa, Emilie Fife and Kristie Dash, spoke on some of these falsehoods at the inaugural WWD Influencer Summit in New York, proving you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.

Here are some of the most common myths debunked by the Instagram insiders:

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Myth: Instagram hides posts.

Reality: False. “We don’t hide any posts. People follow so many more accounts now. There’s no physical way you can see all of that content even if you’re opening the app constantly, which is why we created the algorithm,” said Dash, during the WWD panel session. “We found people were missing 70% of their feed. If you’re only going to see 30%, we wanted to make sure if was the most custom to you.”

Myth: Posting at 3 p.m. will get you on the Instagram Explore page.

Reality: False.

Myth: Instagram shadowbans users, making hashtags un-discoverable.

Reality: False. “Over 100 million people follow hashtags. It is really helping communities connect and it makes your feed feel more personal to you. Hashtags are a wonderful way to be discovered and we highly recommend them,” said Fife.

Myth: Including hashtags in comments don’t count.

Reality: False.

Myth: If you edit a post, you’ll get less likes.

Reality: False. “You’re free to make any changes,” said Amoruwa. “It won’t affect engagement.”

Myth: The paid partnership tool down-ranks you and reduces engagement.

Reality: False.

Myth: You can buy followers.

Reality: False. While you actually can purchase a user following, the likelihood of this lasting is slim to none. Instagram has engineers removing fake accounts regularly.

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