16 comments

  • Dan BDan B, over 9 years ago

    This kind of spam will end up killing social media apps and make them unusable for regular people. It's an interesting experiment but personally I don't think it's something you should be proud of.

    6 points
    • Murat MutluMurat Mutlu, over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

      Ill answer properly when I'm off the train

      I understand your point, but you have to admit you're really exaggerating saying that the demised of social media apps like IG, twitter etc will be cos of bots. Unless you got an example I think they'll be fine, usable and around for a long time.

      Like you said it was an interesting experiment, that I personally enjoyed sharing.

      Learned a lot about how likes and follows drives a large part of that community like a currency, with users trading as well as synchronising their behavior.

      Also crazy was that a little bot could affect the level of customer service I get in real life and get me freebies and upgrades from brands via klout integration into CRM

      Lots to chew on. Not ashamed of it at all.

      1 point
  • Tom GurkaTom Gurka, over 9 years ago

    Don't know how many people have experienced this but it reminds me of when designers add you on dribbble out of the blue, and when you look over their recent activity you see that they've also added 45 other people in 10 minutes.

    A day later they remove you and the rest of the people they just spam added.

    Obviously this isn't limited to just dribbble, just using it as example.

    2 points
  • Andrew LucasAndrew Lucas, over 9 years ago

    Marketing or spam?!

    I always think it's a bit spammy, when you see accounts that follow way more people than they have following them. I always think, are they that into everyones pictures? Or, are you they just trying to get their followers up.

    But, you got lots of traffic, so you obviously achieved what you set out to do : )

    Interesting anyway.

    2 points
    • Murat MutluMurat Mutlu, over 9 years ago

      What if you saw those accounts with more followers than following? Would you still class it as spam? Would you feel happier about them following you?

      I'm just really interested in this behaviour and perception, lots of possiblities

      0 points
      • Andrew LucasAndrew Lucas, over 9 years ago

        I certainly wouldn't assume that they were spam accounts, in that case. I'd probably think about following them back, as I'd know that there's the potential for real interaction.

        0 points
        • Murat MutluMurat Mutlu, over 9 years ago

          That's great to know.

          It's interesting you say that because it would be pretty easy to make the bot unfollow people after following them for a week or two, bringing the count down.

          Then in turn more people would be inclined to follow back believing theres a chance for interaction, potentially generating more app downloads.

          1 point
          • Andrew LucasAndrew Lucas, over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

            but that's also what I'm talking about, those type of accounts piss me off! From your business point of view, yes that would make sense. But I think this type of thing has a negative effect on social media. Whether it's eBay bid snipers, fake Twitter accounts, or Instagram accounts that follow and then unfollow you to inflate their own figures, it's all negative and spammy.

            2 points
  • Seungho YangSeungho Yang, over 9 years ago

    So this is what growth hacking looks like. I really dig your breakdown on user psychology and analysis of your metrics.

    1 point
  • Josh ClementJosh Clement, over 9 years ago

    wait.. are you instabam.com? Hire a designer!

    1 point
    • Murat MutluMurat Mutlu, over 9 years ago

      Ah that old thing, we never ended up finishing it. There's some cool code behind it but don't have the time

      0 points
  • Jordan Price, over 9 years ago

    I know this is in an ethical grey area, but I think it's pretty fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

    Btw, I take it this isn't against Instagram's TOS?

    0 points
    • Murat MutluMurat Mutlu, over 9 years ago

      Glad you enjoyed it!

      The TOS looked a lot different when we made it, but yeah it's against it:

      You're not allow to "harass users with unwanted likes, comments or other actions."

      Now sure what's defined as an 'unwanted like' on a public photo tho

      1 point