As Instagram continues to expand its initiative of concealment public like counts so as to cut back competition on the platform – which, studies have shown, can be notably harmful for younger users – new research suggests that a growing number of young users are currently changing their personal profiles into business accounts so as to access more in-depth audience information on their post performance.
That’s particularly regarding, given that in order to list yourself as a
‘business’ on the platform, you
need to provide further contact information, like a telephone number or email address, which is then displayed in
your publicly accessible
bio.
According to researcher David Stier, around 2 million 12-15 year-old Instagram users presently have their phone and/or
email info in public listed on the
platform, a major privacy
issue.
To come to the present conclusion, Stier analyzed over 200,000
Instagram user profiles in multiple countries. Stier says that he has
tested many sample groups using a similar methodology,
even beyond this initial 200k set, and he has
found a similar results every time, resulting in his conclusion
that millions of underage
users are unwittingly exposing
their contact information.
“Over 60 million children can simply change their
profile to a “business account” for
which Instagram needs the public display of their email
address and/or telephone number in
app.”
Of course, technically, children under the age of 13 can’t
sign-up for an Instagram
account; however that
stipulation is easily subverted.
And with Instagram lessening its
public concentrate on Likes,
maybe, through the advanced metrics available through business profile, young users are trying to maintain their Instagram ‘cred’ by sharing these more in-depth figures.
Stier says that he has reported the problem to Instagram; however the corporate has yet to act. Stier notes that Instagram could avoid this by masking email
addresses and hiding telephone number listings – however that may also have impacts
for actual businesses. Given this, the
answer isn’t straight off clear –
Instagram might look to enhance its detection and
removal methods for the same. However the matter might also be set to
increase, as Instagram broadens its program of hiding public like counts.
Of course, the 2 initiatives don’t seem to be definitively connected. Stier notes that
he initially reported his findings to
Instagram back in February,
long before the like test was enforced. However as Instagram looks to change its reporting options, it makes sense that users would look
to alternatives to take care of their
insights. Even under the test, users can still access their personal insights, so they know what their total like counts are. However by putting focus on the metrics, perhaps more users
are considering their options.
If there’s any connection, that’s a considerably negative consequence
of Instagram’s test. And
either way, if minors
are unwittingly sharing
their contact details, Instagram has
to act – and shortly.