Instagram Purge Causes Bieber, Oprah, and More to Lose Thousands of Followers

Much to the chagrin of many celebrities, Instagram has purged millions of accounts.

The successful social media service implemented this "general clean up" to get rid of 19 million spam accounts. As a result, media analysts say Justin Bieber is now down by 3.5 million followers, Kim Kardashian has lost 1.3 million, and Oprah Winfrey 100,000.

About 70 per cent of members on the photo sharing site, which boasts 70 million photo posts daily, are outside of the United States. In particular, international sports players such as Cristiano Ronaldo has almost 10 million followers, and Wayne Rooney has 1.5 million. A drop in their followers has not yet been confirmed.

Many spam accounts are linked to services in which users can buy followers, though it is unclear whether anyone mentioned in this article purchased any portion of their following.

"As more people join, keeping Instagram authentic is critical - it's a place where real people share real moments," said an Instagram spokeman. "We're committed to doing everything possible to keep Instagram free from the fake and spammy accounts that plague much of the web, and that's why we're finishing up some important work that began earlier this year."

Instagram assures users that no deleted accounts were affiliated with real people.

Read the original article on the matter here.

Photo credit: Facebook

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