With about 2 billion active users, Instagram has cemented its position as one of the most popular social media platforms. This has forced many businesses and individuals to shift their focus to this platform to avoid missing out on profits from a crucial percentage of customers.
With the growing need for a social media presence, many people inject third-party apps and software into the Instagram algorithm to help them grow their follower numbers quickly.
If you’re new to Instagram, you may be wondering how many people you can follow on Instagram.
The maximum number of accounts you can follow on a single Instagram account is 7,500. Additionally, you can only follow about 200 accounts per day. On the other hand, the number of followers you can have is unlimited.
Instagram limits the number of accounts you can follow to reduce spam. Spam accounts are those that amass followers by following (then later unfollowing) a large number of Instagram accounts.
To learn more about follower limits and ways to grow your Instagram account, read this article to the end.
Overview of Instagram Following Account Limits
As mentioned earlier, Instagram’s popularity has forced businesses to shift focus or at least create a dedicated social media department.
This is mainly because companies and even professionals can no longer ignore the role of Instagram in driving sales and building brand awareness.
Even when a business’s sole purpose isn’t the sale of goods or services, for example, government institutions or non-governmental organizations, it’s still paramount to have a social media presence.
In this case, a social media platform like Instagram can serve as an information dissemination center where you provide valuable information regarding your services and track audience engagement.
Unfortunately, this growing need for social media presence has led to increased engagement in unscrupulous methods of accumulating followers on Instagram. One such method is the mass following and then later unfollowing.
The Instagram limit of 7,500 per account or 200 accounts per day is meant to curb spam accounts from engaging in the following spree and grow a following organically.
Before the Instagram follow limits, spam and bot accounts would use auto-like/follow software to mass follow and like the content. The intention was the account owners would notice the many likes on their content and follow back.
Later, they would unfollow most of these accounts and retain a few to appear to be commanding a huge social media audience.
Next, we discuss methods you can use to grow your Instagram audience organically.
How To Grow Your Instagram Follower Count
Now that you’ve learned about Instagram follower limits, you may wonder how to grow your Instagram audience. If your Instagram account is for personal and not professional use, the best way to increase your following is to do it organically.
Organic growth refers to building an audience traditionally by dedicating time to creating appealing content, engaging with your current followers, and liking and commenting on posts.
For companies or businesses that have the budget, engaging creatives and social media managers and running paid ads can help build an audience.
Here are other ways to grow your follower count on Instagram:
Follow Method
Despite the Instagram limit on the number of accounts, you can follow, you can still raise your follower count by following other accounts. Additionally, avoid unfollowing accounts after they follow back or following a vast number of accounts at once.
Here’s a list of Instagram rules you need to adhere to when using this method:
- Your likes, comments, and follows/unfollows should not exceed 30 per hour.
- The total number of actions on your account should not exceed 1,440 per day.
- Ensure you spread out account actions accordingly to avoid seeming like a spam account.
Failure to adhere to these rules can lead to a temporary account ban.
Comments and Direct Messages Method
Leaving comments under Instagram posts can help you grow your follower count. Remember not to leave similar comments under multiple posts. Instead, use comments to engage other account users through inquiries and compliments.
Eventually, the accounts you engage with will follow back. Remember that you have a 200 limit on comments per day. Additionally, avoid leaving comments under multiple posts in quick succession. Instagram may ban your account because your activity looks like it’s bot-generated.
Direct messages may work for some people but not all. Please note that it’s easy to seem like a stalker or a spammer when sending direct messages to people you’ve never interacted with.
Additionally, you have a 50-70 DMs limit. Avoid sending multiple DMs at once or copying and pasting the same DM to various people. Instagram may flag this activity as spam or bot and ban your account.
Summary
Instagram has several follow and activity guidelines that limit how users engage on the platform. For example, the maximum number of accounts you can follow on Instagram is 7,500 and 200 per day, respectively.
Follower limits ensure people don’t use bots or other unscrupulous methods to grow their following.
