How To Avoid Spammy DMS on Social Media
Okay so I don't know about you but I've been getting A LOT of these messages from different accounts with more or less the same message, saying that they are interested in my "IG Portfolio", promising millions of followers thanks to their "experience and resources" or inviting me to be a "brand ambassador" as long as I follow and DM the actual account.
Guys, don't fall for this!!! They aren't real and even if they are, you don't want that energy. Why do I keep getting these messages?
The short answer is I don't know, please STOP.
Long answer: A lot of people who use these spammy methods to get engagement are also using various tools or paying for bots to send DMs on their behalf in an attempt to increase their engagement.
These tools often use popular hashtags to find accounts that might be interested in their (target audiences), and then they spam out hundreds of DMs in the hopes of getting a few followers.
This method is tacky and it does. not. work.
How to stop it from happening?
1. Use smaller hashtags (under 500K). Next time you use hashtags in your post, be sure to check the number of times your hashtag has been used. “Most popular” does not mean “Most useful”, and a lot of bots use the most popular hashtags (can be anywhere from 100K to 100M), to target accounts they can spam. And aside from bots, using large, popular hashtags will drastically affect your reach because they are so competitive. So my advice? Stick to smaller hashtags under 500K to get the most out of your posts.
2. Be more mindful of who you engage with on IG. We’re all guilty of it, even me, but there is a difference between being ON social media as opposed to USING social media. When you’re just on social media, you don’t think too hard on who you’re following, what content you’re liking and commenting on, or how often you DM someone. But when you’re using social media, you start to realize that the IG Algorithm is taking notes on everything! It doesn’t care about this difference and will keep streamlining your social media feeds purely based on your activity. The idea behind this is that all of your engagements are mindful so the algorithm is actually trying to provide you with content you want to see. This isn’t always the case in real life so a good rule of thumb is to stay conscious of how you use social media. Not a short-term strategy to rid yourself of bots but it will go a long way for your experience on social media!
3. Head to your Profile > Settings > scroll to Notifications > Push notifications > scroll to Instagram Direct Requests > turn Off. This is the shortest, easiest way to rid yourself of annoying bots. You'll still get notifications about DM's, but not requests.
Pin this post for later in case this happens to you! If you're dealing with this, let me know! We can commiserate together.
You can find me on Instagram at @bethdarvell and I’m always happy to talk about social media with you!