Every Instagram accounts will end up losing followers at some point no matter how amazing they are. Losing followers is a big blow especially if you use the account for business purposes because it will seem like you will be losing the market for your products.

For personal accounts, you may experience low self-esteem issues and most individuals would contemplate why that is happening to their Instagram account. Sometimes some people will sulk when they experience a drop in followers, while others will take it as a lesson, and they will find out why.

It is good to note that you are only human and you cannot please everybody. However, when the number of your Instagram followers drop by a big margin, it should sound an alarm for you and you should be quick to act on the situation.

Listed here are 12 of the reasons why people unfollow an Instagram account. The list will not only help you understand why you lost followers at some point but also provides tips how you can avoid losing more followers as well

1. Poor Quality Pictures & Videos

Instagram is a photo-oriented platform. That means that the photos you post create a visceral feeling to anyone who sees them on your feed including your own followers. The feeling may be good or bad depending on the quality of the photographs you post.

Poor quality photos and videos are a turn off to many people. Poor quality photos are those photos that not clear, have a bad resolution or they may have been taken at bad angles or poor lighting conditions. Sometimes even your own phone camera has a low pixel count and it does not make quality photos. To keep your images on point, try an app like Instasize.

People will find it easy to click that unfollow button on your Instagram account, whether personal or business account, if it is full of poor quality pictures and videos. In fact for business accounts, the details of the product s you are promoting, advertising or marketing will not be satisfyingly visible. This gives your followers a reason to unfollow your account then they will find and follow other accounts that provide equally the same feed.

2. Getting Off Topic

We had discussed tips that would help you grow your Instagram account, and we found out that any Instagram user has to stick to the theme to get more followers. Getting off topic, in this case, will always make you lose followers. Getting off topic means, you stop posting your usual posts that are uniform with the theme and start posting topics that are not necessary.

For instance, if your feed is about reading tips and materials and you start posting funny memes all of sudden, it will leave your followers wondering. Some of your followers may find it funny. However, others might have a perception that you are trying to gradually switch your personal account to a funny-meme account. You may lose them in the end, as they will unfollow your account.

You should not forget that it only takes one moment to change the perception and judgment of people towards you. If you lost followers at some point, you definitely got off the topic. Stick to the theme to avoid losing more followers in future.

3. Overly Emotional Posts 

 

When you get overly emotional on your posts, there is a possibility that people will unfollow your account. At least every human being does not always have all their days filled with rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes, there are rainy and cloudy days too. Such bad days will create a certain gloomy mood.

That said, expressing your moods through your account is without question your own discretion. However, you should understand that your followers might not like it reading your depressing moments every now and then.

Knowing how to control your emotions and not splashing them over your Instagram account is something manageable. By keeping some sensitive or moody thoughts to yourself, you can easily refrain from treating your Instagram account as a diary.

A slight change in your perspective will not only help you in life continually but will also help you manage your account to avoid losing your hard-earned followers.

4. Failing to Follow Back

Instagram is like ‘you scratch my back, and I scratch yours’ kind of thing and that’s exactly where ‘You follow me, and I will follow back’ comes in here. Every human being likes being appreciated both in real life and in social media activities as well.

Appreciate your followers by following them back. It is a sign of ‘Instagram respect’ and it shows that you also appreciate them. This encourages them to stay intact, interact more and they will be loyal as well.

Failure to follow your followers back portrays a completely different image to them. If you do not follow them back, they will definitely unfollow you as well. Some of them will even keep tabs just to see if you will ever follow them back.

5. Unfollowing People

Following new people on Instagram to make them follow you, and then unfollowing them after a few days is a tactic used by a number of people on Instagram. They do this to get new followers. The technique can be effective but will always backfire as soon as those you unfollowed realize that you did unfollow them.

Such behaviors may grow your followers but it’s egocentric and we all know no one likes narcissists. In fact, people are more concerned on Instagram these days and they will find out that you unfollowed them. Once they realize that you unfollowed them, it leaves them with no option but unfollow you too.

Furthermore, there are tools that can detect ‘unfollowers’ on Instagram. If they use these kinds of applications, they will find you (‘the unfollower’) and they will pay  back by unfollowing you. That means you will lose followers as well.

6. Being Inconsistent

Inconsistency here refers to the failure to post for a long time or in other words lack of consistency in your posts. While having so many unnecessary posts is a reason for people to unfollow you, inconsistency in your post may be the reason why you would lose followers.

There are instances when you make daily posts on your feed and it keeps your followers on toes. They get used to it and they start looking forward to your daily posts. They just cannot help but wait for your daily posts, especially if your posts inspire them.

Once inconsistency kicks in, and you become stagnant in your posts for a while, it leaves your followers wondering what really happened. You could even be posting very few posts within a very little period. Your followers may notice this kind of inactivity and they could simply unfollow you.

7. Lack of Engagement

Instagram is a social channel that promotes interaction among the users. This means that an Instagram user should be lively and interactive to get the most out of it. You can do this by taking your time and appreciating your followers who find your feed interesting by replying to their comments on your post.

Lack of engagement with your followers may make them unfollow you. Failing to reply to the comments made by your followers on your post is another way you will get some of them to unfollow you. Failing to like and comment on your followers’ posts will also make some of them unfollow you.

Tag your followers in interesting posts to engage them. Sometimes make compliments whenever necessary, like their pictures, comment on them otherwise those who are sensitive will unfollow you because you do not satisfyingly engage with them.

8. Too Many Posts at Once

Too much of something is always poisonous. The same case happens to your Instagram account. If you are going to splash too many posts on your feed, you are more likely than not lose a number of followers on Instagram.

Maybe you created your Instagram account to associate with a specific field of interest like travel, food, or even personal pictures. Make sure you post with an organized pace. Your followers are humans and may find your surge of posts overwhelmingly annoying. That gives them a reason to hit the unfollow button.

Additionally, avoid too much regular selfies on your feed. Selfies are common types of posts that have flooded the social media industry. With various photo-editing features that have been incorporated into Instagram, selfie posts have become so popular and common in most Instagram feeds.

That said, it is easy for anyone to be carried away and post too many of your selfies in different angles and editing styles. You should be careful. At this stage, some people may find it endearing and amusing (especially your admirers), while some may perceive you as an obnoxious narcissist.

You should not worry though, posting your selfies on your feed will not make you lose your followers as long as you do not post too much of them.

9. Contest Regrams

Contest regrams are contests usually done on Instagram for a chance to win a prize. There are three types of contest regrams.

• Reposting contests in which users are asked to regram content initially posted by a certain brand to their own feeds for a chance to win a prize.
• Tag-a-friend contests involve tagging your friends in the comments thread of the brand’s post for a chance to win a prize.
• Photo challenge contests where users are asked to post a certain photo in their personal accounts and use a given hashtag for a chance to win a prize.

The contest regrams may be your chance of winning a certain advertised prize but they increase chances of losing followers. For tag a friend contests, you may tag friends/followers who are not interested in the contest regrams. This increases the risk of them unfollowing you.

For reposting contest regrams, you may end up participating in a contest that is not even close to what you usually post on your normal occasions. Since reposting means having to post the contest post on your feed, you may lose followers because they may not be interested in that kind of content you will be reposting. The same case applies for photo challenge regrams and contests.

10. Gross Graphic Content 

Gross content refers to photos and videos that are unacceptable on Instagram among other social media platforms. There are various kinds of gross content material that will make  people react differently.

However, most people find gross content disgusting. Posting gross graphics may attract attention but you will lose followers as soon as they see it. People will always get the perception that, you usually post such kind of content on your feed more often. Most of them do not even care if you just did for the first time. They will unfollow your account.

11. Monitoring Followers Count

Instagram has all kinds of people. Some are there for fun, others for business. However, some are strictly there to connect with people they ONLY know in their real life and hardly connect with strangers. Yes, these people exist.

The latter usually monitor their followers count and are sensitive. They go through their list of accounts they are following and they will unfollow Instagram accounts that they feel should not be on their ‘following’ list.

Sometimes, they just want to filter those who they view as beneficial. The number of Instagram accounts they follow can as well overwhelm them and they opt to have a specific criterion common to all the accounts they follow. They do this to enable them to monitor and manage their account appropriately.

If your account loses some followers, it could be this kind of people.

12. Fake & Spam Accounts

 

Fake and spam accounts refer to Instagram accounts which have been created for fraudulent, malicious and other online activities that do not conform to terms and conditions of Instagram. There are so many of them.

The fakers and spammers will follow your account with aim of having you following them back. They will then go to an extent of even liking all your posts on the feed to draw your attention. Sometimes they will entice you to click on certain links that can redirect you to phishing sites and put your account security at risk.

When you follow the spammers and fakers back, most of them do unfollow you after some time. Even when they do not ‘unfollow’ you, Instagram has a special system that detects and deletes these kinds of accounts. When that is done, you may incur a loss in followers.

Extra Reasons

You may lose your followers because your Instagram posts are regularly fishing for compliments and drawing unnecessary attention. Your users may feel that you are trapping them to like, comment and praise them every time you post on your feed.

Sometimes, it could be due to personal opinions that people unfollow your Instagram feed. People like to engage with content that reflects at least a little or some part of their lifestyle. Therefore, if your account does not fall within their life spectrum they have no choice but to unfollow you.

 

Wrapping It Up

People will unfollow your Instagram account for various reasons. Most of the reasons are within your control though. Manage engagement systematically, post your feed periodically, and find the right kind content for your feed. Have a theme and stick to it to give your feed a not only a good but also a professional impression.

Have basic technical knowledge of the quality of images you will require for your feed. This means you will also have to find a good camera for the shots you will take for your feed. Avoid gross graphic content, engage your users, be consistent, and do not get overly emotional on your Instagram posts.

However, sometimes people unfollow you with reasons that are out of your control. It should not bother you that much because those are very few cases and would not have a significant drop in the number of your followers.

Finally yet importantly, once you identify reasons that could be the cause of losing followers, be empowered to act on them productively. Adjust where necessary to enjoy your Instagram experience without having to worry about losing more followers.