Over the course of its history, Instagram has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms that the world has to offer at the current point in time. With well over a billion users, Instagram quickly became a mainstay in the world of social networking, one that incorporated a very visual centric approach that allowed users to customize their images in a manner that was more or less unprecedented and completely changed the face of how we approached social media as well as the very public profiles that we created on these platforms.
If you think about Instagram, a big part of what makes the platform successful is the kind of ads that it shows. You have probably seen the ads that we are talking about here. For the most part these ads seem more or less innocuous, and yet they have allowed Instagram to become an enormous earner for its parent company Facebook. However, there is a dark side to these ads that a lot of people are not familiar with. Pretty much the only way to become familiar with this dark side that we are talking about is by interacting with one of these ads and seeing for yourself what they are all about.
What we are talking about here is the fact that a lot of the ads on Instagram, if not most of the ads, have a tendency to be quite misleading to the point where they can often be outright lies. These ads earn the platform millions of dollars so clearly Instagram is satisfied by how well they work, but the fact of the matter is that any user that has tried to purchase something off of these ads has been extremely disappointed with the results because what you get is almost certainly not going to be what is advertised.
The ads themselves are quite effective. They position the products and services that are being advertised as these must have items that you should buy as soon as possible because of the fact that they can be quite life changing if you truly look into them. The actual experience of buying the product is going to be a far cry from what was advertised however, and a big part of the reason why this is the case has to do with how easy it is for someone to post an ad on Instagram.
The thing is, there really is no vetting process associated with posting an ad on Instagram. If you want to post an ad the process is quite simple, and you can have your ad up and running in no time. Another major problem is that even if a user complains about a fake or scam ad, Instagram’s solutions are mostly just temporary bandaids such as removing the account that hosted the ad and calling it a day.
It is very uncommon for the social media platform to take any widespread steps that are intended to make it possible for you to have a safe experience on the platform. There are no reforms under way, and Instagram seems pretty satisfied with the status quo which makes sense because of the fact that this status quo is actually earning Instagram a lot of money which makes it unlikely that the social media platform would want to implement any real changes anytime soon.
This is why it has become more important than ever for you to try and protect yourself. Don’t trust Instagram ads until you do a proper research about them, and keep complaining about ads that you know are spewing falsehoods. Just be aware of the fact that some ads that you see on this platform are often lying to you, and they won’t give you anything close to what you should ideally be getting for the money that you are paying for a particular product or service.
Photo: Chesnot via Getty Images
Read next: Instagram Accounts Revealed to Sell Luxury Counterfeits
If you think about Instagram, a big part of what makes the platform successful is the kind of ads that it shows. You have probably seen the ads that we are talking about here. For the most part these ads seem more or less innocuous, and yet they have allowed Instagram to become an enormous earner for its parent company Facebook. However, there is a dark side to these ads that a lot of people are not familiar with. Pretty much the only way to become familiar with this dark side that we are talking about is by interacting with one of these ads and seeing for yourself what they are all about.
@facebook @instagram you have a serious #problem - can’t say you’re working on screening ads and #Advertising behaviours when these #SCAM ads keep popping up.— Tim Campbell (@relationmediaca) November 6, 2019
This will be the decline of #Facebook pic.twitter.com/8CNJgRhtSJ
What we are talking about here is the fact that a lot of the ads on Instagram, if not most of the ads, have a tendency to be quite misleading to the point where they can often be outright lies. These ads earn the platform millions of dollars so clearly Instagram is satisfied by how well they work, but the fact of the matter is that any user that has tried to purchase something off of these ads has been extremely disappointed with the results because what you get is almost certainly not going to be what is advertised.
The ads themselves are quite effective. They position the products and services that are being advertised as these must have items that you should buy as soon as possible because of the fact that they can be quite life changing if you truly look into them. The actual experience of buying the product is going to be a far cry from what was advertised however, and a big part of the reason why this is the case has to do with how easy it is for someone to post an ad on Instagram.
The thing is, there really is no vetting process associated with posting an ad on Instagram. If you want to post an ad the process is quite simple, and you can have your ad up and running in no time. Another major problem is that even if a user complains about a fake or scam ad, Instagram’s solutions are mostly just temporary bandaids such as removing the account that hosted the ad and calling it a day.
Every Instagram ad I see is some combination of:— Gabe Bullard (@gbullard) November 7, 2019
• Poorly targeted
• Obvious scams
• Painfully thirsty
I think I’ll just delete the app. Seeing these ads is too depressing.
It is very uncommon for the social media platform to take any widespread steps that are intended to make it possible for you to have a safe experience on the platform. There are no reforms under way, and Instagram seems pretty satisfied with the status quo which makes sense because of the fact that this status quo is actually earning Instagram a lot of money which makes it unlikely that the social media platform would want to implement any real changes anytime soon.
This is why it has become more important than ever for you to try and protect yourself. Don’t trust Instagram ads until you do a proper research about them, and keep complaining about ads that you know are spewing falsehoods. Just be aware of the fact that some ads that you see on this platform are often lying to you, and they won’t give you anything close to what you should ideally be getting for the money that you are paying for a particular product or service.
Photo: Chesnot via Getty Images
Read next: Instagram Accounts Revealed to Sell Luxury Counterfeits
