The rise of spam on Instagram (and how I fight against it)

Infographic depicting man being bombarded by automatic social media comments
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the classic ‘Spam’ sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, exasperated diners at a café are met with menu choices of “egg and spam”, “spam, bacon, sausage and spam”, “spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam and spam,” or, for something completely different, “Lobster Thermidor au Crevettes with a Mornay sauce served in a Provençale manner with shallots and aubergines, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam.” Whether they wanted spam or not, they were getting spam. 

It often feels the same menu options are available to Instagram users, where there is currently a deluge of spam. Over the last few years, it seems to have been a growing problem. On my own Instagram accounts on other friends and photographer accounts I follow, there is spam on the menu every day, sometimes with extra helpings of spam, the comments under people’s posts ranging from Bitcoin ads to accounts urging you to “Send pic to…” or “Wow, DM it to…” 

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