Even though I don’t blog for money, I can’t help but still be a little obsessed with my Insta numbers. It feels so good to get a follower notification, and I know I’m not the only one who’s hooked on that feeling. Some of us try to capture more of that by leaving dozens (hundreds!) of comments and likes, others do the follow/unfollow method, and then there are the serious bloggers–the ones who pay to automate the whole process.
I tried one of those automation services–Instagress–for a week to find out what it was all about.
The Setup
Instagress is a website–not an app–that you can finely tune to like, comment, follow, and unfollow on your behalf.
You link your Instagram account, and from there, you have full control over how much engagement it does for you. I had mine set up to leave 30 likes/hour and follow 20 people/hour.
You can even schedule when Instagress runs. See, you can’t run Instagress and use Instagram at the same time. If you happen to leave comments and likes manually while it’s running, the Insta Police are gonna getcha.
One thing I didn’t do? Automate comments. Dear Lord, that is a terrible idea. We’ve all seen those lame comments that say, “Nice pic!” or just a nonsensical string of emojis–those are automated through things like Instagress. Guys, if you ever use a service like this, PLEASE don’t automate your comments. Please.
Anyway, it costs about $10 a month, although it gets pricier if you’re paying week by week or day by day.
The Results
Lackluster. Really.
First, let’s talk hard numbers. On a regular day, doing my normal engagement tactics, I was averaging 18 followers on Instagram per day. With Instagress, it dwindled to a measly 9.
Second–and this was what really killed me–my feed got SO clogged with shitty accounts. I had it set to follow followers of some big accounts (like New Darlings), and a lot of them are just normal people taking selfies. Not inspiring. I never wanted to check my feed because it would be picture after picture of poorly-lit table settings.
The Bottom Line
Honestly, don’t waste your money on something like this. There is no substitute for the human touch. If you’re really desperate for followers, even manually following and unfollowing is a better option than Instagress.
Have you guys ever tried something like this? How did it work out for you?
By the way, since I seem to be doing a lot of these “seedy underbelly of blogging” type posts, let me know if you have any burning questions about the blogging world and I’ll see if I can answer them!
CHICAGO PETITE 
Good to know! I like going on Instagram and liking all of the amazing pictures and leaving genuine comments, so it kind of makes me happy that these apps down work haha! This outfit is so cute!! So Parisian!
~Sara
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I love the combination of stripes and the boater hat 🙂
I don’t think I would ever try an automated service, since I enjoy Instagram because of the interaction between people. If that was taken away, there wouldn’t be much point for me to be on there!
-Nicole
The Artyologist
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Haha, this is such a well timed post!
I actually just signed up for a free trial of Mass Planner, just to automate likes that I would be doing anyways (as it turns out, its frowned upon to be on your phone all day at work sifting through posts and liking them). I’ve had it running for almost 24 hours now, and so far I haven’t seen a huge difference, go figure. I’ve heard of people having crazy amounts of success with it though, so I couldn’t help but try it myself just out of curiosity! I’m too chicken to try and use the following function due to the ever vigilant Instagram police, and honestly, I’m not a huge fan of follow/unfollow anyways (no offense to people that like it). I like my feed the way it is, and if I like an account and they have great content, I’ll follow it!
In the end I have no ethical quarrels with automating likes, I have been going back and seeing what Mass Planner has decided that I like, and I follow the accounts that I love, and comment on things manually (so that’s how I sleep at night, haha). I love what Instagram does for my blog, it gives me a chance to interact with the people that are interested in what I post, and its the easiest way to get exposure. Most of all though, I love the sense of community that it brings, virtually and in real life. I have met people (and “met” people) that I never would have if I wasn’t directly involved in my account’s engagement.
Ok, this is becoming a post all on its own, but I think it is awesome that you are diving in to the seedy underbelly of blogging. I think people that follow blogs don’t always see or know about the behind the scenes stuff, and it’s not always pretty. It’s awesome that you are calling attention to it!
-Mackenzie
http://www.kenzywho.com
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Thanks for sharing! I’ve always wondered about this! If you end up finding any good ones, I’d love to hear about them!
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