Many have noticed that celebrities in Russia and elsewhere are making their accounts private. The goal isn't to hide from everyone – it's to increase interest and get more follow requests.
We all peek at stars' profiles without following them. To turn those lurkers into followers, celebrities go private. If curiosity wins, the person sends a follow request.
Another case: friends often share memes or funny videos in DMs. You've probably seen the message:
Video unavailable. This video is hidden because @username has a private account. Follow @username to view their photos and videos.
That message pushes us to follow – we want to see what our friend sent. So it's easy to imagine how many follow requests popular accounts get every day.
We added a feature that auto-approves follow requests for you. Add your profile to our service, pay for any plan, and the feature is yours. Find it in the left menu of your account next to your Instagram profile.