An attendee takes a photo of the instagram logo during a press event at Facebook headquarters on June 20, 2013 in Menlo Park, California. Facebook announced that its photo-sharing subsidiary Instagram will now allow users to take and share video. (Photo : Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
One of the most popular social networking sites today, Instagram made a name for itself as the world's number one photo-sharing mobile app. People from all over the world can share their memorable moments captured on camera so that their friends and followers have an idea of what's going on in their lives.
A couple of months ago, a popular trend began on Instagram wherein users geo-tagged themselves to be in Singapore even though they are not, in order to gain tons of likes and followers. Photos that receive a lot of engagement from fellow IG users are placed in the Explore section of the app, where it becomes more popular.
People who wanted to go viral took advantage of this opportunity. While it boosted the profiles of many users, it also created confusion in the social media world.
A lot of netizens took their sentiments to Twitter, questioning and criticizing others for pretending to be in Singapore, when they are not. Just this month, Instagram finally put an end to this Singapore bug with their recent update, Telegraph reported.
In an interview with BBC, representatives of IG confirmed that the bug impacted the engagement of posts that are specifically tagged in Singapore. They did not provide any other information as to how, why, and when the bug began, but there are rumors swirling that it is because of the fact that it is caused by IG's algorithm feed being new in Singapore.
Instagram users exploited the app's bug which was called by some as 'Singapore boost' by putting Singapore as the location of their posts. Once it attracts a high volume of likes and followers, they will then remove the false tag after 12 to 24 hours.
Not only did Instagram did a great job in putting an end to a misleading trend, they also made sure that they stop opportunistic individuals who are using their app the wrong way. Now it gives all IG users a fair chance to gain popularity the right way.
Here is a clip about Instagram:
