
How I automated my Instagram account using Machine Learning and Python - mfernandes
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-am-earning-500-followers-weekly-instagram-using-fernandes/
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grosbisou
Anyone else think this is bullshit? It's just an outline of what an automated
bot would have to do to work with some technical buzzwords mixed in.

Not saying it's not doable, nor that OP didn't actually do it... but I am
tired of all these people posting technical fantasies to improve their social
presence.

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ascales
It's doable for sure, but making an auto-posting bot for instagram isn't easy
right now. How did he post without access to the business API, and I don't
think the "Private API" is the answer, I've gone down that road and had a few
accounts banned because of it. This is clearly just an attempt to boost their
LinkedIn blogging ambitions.

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manjana
Do you have any idea what got you banned?

Sudenote: I've heard that as a rule of thumb you shouldn't automate more than
a few IG accounts from the same IP addr.

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ascales
I think the fact I had four accounts, one personal, and three that were
posting a lot of content twice a day contributed to one of the accounts
getting banned. I think there are a few things that will get you banned, and
it's not hard for IG to tell what actions are coming from the app and when
they aren't. Uploading via Selenium or another headless browser emulating a
mobile device seems to be the best way to do it without emulating an entire
phone.

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windexh8er
After the first page or so I thought to myself the day when Instagram is a
majority of bots posting, liking, following and unfollowing each other is not
too far off, technically. I realize that's not the goal of IG, but...

Either way this isn't the first time, or probably the last, we see gaming IG
this year. [0]

[0] [https://medium.com/@chrisbuetti/how-i-eat-for-free-in-nyc-
us...](https://medium.com/@chrisbuetti/how-i-eat-for-free-in-nyc-using-python-
automation-artificial-intelligence-and-instagram-a5ed8a1e2a10)

~~~
mamon
Some people are already fed up with Instagram "influencers":
[https://people.com/food/ice-cream-truck-owner-vows-to-
charge...](https://people.com/food/ice-cream-truck-owner-vows-to-charge-
social-influencers-double-the-price/)

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fheld
related: [https://medium.com/@chrisbuetti/how-i-eat-for-free-in-nyc-
us...](https://medium.com/@chrisbuetti/how-i-eat-for-free-in-nyc-using-python-
automation-artificial-intelligence-and-instagram-a5ed8a1e2a10)

and the discussion about this post:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19554425](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19554425)

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frankyway156878
I automated my Instagram account when start use Bigbangram and Instazood bots.
I like Bigbangram bot more because it has faster and can connect as many
Instagram accounts to one account as need.

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bemmu
How does it post on Instagram though, thought the API does not include
posting?

Interested in posting for Candy Japan as well, it’s tedious to post even
though I already have the pics and descriptions for other use.

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namanyayg
You'll find python libraries on GitHub, search for "InstaPy" for example. They
work by reverse engineering the internal API used in apps.

~~~
ascales
You'll get rate limited and then banned pretty quickly with these in my
experience. Having a real phone and using the strategies you see in clickfarms
with emulated input is the best way.

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shyn3
It's fairly easy especially if there is a legacy mobile app for the site. In
Instagram's case you just use an older version of the app which works for
legacy devices and reverse engineer it. Most the mobile apps have their own
API which they connect to, so you just pretend to be the mobile app and you
have access to all the features. It also doesn't change much because mostly
they can't risk breaking old installs with a high install count. Use a new IP
address for each account you manage. Limit the number of actions and randomize
it so 30 follows day 1, followed by 2 follows, maybe 10 posts, followed by 3
posts so it's not 3 posts per day every day.

~~~
ascales
My main issue I've had is a lot of the IPs (like 1 in every 15 or so) I went
through were already banned from IG or suspicious enough to block me from
posting.

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hmmdog
You can decompile the app and copy what the app is doing to send requests to
post using the Instagram private api

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knicholes
Or just watch network traffic, right? Decompiling sounds a little heavy-
handed.

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crusty511
Should probably automate an Instagram account to comment on each in post and
encourage copyright owner to report the infringement.

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rolltiide
This is so good!

For years other automated Instagram posting tools don't give you any help for
the caption.

I've asked those service providers to open up their API so I could have a bot
create a caption and add it to an entry on their calendar, before THEY post it
to Instagram

There isn't much competition in this space, and their clientele is not that
sophisticated. Companies will gladly pay an endless supply of cheap "social
media managers" aka random Gen-Z "youngster gud with the compooters"

This would be a perfect alternative

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paulpauper
how big of a program would this be? seems like a ton of work to code all this
stuff and make it work . impressive

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mxuribe
This is awesome work! I only wish his GitHub (or gitlab or whatever)
repository was shared to learn from it.

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ngcc_hk
Good for Philosophy mind experiment but is it real ? No GitHub meant no truth.

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just_myles
Good point. Do we take OPs word for it? Or not based on repository
availability.

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new_guy
Not only is this literal kiddy level sh*t, it's not even machine learning!

