Lurk Follow Index · Updated October 13, 2026
Is Instagram following net-positive?
The short answer
Yes — decisively. Across Lurk's anonymized follow graph there were 826,811 net follow additions — new follows plus newly gained followers minus unfollows — or 97.1% of 851,824 tracked events (as of October 13, 2026). Instagram relationships accumulate far faster than they are undone.
Net follow growth math (October 13, 2026)
| Component | Events |
|---|---|
| New follows made (+) | 379,113 |
| New followers gained (+) | 448,540 |
| Unfollows (−) | 842 |
| Net additions | 826,811 |
Net additions = new follows + newly gained followers − unfollows, over the observation window.
How this is measured
Net follow growth is new follows + newly gained followers − unfollows across all tracked follow-activity events (851,824) in Lurk's anonymized follow-edge store. No individual account is exposed and no private data is used; figures refresh from the live get_follow_index RPC roughly every 6 hours.
Cite this
“Is Instagram following net-positive?”, The Lurk Instagram Follow Index, October 13, 2026. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to getlurk.app/data/instagram-net-follow-growth.
Frequently asked questions
Does Instagram following grow or shrink overall?
It grows strongly. Lurk observed 826,811 net follow additions (97.1% of 851,824 events), updated October 13, 2026.
How is net follow growth calculated?
New follows made plus newly gained followers, minus unfollows, across all tracked follow-activity events in Lurk's public dataset.
Related
- The Lurk Instagram Follow Index (full dataset)
- Instagram unfollow rate
- Recent Instagram follow activity
- Best Instagram follow trackers (2026)
See who anyone really follows on Instagram
Lurk tracks public Instagram accounts and shows who they recently followed — anonymously, with no login.
Instagram never tells them their following list was viewed.