Why Can't I Follow People On Instagram?

Instagram has many users around the globe. Many users of Instagram questioned why I can’t follow people on Instagram. You want to follow a new person on Instagram, and when you tap the follow button, it becomes white, indicating that you are now following them.

The indicator then goes back to blue and displays the message “Action Blocked.” This continues to occur, leaving you to wonder why I can’t follow people on Instagram.

Table of Contents

Reasons Why I Can’t Follow People On Instagram:

Maximum Follow Limit Reached:

According to Instagram‘s terms of service (TOS), users of Instagram can only follow a maximum of 7,500 accounts. This limit has been maintained to prevent spam operations.

Although it is unlikely that you have hit this limit, you should verify the accounts you follow just in case.

You Have Followed Many People In Short Time:

Instagram, like most social networks, takes measures to prevent spambots from engaging in mass following or unfollowing. In this context, it never hesitates to restrict the following option for these accounts, whether temporarily or permanently.

According to our study and several testing, Instagram enables users to follow no more than sixty accounts every hour.

If you exceed this limit, Instagram may consider you a spammer and apply limits on your account.

Internet Connection Issues:

Your internet connection may drop temporarily without your knowledge, causing the Instagram app to stop functioning properly. As a result, clicking the “follow” button has no effect.

Before you worry about the Instagram algorithm, you should examine your internet connection.

Ensure that your Wi-Fi or mobile data connection is active and that the network signal is strong. If the internet has failed completely, resolve the issue and restart the application.

You Have Reached Daily Limit Using Instagram:

Instagram will block you from following new accounts if you follow a large number of accounts in a short period of time. It is either because the system identifies you as a spammer or a robot.

Your account has been temporarily blocked for whatever reason, and you will receive a “Action Blocked” notification instructing you to try again later.

For a period of time, you may not be able to follow people, like their posts, send them messages, or write comments, depending on how suspicious you appear.

This restriction often expires between a few hours and 48 hours. In the worst-case scenario, you will have to wait an entire week to regain access.

If you remain involved in suspicious behavior, the app may prolong this period up to a month or deactivate your account permanently.

You Are Using Third-Party Apps:

The use of a virtual private network (VPN) or other third-party application could be a reason for following restrictions.

If your account is accessed from multiple IP addresses, Instagram may view this as suspicious activity and restrict your option to follow other accounts.

The Instagram Terms of Service restrict the use of any third-party software that facilitates mass following and unfollowing, or liking and commenting.

Any account detected engaging in such behavior will be banned.

Technical Bug In The Phone:

A phone bug may also be a major factor in your follow restrictions. The majority of the time, an application’s abnormal behavior can be linked to cache data kept on the phone or poor performance.

Your phone’s bug may be the cause of not only the above restrictions but also others. People frequently encounter this issue on low-end cellphones with limited memory and slow performance.

However, Instagram application issues could be a major contributor.

The Person Might Have Blocked You:

Typically, blocking is one of the key reasons why you cannot follow a certain Instagram account. When a personal or business account blocks an Instagram account, the blocked account will be able to view the account and its followers but will be unable to send follow requests.

This creates confusion when the blocked user attempts to send follow-requests to blocked accounts but is unable to do so.

Instagram Has A Bug:

Rarely, your application may crash, interfering with your activities. It typically occurs because Instagram stores so much data and is resolved by restarting the application.

Occasionally, you must update the application, and if the bug is global, you must wait till it is fixed.

Fixes You Should Try:

Unfollow Some Accounts:

To avoid this, we suggest unfollowing the accounts with which you interact the least. This will generate room in your following list, allowing you to follow new accounts on Instagram.

However, if you want to get followers by following others and expecting them to follow you back, you need to do so wisely.

Our data indicates that only 30% of people will follow you back. This implies that you should always check the list and unfollow people who have not followed you back.

Don’t Follow Many People In Short Time:

Simply keep the estimate in mind while sending follow requests to people. Although most people may not accept your follow request immediately, Instagram’s algorithm will still consider it a follow request started by your account.

Because of this, we strongly advise sending calculated follow requests and avoiding spam.

After spending an hour sending follow requests, there is no harm in waiting an additional hour or two.

Avoid Using Third-Party Apps:

Instagram restricts certain behaviors that violate its terms of service. You should avoid using such Instagram-banned third-party applications.

Although this application may function well and provide you with temporary benefits, you will suffer a severe loss if you are caught using it.

However, the Instagram algorithm may not prohibit VPN-using accounts until they show suspicious behavior. This means that if you access your account using VPN accidentally, you will not face any restrictions until you perform an unusual action.

Restart Your Phone or Instagram:

Restarting the phone or Instagram application is the simplest solution to the problem. Sign out of the application and then switch off your phone.

If you’ve previously tried logging out, you can also choose to reinstall or update the application. If the problem remains, the last (and least desirable) alternative is to factory reset your phone. However, only do so if you have similar issues or bugs in other applications.

For a visual representation, refer to the following video:

Conclusion:

Due to several reasons mentioned above, you can’t follow people on Instagram. To fix this problem you can try different methods as explained in this article to overcome this problem.