More and more people are wondering whether they should switch their social media accounts from public to private account. The reasons for this change from one person to the next, but for me the decision had been brewing for a long while before I actually took any action.
In February 2024 I finally made up my mind and switched my Instagram from public to private account. My TikTok I had privatised a lot earlier, but I don’t really create any content there, I just scroll, so that decision didn’t take any mulling over.
But why did I switch to a private Instagram account? I thought I’d share my reasons in this article, in case it helps someone else to make up their mind too. So here goes!
Why I Switched my Instagram from Public to Private Account
It’s not just private individuals anymore who consider switching their social medias from publig to private account. Private accounts are even seen as a perk for business accounts.
NOTE! At least in Instagram you can’t switch a business account to private! First you need to make the switch from business to a basic public account, after which you can switch to private. Switching away from the business account basically means that:
- you lose all statistics
- you won’t be able to see how many people have clicked a link you shared on your Story
- you no longer get engagement reports.
If you wish to use Instagram just for your own fun, not for promoting a business, none of this should matter much. You can still see who has viewed your stories and how many likes your grid posts get, etc.
Now, let’s see what were my 4 reason to switching from public to private account!
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Reason 1: I wanted privacy for me and my community
This is an obvious one! With a public account anyone anywhere in the world can visit your full profile and watch your stories if they wish. For some this may be an exciting prospect! I have always been indifferent about it, even though I do share A LOT of my life on my Insta stories.
Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and thus more careful, I started feeling a bit uneasy about the fact that anyone can see where I am. As a solo traveler it can be risky to tell the whole world where you are and when. This led to me considering to switch my Instagram from public to private account.
In time I also started thinking that there were a lot of prying eyes that actually didn’t deserve any access to my precious, extraordinary life. And sometimes it wasn’t just my adventures living abroad these prying eyes were privy to. I often ask random questions and opinions from my followers and share their responses (anonymously!)
Even though nobody can see who has said what about whatever subject, I felt it’s fair for my followers as well, if their responses are only visible to the community I have built.
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Reason 2: Getting rid of the bots
As a natural follow-up from the number 1 reason, my reason number 2 for switching from public to private account was to get rid of the bots. We all know how riddled with bots Instagram is.
It’s especially visible in your story views, which can all of a sudden be full of accounts with names like carmen29820 and an inappropriate profile picture. I spent a lot of time blocking and reporting all of them. And all the time I could easily block them by making my account private!
So I did! And since then not a single bot has been seeing my stories. Private account also means you get to accept or ignore any follower requests. With a public account anyone can automatically follow you, which means there’s a lot of bots.
Every now and then Instagram does a “clear-up” and deletes large amounts of bot accounts, which can collapse your follower count if there’s loads of bots.
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Reason 3: Worrying developments in AI
You can’t ignore it how every much you try: artificial intelligence is taking over everywhere with alarming speed. At the same time we humans are already way behind in terms of combatting the challenges and dangers that AI brings with it.
While switching social media from public to private account doesn’t mean AI can’t get to you, it’s a bit of a buffer. With a public account anyone can copy or download a photo of you, and record your voice from a video. With all of this anyone can create very realistic deepfake content about you.
So far it is impossible to distinguish or prove whether harmful content is genuine or AI-generated. While there are ways to see your Instagram stories even when you have a private account, it requires effort. And why would AI bother going to all that trouble while there’s plenty of public content out there?
Switching to a private account does not protect your content against AI, but it may slow it down. I don’t know about you, but I am willing to do what I can to protect my content from that creation.
Reason 4: I don’t care about account statistics
As I mentioned earlier, statistics about reach, engagement, follower numbers, etc. do not interest me. Once upon a time I did wish to use my Instagram to promote sustainable fashion brands, but Instagram made it near-impossible with it’s anti-user, pro-advertiser updates.
Having a public account, specifically a business account, means you get all sorts of metrics and statistics about engagement, reach, etc. Following all of that number data often influences how and what kind of content one creates.
But because I believe in authenticity in marketing, I couldn’t allow numbers to dictate my creative process. Not even for business purposes. So, switching from public to private account was a no-brainer to me at the end of the day.
Public to Private Account – Conclusion
So, what has changed since I switched my Instagram from public to private account? Not much! My follower number has (surprisingly) stayed pretty much the same and my story views are exactly the same. This latter point was a surprise because going private meant that some constant story viewers were left out in the cold.
At the end of the day even going for a private account won’t stop people from seeing your content if they really want to. They would have to give up a lot of personal information to parties that they probably shouldn’t, though. So if someone does opt for this, I think it’s safe to say we’re talking about particularly desperate individuals.
And AI, well that shit can probably access your house rometely by now so accessing your social media accounts won’t be a challenge. But in this crazy old world – that is just getting crazier – switching to a private account gives me some peace of mind.
What do you think about public versus private social media accounts? Which option have you gone for? I would love to hear your views on this! ♥
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