Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram's tracking algorithm
Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram's tracking algorithm Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can't be tied to a single person. Feb. 4, 2020 6:06 a.m. PT Teens have been using group accounts on Instagram to feed randomized data to the social network and protect their privacy. Alfred Ng / CNET Like about a billion other people, 17-year-old Samantha Mosley spent her Saturday afternoon perusing Instagram . She was taking a glance at the Explore tab, a feature on Instagram that shows you posts tailored for your interests based on algorithms that track your online activities and target posts to your feed. But unlike many of Instagram's users, Mosley and her high school friends in Maryland had figured out a way to fool tracking by the Facebook-owned social network. On the first visit, her Explore tab showed images of Kobe Bryant. Then on a refresh, cooking guides, and after another refresh, animals. "I've nev