Instagram allows you to choose the kind of account you want – public or private. Many Instagram users are aware that these two options have pros and cons.
It should be of little surprise to you when someone changes their Instagram to make it public after being private for a while.
But a question pops up – if you are going to go public with your account, why go private in the first place? People make their accounts private first for introverted reasons and second for privacy and security purposes.
Many social media users are introverted people who do not like to draw attention to themselves or fear being stalked over the internet due to past experiences.
Many of these people are also trendy celebrities with private accounts and do not want their personal lives to be stalked by fans.
So a private account tends to be a shield from other app users, the people you do not want to share intimate details of your life with, and those who breeze through your content on Instagram.
But that is just one side of the coin, people make their accounts private for many reasons, and they have just as many reasons to make them public if they wish.
This varies according to individuals, and for whatever reason, it was a private account in the first place.
We are going to be looking into some of those reasons.
If you have ever wondered why people turn their accounts public after being private for a while, stick around, this article might have the answer to your questions.
Why Would Someone Suddenly Make Their Instagram public?
When someone’s account is public, they will be more discoverable to others, so they have more potential to grow their account.
Asides from the fact that it is a default setting for all Instagram accounts, there are other reasons why anyone would make their Instagram account public.
Public accounts are easily discoverable to other users, especially when they have premium content, use the correct hashtags, and have many engagements.
What this would mean for an average Instagram user is a chance to grow their Instagram account.
Whether you are a business owner trying to create a community for your brand or a creative building of an organic and interactive audience or an influencer or celebrity, making your account public is one step closer to achieving this feat.
And this is why people make their accounts public – to build followers. They are ready to show the world what content they have and what their business has to offer.
This way, non-followers of the account can see and engage their posts in the long run, becoming followers.
But what if they are not business owners or a content creator? What happens when they are just ordinary people? Why would these people suddenly decide to make their Instagram public?
We do not have all the answers since everyone has different reasons for doing anything. But there are a few guesses about these reasons, and we are glad to share them with you.
They Do Not Want Someone Seeing Their New Posts.
This often happens with people who run private accounts more often than you think. A public account equals public posts, making their account an open book to any other Instagram user anywhere in the world.
But these people do not want random people looking through their posts, so they make their accounts private. That way, they can handpick their followers and are thus in total control of who sees their posts.
Just Go Out Of a Relationship.
The end of an era! Most people in serious relationships like to keep private pictures of themselves and their partners.
Hence their Instagram account would not be public. This way, they control who sees their photos and interacts with them.
This, in a sense, keeps the haters out and only leaves room for well-wishing friends and family. Anyone outside that circle will not see anything they have posted, and it will not pop up on Instagram feeds like any other post.
But say that relationship went south and both parties had to go their separate ways; they might see no need to keep the account private when the reason it was private in the first place is no longer there.
For many people, it is a way of letting go of the past and moving on. Perhaps, they want new people to interact with.
We cannot say precisely what this does for them since everyone would react differently to the same situation.
If you know someone in the same situation, you can ask about it, but you should make sure not to be insensitive to their feelings.
They Want More People Discovering Their Posts.
The immediate plan for any public Instagram account is visibility. Instagram is one social media platform that thrives on community and community growth.
The saying, “there is strength in numbers,” is particularly true on Instagram, as the more your content reaches, the more organic your account grows.
Growing your Instagram organically means that these followers will interact with your content and business. They are interested in your product or service and will likely become long-term customers.
As opposed to buying followers that do not know what your page is about and will not be engaging with your content.
Turning their accounts public helps these potential customers see them. Their posts will appear on reels and Instagram feeds.
When you manually search for their username, they will come up, and most importantly, you will be able to see all the content on their page even if you do not follow the account.
To Get More Followers.
The whole idea of making an account public is to communicate; if they are celebrities or public figures. And to entertain and educate – if they are content creators and the more people your content can reach, the better.
And if they are regular users, they might make their account public to share pictures and videos of themselves, family, and friends that they want everyone to see.
Being public equals greater reach and having a greater reach brings more followers to their page.
On a public account, anyone from anywhere worldwide can check out your posts and stories anytime. This invariably leads to more likes, comments, and shares as it will reach a larger audience.
Growing Instagram accounts takes patience, consistency, and good content. Content must, however, be specific to your target audience.
When you notice an Instagrammer whose account was formerly private has turned it public, they may want to grow their followers by making their content visible to every Instagram user.
Everyone on Instagram wants many followers regardless of whether they are celebrities, influencers, public figures, or even regular Instagram users since followers are a show of popularity on the app.
To Grow Their Business.
Making the business account private would be the worst move for any business owner using Instagram as a front for their business. For any business to thrive, it needs to sell to customers, and Instagram is the best place to promote your business to a large audience.
For any business owner to set their account as private, they rob themselves of the needed exposure to customers.
Business account owners mainly focus on promoting and selling their products or services. Making the account private will not help reach the customers and their business needs.
For any Instagrammer making your public is the best way to promote any business and build engagement making sure that anyone from your followers to your non-followers can see and interact with your posts.
For Fame
Many people go public on Instagram for many reasons, some personal and some not so personal. Several people on Instagram go private to get more followers.
I will explain. When a regular Instagram user comes across a private account, say a friend of yours sends you a meme or some content that interest you from such an account that they already follow.
On the other hand, you are only just finding out that the page exists, and you want to know more.
Checking out the account, you see it is private and cannot view any of their posts. It is only normal that you send a request.
This gives the owner of the account power to control who follows their page and what this subconsciously leads to a case of FOMO (fear of missing out) in any regular user.
You would want access to that account, which the owner is banking on.
Imagine the same thing going with hundreds of other people; that is a massive increase in the number of followers they will have. And if they have excellent content, it is a plus.
One thing about private accounts is that they do not disclose the number of people that follow the account.
They might have turned their account public because they have gathered a lot of followers over time, and they feel it is time to show the rest of the world.
Or it could be that they have become an internet sensation overnight, making their account public so fans can follow them on Instagram.
Why Would Someone Go Private?
A private account is, as you know by now, only accessible to followers of that page.
The account owner has total control over who follows their page and thus can reject follow requests if they want.
When someone whose account was formerly public and everyone had access to their content suddenly turns it private, it raises a few questions.
Although you would be one of the lucky ones since you would still be able to see the content they upload.
Anybody else that wants to follow the account and have access to their content has to send a request and wait for it to be approved by the page owner.
Just tapping on the follow button sends your request, so there is no hassle in doing this.
Going private makes their account indiscoverable to other Instagram users, so this way, they have less attention on them, and they can post whatever it is they like. And only the elite followers have access to this content.
They Just Got in a New Relationship
Here is one reason people turn their accounts private – they have found love and want to keep it hush-hush.
Many like to keep personal details like their location, places they frequent, and the people they are in a relationship with. The reason for this cannot be more obvious – their security and that of their loved ones.
They might not like that any random person can check their post and learn about their life because it is on Instagram.
So they make their accounts private and allow only people close to them to be followers of their page and have access to commenting on their posts; that is how they like it.
Anybody can turn their accounts private because of their new relationship status if it suits them – from celebrities avoiding fans stalking them to influencers and, last but not least, regular Instagram users.
They Are Paranoid That Someone is Stalking Them.
The internet can be a scary and dangerous place regarding privacy and security. Many people have paranoia about being stalked on the internet due to past experiences.
The idea of a stranger monitoring your every post across various media is very unsettling.
Anybody with this fear will no doubt enable settings that they feel would protect them and the content they post from anyone who would stalk them.
Turning their accounts private will give them total control over the interactions on their page.
They get to set the rules of engagement – decide who gets to be a follower of their page and who does not. This way, only their close friends and family can access social media content.
By doing this, they can use Instagram with some assurance that no one they do not know has access to their social media content and is stalking them.
They Want a Private Life.
Some people are on Instagram to look at memes, watch funny cat videos and have a look at what their favorite celebrities are up to.
They do not want many followers and are not trying to get it. These Instagrammers wish to be entertained, no more, no less.
Their only followers would be their close friends and family members, and their accounts would be private. You cannot come across their posts on Discover; it would take a manual search for you to find their account.
And when you do find the account, you will not be able to see any of their posts. You can, of course, request to follow their account, and you just might be accepted.
To Be Mysterious
Some people do not like the details of their lives to be known. They prefer to be the person that people see but know nothing about.
This gives them an air of mystery, with many layers to their personality that you cannot see online.
Conclusion
There are a lot of circumstances that cause people to either set their Instagram accounts to public or private. And they vary from one individual to the other, but there are primary reasons behind them.
Some people set their accounts to private because they do not like strangers seeing their posts, and some are paranoid about the fear of stalkers, which is very valid.
Although the internet has now brought people worldwide together using tools like Instagram and other social media platforms, it has proven over the years that it can be pretty dangerous in the wrong hands.
Most people stay private for this reason, but it is not general. For some users, setting their Instagram to private is just a strategy to attract more followers or customers.
There have been testimonies that this works, but the downside is that it does not always work.
Going from private to public is a whole other ball game, but it is also at the whim of the person behind the account. They either need to grow their followers or their business which is a private account, will not favor.
Private accounts will not get any visibility on Instagram, so running a private business account will be fruitless, especially if your brand is not yet one of the big brands in your industry.
To wrap it up, people can decide to change their account from private to the public anytime they wish and for whatever reason suits them.
We can only try to understand, but there is only much we can learn from the outside looking in.