Only In Russia: New Vending Machine Sells Instagram Likes And Followers
If you’re a traveler of the internet, there’s no doubt you’ve come across some oddball things out of Russia. Some of the newest tech to come out of the country is none other than a vending machine that sells Instagram likes and followers.
Long gone are the days where buying iPods, makeup, and pizza were bizarre vending machine trends. The tech world is burgeoning into the mall kiosk market, and millennials are all about it.
The odd machine went viral last month after Russian journalist Vasily Sonkin spotted the flashy mechanism while out shopping. His colleague Alexey Kovalev was shocked and expressed his disdain on Twitter soon after. He calls the machine “the worst excesses of capitalism” and his message has already been re-tweeted over 5500 times.
For just a few rubles, Instagram users can buy 100 likes or 100 followers for their personal or business accounts. There’s no limit to how much you can purchase so boosting your page is as easy as one-two-three.
C-Net reports that 100 followers costs 100 rubles (about $1.75) and believes most of the accounts a purchaser acquires are fake. For years there have been dozens of apps Instagram users can download which guarantee more followers and likes for your page. More often than not, you have to purchase these followers who inevitably end up being fake accounts which are regularly deleted by Instagram.
Russia takes the worst excesses of capitalism to the extreme, so here's a vending machine in a mall for buying Likes for your Instagram pics pic.twitter.com/ZZt189opgd
— Alexey Kovalyov (@Alexey__Kovalev) June 5, 2017
Not only can you buy ‘friends’ on the vending machine, but you can also print out photos from your Instagram feed. The machine also offers the same services for Russia’s own popular social media platform- VK.
The machine is receiving tons of criticism from all corners of the internet with everyone insisting the likes and followers are bogus and preying on young, self-conscious individuals. The machine even guarantees 150,000 followers for $850, with around 1,500 likes per post.
Instalike vending machine is for cheapskates. For $850 you can buy 150,000 followers guaranteed to deliver up to 1500 Likes to each post. pic.twitter.com/5V3HTQ4kfl
— Alexey Kovalyov (@Alexey__Kovalev) June 6, 2017
App development company Snatap is the brains behind the vending machine, and co-owner Nazir Yusifov stands behind his product. He claims all your new followers and likes come from real people using the platform, and not bots.
There are approximately 20 machines around Russia in metro cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. Snatap has already expanded its new empire into Prague, Czech Republic and hopes to launch in Germany, Poland, the United States in the very near future.
[Featured Image by Carl Court/Getty Images]
