80, 50, 80 – If Instagram Had a Combination Lock

I’m guessing we could crack the code with this particular sequence.

I get asked a LOT if I see and/or read all of the comments/mentions/tags we get on Instagram. And my honest answer is no. I’m fairly certain it’s not humanly possible. And here’s why: 80, 50, 80.

Shortly after our story ran on Mommy Shorts and then The Huffington Post, I had to turn off Instagram notifications popping up on my phone. Because they were non-stop. Literally.

But when I’d open the app, I still had my notifications pop up at the bottom of the screen and I’d always go check out the news tab to see what was happening on my feed as well as see what my friends were up to.

It’s when actual friends started texting me and sending private messages asking me “did you see what so and so commented?” or “DID YOU SEE MY COMMENT?” that I realized that my news tab was not indeed sharing all notifications with me.

Truth is, the magic number with Instagram is 80. Currently. That’s how many notifications IG allows in your “news” tab. And that’s the 80 most recent. So, if you happen to mention me in a comment on a photo of yours and then 80 people stop by and double tap on any of my images, I NEVER get that notification that you mentioned me. Ever. The only way I’ll see it, is if I happen to see your image and read all of the comments and notice my name in there. If you happen to mention me in a comment on someone’s photo that I don’t follow …. chances are, that one is lost in the great abyss forever.

I do however click on and read the comments on my own photographs and try to engage as much as possible on those.

So that’s the deal. The current magic number is 80. Any combination of comments, “likes”, new follows and tags will add up to 80 in my notifications. And that’s all I will see. Need proof? Feel free to put your addition skills to the test on these screen grabs I snagged yesterday:

So now you’re wondering what’s the deal with 50, right? Well, about a month after our story went viral, I was going to publish this post. Because I didn’t want people to think that I ignore the comments and mentions that I discovered I wasn’t actually seeing. I started grabbing screen captures of my notifications (like you see above) and one day the magic number changed to 50. And it stayed that way for a few days. I have no idea why. It just did. (My best guess is that was a test of the emergency broadcast system … this was only a test.) Shortly after, the magic number jumped back up to 80 and has stayed that way since.

So if you’ve ever wondered if I (or anyone else for that matter) see every comment in which they’re mentioned, there’s a very good chance they don’t. So please don’t take it personally if you don’t get a reply. The simple truth is that the comment/mention may not land in the notifications. For now anyway.

And there you have it – my guess for the combination to unlock Instagram

So was this news to you or did you already know this little tidbit about IG?

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