I’ve been with my boyfriend since I was 18 (I’m 21 now). He’s not someone who follows or searches for 18+ content, po*n bots, OF creators, etc., either on Instagram or Threads. We are generally okay with po *n and it’s not something we hide from each other when we watch but he was never okay with us following specific people that created stuff like that.
When we were 19, we created a Threads accounts, used it for a few months, then deleted it. About a year later, Threads suddenly started suggesting random “18+” bot accounts to him on Instagram and he told me about it. I never saw him follow anything like that before, neither on Instagram nor on Threads. These are the classic bot profiles that post explicit captions like “I’m ho*ny,” “DM me,” etc.
For context, sometimes Instagram suggests more provocative stuff just because mutuals follow it(mine and his). Whenever that happens, he always mark it as Not interested. He doesn’t engage with that content.
At the beginning of the relationship, he did follow a few well-known influencers from our country who occasionally posted more provocative photos, more like aesthetic "thirst traps", or classic swimsuit photos nothing too vulgar, not po*n-bot level explicit content. During the first year of the relationship, he unfollowed and stopped liking that kind of content because he simply didn’t feel it was appropriate to keep following it while in a committed relationship and I was uncomfortable with that too.
Recently, he reinstalled Threads(I was with him at that moment) because he wanted to report those bot accounts if they showed up again. Strangely, once he reinstalled Threads, nothing appeared, not a single bot suggestion on feed or anything. As soon as he deleted Threads again, few days later, Instagram went back to suggesting those explicit bot profiles with captions like “I’m horny.”
So now I’m confused: Is this just the algorithm being broken? Is this happening to other people too? Does deleting Threads somehow trigger Instagram to push bot content? Or is this just random coincidence?
He is not engaging with that content, not searching for it for far as I know, not following it, long time ago he used to follow 2-3 porn accs on X but it has 3-4 years since then. Does that do anything? It just keeps getting shoved into his suggested feed and it’s honestly annoying, and it makes me uncomfy. I follows a soft po*n couple acc on X and don’t get recommendations like this even when I changed her gender on socials to male. Also once he put his profile on public for some game giveaway Instagram suggested him some girls to follow, and the other day he showed me the profile and said "This is the third time Ig suggested me the same girls’ acc, nobody from mutuals follow her". Did anyone else experienced something similar? AITA for feeling bad and questioning the situation, even though he hasn’t actually done anything wrong?
My dog (yes a whole animal) gets p0rn bot accounts messaging or following. Welcome to Instagram!
> (I’m 21 now).
Are you sure? Because you can say “porn” on the internet.
>Is this just the algorithm being broken? Is this happening to other people too? Does deleting Threads somehow trigger Instagram to push bot content? Or is this just random coincidence?
I have no idea what Threads is, and I don’t use Instagram. What I can tell you is that I am a man on the internet and anywhere that has my gender information spams me to all hell with pornbots, datesites, and everything related.
But to the AITA point;
> I’ve expressed discomfort and anxiety about the explicit accounts being suggested to him and asked for reassurance multiple times, which has made him feel like he’s being doubted for something he can’t control.
Without being able to actually see what he is doing on his accounts, I am going to assume that you have shared the Objective Truth. In that case; YTA. Because;
>but I worry that by continuing to raise the issue and focusing on it, I’m unfairly projecting my insecurities onto him and making him feel responsible for an algorithm he didn’t cause
exactly this. If you acknowledge that he can’t do anything about it, what is the point of bringing it up except make him feel bad?
Are you unfamiliar with the internet? This reads like my 80 year old grandma wrote it lol
Honestly I wonder if it’s just the algorithm detecting that he’s a man from other things he browses and then pushing that stuff to him no matter what.
Seems like you have a lot of anxiety about it and little trust though.
What’s with the censoring? Is that something reddit is forcing? I’m pretty sure you can say porn with it being edited lol.
Edit: yep, it worked. Are you doing that yourself? Why on earth would anyone censor themselves? So weird.
That’s like deciding you want to ride a bike but tie one hand behind your back simply because. So weird to restrict yourself from something so benign, since youre still basically saying it. It’s our supposed to be cute or something? I seriously cannot fathom a reason. Religious shit? But it can’t be since you’re actually doing it.
Wow. Stumped. What a weird thing to do.
it was a little odd of her to do but the length of your comment in absolute disbelief that this girl didn’t type out to the word porn is a little more odd
instagram knows his gender and age they’re trying to find a reason to get him to download threads and engage with the app. i saw one a while back of some dude shirtless and his name was “following” so i downloaded the app thinking i followed this thirst trap account on accident and turns out he just had that as his name so people would click on his account. if his explore page isnt a bunch of girls i wouldn’t really be concerned that he’s doing something on threads of all places.
Talking of weird things that pop up in ads, I have been getting ads for large storage chests and tool kits. The only thing I can think of is that a particular storage box for knitting needles I bought online was called a garage.
These bots that trawl around must pick up any word and see how many meanings they can find to try and sell you something. Have you looked up a recipe for using chicken breasts? New underwear from Victoria Secrets? Ideas for adult activities meaning wine tastings or skydiving?
Don’t feel bad about porn adverts appearing, just change your settings on your browser and security to block adult content.