Instagram is the App Americans Want to Delete Most

Instagram on a Cube

New data reveals that Instagram is the app that people in the U.S. want to delete more than any other.

Cybersecurity website VPNOverview analyzed the top 30 most popular apps people wanted to delete in the U.S. over a six-month period based on the number of times search inquiries containing the words “delete” and “deactivate” popped up for each state using keywordtool.io and data from Similarweb.

According to a report published by VPNOverview last month, Instagram had the highest search volume for “deleting” and “deactivating” the app at 900,120 searches across the country over six months.

Facebook came in at a distant second with 385,410 searches. Meanwhile, there were 217,400 searches for deleting or deactivating Snapchat, 92,490 for Twitter, and 24,819 for Telegram.

However, according to VPNOverview’s research, TikTok only had a “marginal delete search,” with just over 14,000 searches for deleting or deactivating the app. Of those searches, 6,320 were for “delete TikTok account.”

Most-Hated App?

VPNOverview notes that Instagram had the most nationwide searches for “deleting” and “deactivating,” despite the Meta-owned app ranking as the most popular app of 2022 with over 11.8 million downloads on average each month.

According to the cybersecurity website, disinformation, fake followers, NFTs, and surveillance issues are just a few of the top things users like to complain about when it comes to Instagram.

VPNOverview also suggests that there has been a growing anti-Instagram sentiment among users following the onslaught of video-centric changes to the app in the last year.

In June 2021, Adam Mosseri declared that the social media platform was “no longer a photo-sharing app.”

Since then, Instagram has pushed Reels as its main feature and completely redesigned its app to compete with TikTok — to backlash from photographers as well as the wider public.

According to internal documents leaked to The Wall Street Journal last year, Instagram Reels have less than one-tenth of the engagement of TikTok videos and app engagement is falling. Meanwhile, data from SEO agency Higher Visibility shows only 10 percent of the most popular creators in 2023 use Instagram as their main platform.

Some Instagram users are also concerned about the app’s impact on the mental health of children and teens. Meta’s own leaked internal studies have revealed the negative effects that heavy Instagram and Facebook usage can have on teenage girls.


Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

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