How to claim your instagram account

How to Claim an Inactive Instagram Account (and What to Do When You Can't)

By Quina Baterna

Published Oct 03, 2021

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Has an inactive Instagram account taken your favorite username? You might still be able to get that username. Here's how.

By 2021, Instagram has accumulated over a billion users worldwide, making it one of the world's top social media platforms. Launched in 2010, Instagram has been around for more than a decade and has made several rebrands, changed its news feed algorithms, and added new features.

However, while its users have steadily grown through the years, Instagram is also plagued with its own troubles, including empty profiles that no longer interact on the platform at all—inactive accounts.

What Are Inactive Instagram Accounts?

While Instagram doesn't exactly give an exact criterion for it, inactive accounts are accounts that have been abandoned or left unused for extended periods.

According to a 2015 study, 30 percent of users on Instagram are inactive. This number may have changed throughout the years, but the reality is inactive accounts are more common than most people think. While they may have existing posts and profile pictures, inactive accounts don't really add any more value to Instagram in the form of posts, stories, reels, or interactions with other accounts.

Related: How to Maximize Your Instagram Exposure

There are plenty of reasons why Instagram accounts become inactive. Sometimes, it's because users lose access to their accounts and can't find their way back in. Other times, it can also be because users no longer want to use social media anymore, their businesses have closed down, or they decided to rebrand their online identity.

Although there is no accurate number, it's safe to say that there are thousands (if not millions) of inactive accounts on Instagram today. With this, is it possible to claim one of them as your own?

Can You Claim an Inactive Instagram Account Name?

In most cases, you cannot claim an inactive Instagram account. One of the reasons is that not all accounts that appear inactive actually are. Sometimes, people still use direct messages to talk to friends or scroll without interacting through likes or comments. Because of this, it's hard to tell which accounts actually fit the definition of inactive at first glance.

However, Instagram may give allowances to recognizable public individuals and businesses who hold trademarks when claiming truly inactive accounts. For this to happen, you can try to file a report that cites impersonation or trademark infringement. You will need to supply official and legal documents, such as government IDs and patents, to prove your identity or ownership over a recognizable brand.

When filing a report, the impersonating account will not be notified unless there are intellectual property issues involved. Take note that Instagram only replies to reports sent by the person being impersonated or a legal guardian.

How to File an Impersonation Report on Instagram Online

It is possible to file for impersonation even if you don't currently have an active Instagram account yourself. To file an impersonation report, visit Instagram Help Centre.

There, you will be asked to select what best describes your situation. As of writing, there are four main options that you can choose from:

Someone created an account for my business or organization
Someone created an account pretending to be me or a friend
Someone created an account pretending to be someone I represent (ex. my child)
I can't log into my old account

After selection, Instagram will show the necessary steps you need to follow for each option to prove your case. Once you have provided the necessary supporting documents, Instagram may be able to transfer their username over to you.

Bear in mind that this process is still up for deliberation. At the end of the day, it is up to Instagram to determine whether you should be allowed to claim the inactive account name or not.

Alternatives to Claiming an Inactive Instagram Account Name

If claiming an inactive Instagram account is off the table, here are some things you can try doing instead.

Use Variations of Your Name With Numbers

With over a billion people on Instagram, it's almost impossible to secure your ideal username. While it's unfortunate that you can't get your ideal IG handle all the time, it is still possible to make variations that are close enough. Instead of "janedoe," you can use numbers to simulate letters, such as "janed0e","j4n3d03", or "janedo3".

For athletes that are often associated with numbers on their jerseys, you can even add them seamlessly at the end of your name. If you're looking for inspiration, basketball player Jeremy Lin's Instagram handle is jlin7.

Make Puns

While we can't always get our dream username, we can make a username work with our dreams. There are plenty of ways to make similar but more interesting and memorable names. For example, you can choose to make a pun like "janedough" or "janedoughnut" that shows a little more personality when people read it.

Add Periods or Underscores

If for branding reasons, you really need to have a certain name on your Instagram handle, you can add periods or underscores alongside it, such as "jane. doe", "janedoe_" or "jane_doe". When using this method, make sure to only use at most one underscore. Because, unless you want to remain somewhat anonymous, underscores make it difficult for people to guess how many were used.

Use Titles

Should your Instagram be used for professional reasons, you can use titles to help signal what your account is about. For example, if you're a doctor that regularly posts medical content, you can make your name "DocJaneDoe" or "JaneDoeMD".

Attempt Instagram Verification

If you're a public figure, and you find that an inactive account is impersonating you, you can request for Instagram to verify you. This will help your case when claiming an inactive Instagram username. Additionally, this may also work if you hold an official trademark for your name.

To be qualified for verification, your account has to be public, have a bio, profile photo, and at least one post. You also have to prove that you or your brand is real, unique, and noteworthy. Officially, Instagram takes up to 30 days to evaluate your account for verification.

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If you want to request for verification, go to Settings > Account > Request Verification. Once you are verified, you can get in touch with Instagram about your concern. Hopefully, claiming the inactive username is easier with a blue check.

As time passes, new social media platforms pop up and encourage people to move to them. For this reason, it is possible that your ideal username may suddenly become inactive. With enough social proof, you could possibly even take it home.

However, it's always good to remember that when it comes to Instagram, you're more than just a username. While a good username can help people remember you, the quality and consistency of your content is just as important to build your personal brand.

Whether's claiming your identity or trying to establish yourself as a public figure, there are plenty of reasons why you may want to claim an inactive account. Instagram does have a history of helping users out, especially when an account has truly been dormant for a long, long time.

How to Erase Your Social Media Presence: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat

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How To Claim an Inactive Instagram Username Account

The Market for Instagram Usernames

If you’re setting up an Instagram account and have thought of the perfect username that reflects your individuality or mission, you may realize that an inactive account has the username. Having the correct username for companies and influencers trying to jumpstart an Instagram presence is valuable.

An inactive account is one that a user abandoned or hasn’t used for an extended period. If the profile has the username you so desperately need, there’s no direct way to obtain it, but there are several things you can do.

Can You Get an Inactive Instagram Username?

Claiming an Instagram username can be tricky. Even when another user quits logging into their account, there are some rules and workarounds involved with claiming an inactive account’s username. Instagram users don’t have the option to fill out a form and claim a username; it just isn’t that simple.

Fortunately, Instagram does purge inactive accounts. But, you may not have the time to wait. We’ve included all of your options for obtaining an Instagram username in this article.

Buying an Instagram Username

There are numerous secondary markets where holders of good usernames can sell them for sums ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands.

For the most part, the people making money selling names are those who staked out their accounts in the early days and had the foresight to pick usernames that other people or businesses will eventually want.

Sometimes, a name becomes valuable because a movie, show, or album comes out. Suddenly, ‘BigBangTheory’ goes from being an excellent account for a physics student to being a highly sought-after property. If the profile becomes “inactive,” you may be able to get the username.

If you choose to purchase an Instagram username, do beware: It’s important to buy a username from a reputable source. In 2021, Instagram banned hundreds of accounts for stolen usernames. Hackers confiscated usernames from innocent account owners and sold them to unsuspecting users.

Finding Their Contact Information

Just because the account is inactive doesn’t mean that the owner isn’t around. It may be that they would be delighted to sell you their old profile. However, getting in touch with them may be the tricky part.

Of course, you can send a Direct Message on the Instagram platform itself. Though, if the person isn’t active on Instagram, there’s a good chance that they won’t see your DM for quite some time if they even see it at all.

You can check the account’s bio to try and get information about it. There are a few things to look for here.

Some people put a contact e-mail address in their bio or even their personal website’s URL. If that’s the case, your quest is probably already successful.

Other people are more privacy-minded and don’t put that kind of direct contact information there. However, they may include links or references to their other social media accounts, such as their Facebook pages or LinkedIn bio. If you have this person’s name, you can always search through different social media sites and message them.

If you have no idea how much to offer, you might look up similar accounts at Instagram account market sites like InstaSale and see the pricing of profiles with similarities.

Will Instagram Delete Inactive Accounts?

Yes, they will delete inactive accounts, although the time it takes for them varies depending on the website’s needs.

For example, purges usually happen at random, or at least they seem random. Often these purges occur at the end of the year.

Wait for an Instagram Purge

If the account you want is genuinely inactive and doesn’t have much or any content on it, there is an excellent chance that it will eventually get purged from the Instagram database. It’s no guarantee, but the inactive account you want may get dropped, and the username will become available again.

Instagram does not announce the schedule for its purges, so you won’t get a heads up to alert you to start trying to grab any usernames on your list. The best way to detect a purge is to follow one of the perennially popular Instagram accounts with a relatively stable follower list and check their follower count daily.

If they have thousands of followers, then at least some of those followers are undoubtedly spam accounts or bots, and a purge will cut their follower list by some non-trivial quantity of users. If your monitored account goes from 9,341 followers to 9,102 followers overnight (and there’s not some apparent scandalous post driving the loss), the odds are good that Instagram did a purge, and some usernames are now up for grabs.

Trademark or Copyright the Name

You can go through the process of getting a patent online. Once the patent gets obtained, you can report the inactive account to Instagram. Although this may take time and an additional expense, this is an option for you.

Many users have reported success by asking Instagram to transfer an account. When you hold a trademark on a name, you can argue that your customers’ existing accounts are confusing. Copyright infringement can be an effective way to obtain your Instagram username.

If you hold such a trademark or copyright, you can file a copyright/trademark violation report and attempt to claim the name as your own.

If the account is active and frequently used, you may have difficulty succeeding with this method.

Getting a new trademark is complicated and expensive, but getting copyright protection is reasonably straightforward. Any time you create anything original, you have implicit copyright; you can file an official copyright registration to cement your legal claim, but the claim is made by referencing the work, not by the act of filing the claim. In other words, you must use the name consistently and prove the damages it could incorporate if someone else uses it.

Of course, you can also report a copyright issue directly to Instagram. Head over to this link on the Instagram website and file a report.

Choose a Similar Name

Although this may seem obvious, choosing a similar username is the simplest way to set up your Instagram account. Adding an underscore or a number is simple and effective.

Instagram usernames can be up to 30 characters long and contain letters, numbers, periods, and underscores. This specification gives you quite a bit of flexibility in creating a close name to the one you so desire. You may need to use a little imagination, but the rest should be straightforward enough.

Add a city or location to your name if you run a business. You can do the same for surnames or others. This move can help maintain your brand and add a quick local identifier that may work in your favor. You can also add the type of business to the name.

Workarounds For Larger Brands

If you’re a more significant business or a more established brand, adding ‘official’ or ‘real’ at the end of your Instagram account can work too. Artists with common names often do this, so you can too.

You do need to be careful about emulating established brands, however. Suppose you create an account for Microsoft Software. In that case, it’s a legal account name, but if you reach a level of success and visibility where Microsoft sees your account, they will shut you down promptly using the same trademark and copyright tools I described above. You can’t infringe on other people’s protected intellectual property just as much as they can’t intrude on yours.

If you’re having trouble obtaining a username but there are no accounts with it, remember that some get set to private. If this is the case, the username is unavailable, and you cannot search for the account.

Created Account But Can’t log in

Several users have reported that they’ve created a new Instagram account with the perfect username and received the “Sorry, Something Went Wrong” error message. Clicking the ‘Try Again’ option or trying to log in doesn’t work. Unfortunately, the username got taken, and you can’t log in. So what are you to do if this has happened?

You can contact Instagram Support, which may or may not be helpful. If you have screenshots of the error message or username, that would be great.
Try using a different application or web browser to log into your new Instagram account. This could be a simple glitch with the application.
Log in with Facebook and see if your new account shows. Assuming you used similar login credentials, the new account may appear.
Wait for a few hours, then try to log back into your Instagram account.

The above situation can be incredibly frustrating when you’ve created the perfect Instagram username and can’t access the account. Trying the tips we’ve outlined may help you regain access.

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve included the answers to more of your frequently asked questions in this section.

Does Instagram delete inactive users?

Yes, but after some time. Although we don’t know the exact process, Instagram states that it’s essential to log into your account to avoid a purge. The company does not give time frames for when a profile gets purged.

What can I do if I need help with my Instagram account or username?

Instagram does have a help site that you can visit to get assistance or answers for various things. If you can’t access your account or if someone is accessing it unlawfully, check out the Instagram Help Center.

How long does it take for a username to become available after someone deletes their account?

Instagram has not given us the official word on this. Still, many users have reported they could take the name as soon as the original owner deleted their account. Keep in mind; that the owner needs to permanently delete their account. If you’re trying to buy a username from another user, be sure you’ve obtained the username before sending payment.

Can I request an inactive username?

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t exactly give us the green light on requesting usernames. Here is what the company has to say on the subject:

“If a username you want is being used by an account that seems inactive, you can choose an available version of the username. You can add periods, numbers, underscores, or abbreviations to help you come up with a username that’s not already in use.“

Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t try, at least. It won’t hurt to contact Instagram and request a username you think is inactive.

What happens to a user name after Instagram bans the original account?

Perhaps you’ve tried a username that does not appear in your search results, and yet, you cannot claim it. You may have tried different variations of the coveted username, and still, you are left wanting.

If the original creator of the username you’re looking for violated Instagram’s T&Cs, Instagram could remove the entire account, including the username, to prevent future use. Although Instagram won’t notify you that the username doesn’t exist anymore, you can try the Help feature to check.

7 rules for setting up an account for business on Instagram - ppc.world

Social networks are now not just a platform for communication, they are a full-fledged business channel that works primarily for the company's image. Presence in social networks for business is an opportunity to express yourself and build communication with your audience, which becomes a guarantee of profit and loyalty of consumers of goods and services, even if they are provided offline.

In this article, we will focus on the Instagram platform and show you how to design a company profile so that it works towards achieving its business goals.

Rule 1: Create a business profile

If you plan to promote your company on Instagram, the first thing to do after creating an account on the social network is to move the page to a business profile. A personal account does not allow you to use tools such as viewing statistics, launching ads, adding contact buttons and links to Stories. All this becomes available in a business profile.

Rule 2. Determine the target audience

Without a clearly defined target audience, it is difficult to build a promotion strategy. You can not advertise business products to everyone. You need to understand who you are offering your services and products to, so as not to waste your energy and advertising budget. Your business account is not just a beautiful wrapper, it is a reflection of the pains of the target audience on which the content is based. No target audience analysis - no solutions.

At the same time, online positioning may differ from offline perception. Let's take Sberbank as an example. On the Instagram page, he looks noticeably “younger”, but this does not mean that the bank does not work with legal entities and the elderly. The choice of strategy is logical: it is based on the most active Instagram audience, which is difficult to attract with advertising on TV. Another reason: the stereotype that Sberbank is a bank for an adult audience, which is successfully broken through the prism of content delivery.

Content for young people aged 18-25. Emphasis on digitalization and a modern approach to banking

Useful content for young mothers who always know that Detsky Mir is nearby and will help solve any issue from nutrition to child development

Stylish, bright, bold tape for confident girls who do not afraid of experiments. The age range of the target audience does not go beyond 30 years

Read on the topic

Rule 3. Make a profile header

Add a readable nickname. Think about how to make the nickname understandable to the audience, it should be convenient for both spelling and pronunciation. This can be a brand name, anchor words that refer to a product or service (for example, “manicure in Moscow”, “English for children”, “office furniture” can turn into nicknames). But remember about readability.

Select an avatar. If you don’t have a well-known brand, it’s better to put on the avatar not a logo, but a recognizable product: if it’s a restaurant - food, if it’s a cosmetics store - cosmetic packaging, if it’s a brow-bar - beautiful eyebrows. The image must be bright, contrasting and of high quality.

Add a description. There are only 150 characters that you need to hook potential buyers with. What to write? Tell us who you are, formulate a USP, emphasizing competitive advantages, tell us what you can offer, designate a lead magnet, for example, offer a gift or a discount.

Add an address. Don't forget to tell us where you are.

Rule 4: Make Perpetual Stories

In Perpetual Stories, businesses typically answer potential buyers' questions and handle objections. Therefore, it is important to anticipate them and respond in advance. It is recommended to create about 5-10 eternal Stories.

Here you also provide information about the brand, download a catalog or a list of services, add a price list, order conditions, payment and delivery, reviews, answers to frequently asked questions, useful posts. All this will help the audience make a purchasing decision and save time on correspondence with potential customers.

Researching promotion on Facebook and Instagram? It's time to start advertising yourself! Sign up for a Facebook Ads course and we'll teach you how to set up effective campaigns, analyze and improve results.

Rule 5: Create an attractive visual

The tape should be beautiful and sell at the same time. Use selling content. The task is to show the product from different sides. If this is a service, add customer reviews, film the work process, show the results before / after. If this is a product, show the view from different angles, tell us how to use it, what additional properties it has, etc.

Use both photos and videos, put infographics and texts on images for easier perception of information and navigation through the feed. Add captions to the video so that the meaning is clear even without sound - often users do not turn on the sound when they spend time on Instagram.

Image size must comply with Instagram rules, choose high-quality and clear images that correspond to the product and the interests of the target audience.

There are several ways to create a harmonious ribbon. The examples reflect the rule of three: when choosing three primary colors that are combined with monochrome. Particular attention is paid to the "air" - if there are too many details in one photo, then it is followed by a minimalistic visual with one accent and a large area of free space.

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Rule 6: Choose Tone of Voice

How does your brand communicate with customers? Does he communicate casually and have a sense of humor, or does he broadcast premium and does not go beyond a respectful tone? Communicate with the audience in one language, learn to hear it.

If we are talking about the texts in the account, then each post should reflect the pains of the client and offer solutions. Do not forget to repeat the information about the terms of purchase and payment so that the person does not have any questions. The text should contain triggers that encourage action, and not just beautiful descriptions.

Rule 7. Use organic promotion methods

Use hashtags. Well-chosen hashtags are an additional method of organic promotion. Be sure to create your own hashtags for page navigation.

For example, as navigation on the page of a beauty salon, you can use such basic hashtags (required with the addition of the brand name through the underline), such as the name of the service, the work of masters, customer reviews. One of our clients uses the following hashtags: #azpro #azarenokpro #azarenokprobrand #azarenokprosmm #MG_bebrand #reviewazarenokpro #podcastbebrand #azpro_direct #azpro_announcement #azpro_speaker #azpro_minute.

Mark location. Indicate the places where the representatives of your target audience are. So there are more chances that your page will be seen.

Use targeted advertising and advertising with bloggers. Properly configured targeted advertising or promotion through integrations with bloggers work great. But first, you should make sure that your account is ready for advertising. A person must understand what you offer, to whom, and what is the use of it.

Read related

How to set up advertising on Instagram in three steps - a guide

Website advertising on Instagram: available placements and formats

A commercial account should have a clear structure, where all elements work towards one goal. If you run a personal blog and have created a brand, you need to start a second page. You should not turn a profile about everything and everything.

all ways - Social networks on vc.ru

At the moment, Instagram is one of the most popular social networks and every day its users are becoming more and more. But beginners often have questions related to some technical issues, especially when it comes to transferring links to their personal account. After all, when a user starts his page, he wants to share this event with friends and colleagues as soon as possible, and it’s very disappointing when something doesn’t work out.

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Let's discuss the most common obstacles that prevent newbies from sharing a link to their account. And we will find out what ways exist to declare your presence on Instagram or vice versa, hide this fact and restrict access to your account.

Where is the link to the account in the Instagram mobile application

Despite the very clear interface of Instagram, social network users often have a problem how to find and copy a link to their personal profile from a mobile application. Instagram versions do exist.

How to copy Instagram profile link

From phone

Many people are interested in how to copy a link to an Instagram profile from a phone. There are several ways to share it with your friends. You can get a link to your personal page through another user, for this you need:

go to your account page from someone else's Instagram profile;
select the “three dots” sign and in the window that opens, click on “Share this profile”;
in the line that appears, enter your name or select it from the list of dialogs;
then we give commands “send” and “ready”;
we return to our account, open the dialogue where our message came;
Hold down a profile message to display a panel at the bottom;
select “share” and send a link to your personal profile to the recipients we need.

If you need to send a link to your personal profile to another social network or messenger, then:

in the “menu” section, click on “copy profile url”;
open the desired dialog;
paste the link we copied from the clipboard and send it to the desired address.

And another easy way to copy a link to Instagram from your phone:

go to your account;
select any publication from us, open it;
click on the “three dots” sign and click “Share to…”;
from the proposed list, select the application we need and send the link to the destination.

In this case, the message will include a direct link to the publication and a signature from it. When switching, the user will open the Instagram mobile application, he will go to the page with your post and by clicking on your name at the top of the post, he will go to the Instagram profile.

If your account is private and no other person is following it, all posts will be hidden. The user will immediately go to the main page of your profile on Instagram.

From computer

Copying a link to your Instagram profile via PC is even easier:

Run any browser on your computer.
Find the social network Instagram in the search engine and, if necessary, log in to your account.
In the upper right corner, click on the icon and select the link to your page in the address bar with the mouse cursor.
Next, by pressing the right mouse button, select "Copy".

Obtaining a reference via a manual template

You can also share a link to your Instagram account using manual methods. You write the address of the official Instagram website: https://www.instagram.com and add your nickname to it (for example: smm-novastar), which is unique and as a result you get the same unique address for your page, which you can share with friends and colleagues: https://www.instagram.com/smm-novastar

How to copy url to someone else's Instagram profile

In order to copy the url to someone else's Instagram profile, you first need to go to it. Opposite the display of his login, you will see a sign of three dots. You click on it and select "Copy profile url". Thus, you get a link to someone else's Instagram profile, which you can share in messages or save it in your contacts.

How to send a link to Direct

In order to send a link to a profile in Direct, you need to go to it, click the “three dots” sign at the top right and click “Share this profile”. In the search field, select the recipient with whom we want to share the link, click "Send" and your message will automatically be sent to him, along with the link.

To send a link in Direct to your favorite Instagram post (it can be either a photo or a video), just open it in view mode and click on the airplane sign. Thus, you can share your own and other people's publications.

You can also share interesting Stories in Direct messages. To do this, when viewing the history, you need to click on the familiar airplane and select the recipient.

But keep in mind that if you share posts or stories of a private profile, then the recipient will be able to see this content only by subscribing to it.

You can attach links to not only internal but also external resources to a message in Direct: websites, other social networks, instant messengers.

Creating a QR business card on Instagram

log into your Instagram account;
open the news feed, and then click on the profile picture in the lower right corner;
click in the upper right corner on the three horizontal stripes;
further, in order to open a menu with a different design of business cards, you need to click on the "Instagram business card" tab;
do not forget to save the result to the smartphone gallery.

You can create a personal business card not only on a mobile phone, but also on a PC. To do this, go to the browser, click on the profile picture in the upper right corner, go to the "Settings" section, select the gear symbol and click on it. Then click on the "Instagram business card" tab, create a background and save.

How to insert an active link into your profile

In order to insert an active link into your personal profile, in the profile header, go to your Instagram account and select the "About me" and "Website" fields.
Then you:
1. Click on the "Edit Profile" button.
2. Double-click on the line "About me" and "Website".
3. Select the "Insert" command and add your link.
4. Save all the changes made by clicking the "Save" button in the upper right corner of the screen.
The added link will be blue, active. By clicking on it, you can go to any other web resource.

How to copy a link to a private profile

To copy the link to a closed Instagram account, you can use the address bar of your browser, as in the case of an open account. To do this, go to any web browser and open the page of the user we need. Select its url-address and click "Copy".

The next method is no more difficult than the previous one. All you need to do is add your private profile login after the address of the Instagram social networking site. For example, a private profile nickname is smm-novastar. Then the link to the account will look like this - the address of the Instagram site itself (https://www.instagram.com) and your nickname: https://www.instagram.com/smm-novastar And when you go to this address, the user will be taken to to the desired closed account.

Transition via multilink

Such a useful tool as multilinks allows you to give a link to a business card site, where it will be possible to make a transition through a multilink to all your profiles. These are instant messengers and social networks. You will be able to share your contacts with the audience and not lose customers if you are in business.

To create multilinks, special constructor services are used, for example, such as: Taplink or Ylink.

In order to use a multilink in working with the Instagram social network, you need to:

Select the appropriate service-constructor and log in to it.
Add "Social networks" block.
Customize the display of the go to Instagram button.
Save changes.
Copy the link generated by the service. This will be the url address to the business card site, where you can add links to your social networks and instant messengers, including your Instagram account.

How do I make my account private?

There are situations when users want to close their profile from outside observers and add to subscribers only those whom they really know or that contacts are really important to them.

It's easy enough to make your profile private.