5 rules we used to turn 164,963 daily follower readings into one honest growth number

The Instagram growth statistics page, compiled from the company's own customer data, reveals a median increase of 346 followers within the first 30 days for 981 Instagram accounts. Eighty-six percent of these accounts demonstrated growth during this period. The page outlines five essential cleaning rules that led to these results:

1. Daily readings are captured at the time closest to the specified day, within a 3-day window. If a job fails, an account is private for a day, or a request times out, the chosen reading must still fall within 3 days of the target day, ensuring accurate growth measurements.

2. Only accounts that continue to be measured on the target day are included in the growth calculations. This results in a decreasing sample size over time, as accounts that are no longer being measured are excluded. This survivor-only methodology provides a more reliable growth figure.

3. Medians are used instead of means to report growth. This approach highlights the central tendency of the data without being heavily influenced by extreme values. The interquartile range of +73 to +549 further emphasizes the variability in growth across accounts.

4. Accounts with sudden, unrealistic follower count jumps of more than 5x or drops below one-fifth of the starting count are excluded. These accounts typically represent changed usernames or failed readings, and their exclusion maintains the integrity of the growth data.

5. Data from accounts that started tracking June 2026 or later is not included until proper measurements can be taken. Accounts with repetitive daily readings are also excluded, as they indicate potential stale data rather than accurate growth information. These rules ensure that the growth statistics are based on reliable data.