There’s no denying the rush of dopamine you get from a #socialmedia notification. The thought that someone put in the herculean effort of liking your post to get your attention for half a second is at least a little bit flattering. Except when that someone isn’t really a person.

Over the past few months, Instagram users have reported an increase in activity from bots on the app. While bots (aka automated accounts that mimic human behavior) occasionally followed and messaged people for years, many of them are now incessantly liking users Instagram Stories