Instagram tops list of “how to delete” searches, with millions trying to erase their accounts each year

• “how to delete Instagram account” receives quarter of a million searches each month – 2.95 million enquiries a year
• Facebook and Snapchat are second and third most common terms in Google searches beginning “how to delete”

Nearly three million people in the UK are trying to delete their Instagram account each year, a new study into Google search data has revealed.

As fears continue to rise about the potentially harmful impact of social media platforms, research by advertising experts N.Rich has shown that there is an average of 246,000 Google searches in the UK every month for “how to delete Instagram account”.

The searches for how to delete Instagram are four times those of the next most common deletion inquiry, which is “how to delete Facebook account”, receiving an average of 60,500 searches per month.

Both platforms are owned by Facebook, which has come under fire for its role in amplifying societal divisions and increasingly polarised opinions, including allegations of voter manipulation, disinformation, anti-vax movements, and racist abuse.

Facebook has an estimated 50.53 million UK users, while Instagram has around 28.89 million.

Third on the list of “how to delete” searches is Snapchat, with 49,500 inquiries on average each month, while Twitter places seventh with 12,100. Facebook makes a second appearance in the top ten searches, in ninth place with 9,900 searches.

In total, five of the top ten “how to delete” searches are about social media, while “how to delete Gmail account” ranks in fifth, and “how to delete Google account” is in tenth. Sixth place belongs to “how to delete Amazon account”.

Video sharing platform TikTok, which was launched in 2017 and has become one of the most downloaded apps in the world, appears in 22^nd position on the list, with a relatively small 4,400 monthly searches.

The only non-internet related searches in the top ten are “how to delete a page in Word”, which receives 22,200 searches each month – the fourth highest total – and “how to delete apps on iPhone”, which is in ninth.

Commenting on the study, a spokesperson for N.Rich said: “Billions of people around the world are using social media every day, and for many it’s an essential part of their lives. But these figures show that plenty of people aren’t enjoying the experience so much.”

The study was conducted by N.Rich, which offers a rich array of intent data and ad inventory that enable marketers to drive awareness and lead generation effectively.

The UK’s top 25 “how to delete” searches, by N.Rich

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