After answering a series of survey questions (“These women only desire quick sex

Not dating

It’s 4:17 AM and ChistinaMiller21 wants to chat. Her Instagram account is private and she has just four posts and 15 followers. While her username implies she’s 21, her bio says she’s 24. Later, in a direct message, she’ll say she’s 22. Who is Chistina (no “r”) Miller? She’s a student from Leeds. Where in Leeds? “Hyde Park.” What does she study? “Designer.”

Whether eight, 80, 280, or 80,000 people follow you, it’s likely that one or two of them are women like Chistina. That is to say, they’re not really women at all. They’re porn bots; “22yo girls looking for some fun;” frequent users of the red-and-black “no one under 18” emoji.

Porn bots have plagued Instagram for years. We’ve all got so used to them flooding into our follower requests and liking our pictures that no one really questions who’s behind them and what they want. Yet, in recent months, things have become more obscure. Accounts have stopped going for the obvious “name-name-number” handle, and now slip into your DMs rather than commenting directly on your photos.