This Conversation Shows How Private Instagram Pages Can Ruin A Friendship

    "Can't even share some jokey jokes with you no more cos you're too prestige to follow some pages I recommend."

    Ade Onibada
    by Ade Onibada

    BuzzFeed News Reporter

    So, if you regularly partake in sharing amusing content on Instagram, you might occasionally come across this kind of message.

    Instagram

    It lets you know that what you are trying to view is out of reach because you do not follow the account, and the account in question has opted for...privacy 🙃

    Twitter

    While technology has developed a few tools (including screen-record and screenshot) to help navigate such blocks, it isn't always easy to maintain back-and-forth banter when not everyone is fully invested.

    Giphy / Via giphy.com

    And by being fully invested, what I mean is FOLLOWING THE INSTAGRAM PAGES IN QUESTION.

    Giphy / Via giphy.com

    That's exactly what happened between friends Haroon Ajmal and Wasif Ali from Manchester. Harjoon snapped.

    و @wasifali665

    Private Instagram pages out here ruining friendships uno 😂😂

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    Haroon, 21, let Wasif know exactly how he was feeling in a strongly worded response after he shared content from private page.

    Twitter

    He wrote: "How much storage you think I got screen recording everything uno. Mans always screen recorded for you and I thought for once you'd just follow an account. You're not reciprocating mans efforts here still."

    Giphy / Via giphy.com

    Haroon told BuzzFeed News: "I’d had enough of his ego affecting our friendship. His quest to maintain his followers to following ratio is getting ridiculous."

    Supplied

    The 21-year-old dental student continued to accuse his friend of being inconsiderate. He explained: "He [Wasif] raves about how he doesn’t want his timeline cluttered but doesn’t stop to think about how cluttered my camera roll is after screenshotting and screen-recording the thousands of IG posts for the past few years. Inconsiderate, to say the least."

    Wasif, 19, told BuzzFeed News the reason he doesn't follow any particular meme pages on Instagram is because he believes they regularly use "stolen posts" and that they "cluttered" his feed.

    Supplied

    "Whenever I follow these pages I find my timeline cluttered with useless, outdated and stolen posts that I’ve seen from many other meme pages already. This is why I refuse to follow them. Instagram is about photos, not tweets. People should [go to] Twitter for that," said the University of Manchester student.

    He added that his other gripe with such pages was the time it typically takes for them to accept his request to follow. He said: "These Instagram users who are constantly sending memes from private pages do not seem to understand the difficulty in following the pages and waiting for what seems like forever for the pages to accept my request."

    The pair, who have been friends for over three years, have since gone viral for their exchange, which has been shared more than 25,000 times on Twitter.

    Supplied

    Haroon joked that the pair argued like they're married and that he was surprised by the online reaction.

    "I was pretty surprised. Wass is a massive clout chaser on Twitter but never usually gets that much recognition," said Haroon.

    "I guess it had to be a message from me that helped him go viral [because] I’m the funny one."

    Their exchange makes for very relatable content.

    nj @queenimco

    @ all my mates who don’t appreciate my efforts to make them laugh https://t.co/vEjGMBiIzN

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    Zahra @ChakeWako

    If this ain’t me and you @tutunkhamun eff em private a/c 😂😂 https://t.co/NCHTrakFYh

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    𝐒𝐘𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐘 @stxtson

    😂😂this is me & my brother everydayyyy https://t.co/oXTJFrcPvH

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    Other people vented their frustrations about friends who won't get with the programme.

    Abdulhameed @shettima___

    Friends that refuse to follow the accounts<<<<<<<<<<<<< https://t.co/nVY1NvfwQk

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    JESS 🇵🇹 @jesscxcador

    Nah but this really pisses me off 😂😂 if I’m sending u videos from the same page constantly fucking follow them?!!! https://t.co/CXJJ1lEFUv

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    darla @DarlahhDarlahh

    THISSSSS !!! too many of my friends got too much "pride" to follow quality content private pages and I- https://t.co/t4GzFXMQPE

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    🌻🎀 @nellelanii

    This is how I feel. Just follow the meme page and laugh with me cos 🙄 https://t.co/gsjFsvuxeM

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    And really sympathised with where Haroon was coming from.

    BITCH.PLEASE! @charmz2000

    Bro is heart broken I feel his pain 😂 https://t.co/IqrQwB8nW0

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    BZA ✨ @Boladayy

    I acc like the persons energy fr he made some points and articulated it well https://t.co/NHb56IXJKx

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    Jas @jasbhavra

    I actually feel his pain tho https://t.co/U6nxrWZrgd

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    Some people offered up their best remedy for such situations.

    Sarah🕺🏻 @saraaah173

    This is why you send “🤣🤣🤣” and hope for the best https://t.co/MW6iUkmShH

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    Caesar @Cxesar_

    Should’ve just sent laughing emojIs https://t.co/EQmZblgNLQ

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    Sara 🍬 @onesweeeting

    that's why you put '😂😂' to avoid this scenario. https://t.co/AzdM2gyEzC

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    But on reflection, Wasif accepted that it was time to give in for the sake of his friendship after admitting that he initially didn't think it was "that deep".

    و @wasifali665

    We patterned the ting boys, cba removing his @ go follow him, might aswell

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    I do love a happy ending.

    Giphy / Via giphy.com