Cuckoo for Instagram Likes? Then Download Firegram, Like, Now. UPDATE: Instagram Has Shut Down Its API Access

FiregramGrab on to your filters Insta-kooks, because you’re going to go all double-tap for Firegram.

The free iOS app, available here is designed to help users promote their Instagram snaps. It delivers as advertised. How the heck it works though has left me scratching my head.

Let’s back-up for a moment… Besides the personal gratification (greater sense of self-worth) some folks get from Likes to their Instragram photos, there is a much more interesting commercial angle. While I don’t have numbers to substantiate this, if you are an Instragram user, there is no way you haven’t noticed a clear uptick of businesses posting photos with the intent to increase clientele. Personally, I see this best exemplified by some of the top restaurants in Tel-Aviv. Here is Asaf Hadar, a chef at The Salon’s feed, and here is Jonathan Roshfeld’s, of Alma.

Easily arguable that Likes equal customers, it’s no surprise then to see a tool like Firegram nest itself in the ‘promotion’ nook. Here’s how it works:

FiregramWhen you first launch Firegram you’ll be prompted to log-in with your Instagram username and password. This allows the app to gain access to your photos.

Then, you need to select the photo you want to promote, read as, ‘get a crap-ton of Likes for.’

You’ll be asked to add a single word (but can add as many as you want it seems) that is then added as a hashtag to the photo in the form of a comment.

Now all you have to do is sit back for a few minutes while Firegram does its thing, and… Presto! Your photo now has significantly more Likes.

Check out the image to the left of a photo I promoted. It received a 1500% bump, from 4 to 60 Likes. A few my other pics enjoyed a halo effect and I even got a few more followers.

You’re probably saying to yourself ‘duh, it’s the hashtag that caused the Likes!’ Well, no. See, I re-uploaded the same pic with the same hashtag I added via Firegram, and it received all of three Likes, all of which came from people I know personally.

If Firegram is gaming Instagram (how do you even game Instagram?!), I can’t figure out how. Total black box, but the proof is in the Like-pudding.

Founder of Firegram, Itay Adam, says the development was self-funded and that the aim is for the tool to be a must-have for companies.

As stated above, the app is currently free for every type of use, so whether important to you for personal or commercial reasons, if Instagram Likes are what you’re seeking, you should probably fire-up Firegram.