Would you buy IG likes from a vending machine?

Little is harder to climb than the popularity ladder of Instagram - and we've all had those criminally under-acknowledged posts along the way. But if you find yourself in downtown Moscow with 50 spare Russian Ruples in your pocket (that's about $1.18 NZD), you may now have the opportunity to amend your less fruitful photography efforts and gain a little more validation, thanks to this new likes-dispensing vending machine.

If you're willing to spend 50 ruples, the touch-screen "Snatap" machine will grant you 50 likes on a post of your choice. For 100 ruples, you'll gain 100 extra followers. The machine also sells followers and likes for Vkontakte, a popular Russian social networking site, and can print your Instagram pictures, or take a mall selfie for you. 

And it seems that the concept is proving exponentially popular. At least 20 more of these machines have now been spotted throughout Moscow, since the first was snapped and tweeted about by Russian journalist Alexey Kovalev in the Okhotny Ryad shopping centre.

Choosing between a soda and social media validation? We never thought we'd see the day.

Photo credit: Mirror