We all see how popular messengers are nowadays. They have almost completely replaced SMS, MMS, and calls. Therefore, it is not surprising that all major social networks, such as Instagram, are striving to catch up with them. For example, in the latest updates, developers have added an interesting feature that allows you to see when a person was last active on Instagram. Agree, this is very convenient. Such clarification will help to understand whether this user is active or not.
If you haven’t heard about this innovation yet, be sure to stay with us. We will figure out how to see the coveted message “User was last active N minutes ago…” and even how to hide it from others. It will be interesting.
Instagram activity status feature: what is it and why is it needed
So, recently a curious option appeared in the world-famous photo app. Just like in Viber and WhatsApp, it allows you to determine when a person was last online on Instagram. In addition to the time of the visit, the service shows whether the user is active at the moment.
Why is this needed? It’s obvious. For example, if you follow your idol, look at his posts and suddenly there have been no publications for a whole week. Of course, you will want to know where the author went. Did he log into Insta or abandon it altogether?
This will allow you to clean up the list of subscriptions and subscribers. If you want to get rid of “dead souls” to increase engagement, pay attention to the “Was online” inscription. If it indicates that the client has been absent for several months and his page is completely empty, then you can safely remove him from your friends.
How to find out the time of the last visit to Instagram
To find out when a person was last active on Instagram, there are two ways:
- use direct messages;
- check the date of their latest post.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these options.
Through Direct
Let’s start with the first way that will help us determine if a follower is active. Specifically, through dialogues. It should be noted that this function is not yet available on the computer, so we can only view direct messages through a mobile phone or tablet. The step-by-step instructions are as follows:
- Unlock your gadget screen and launch the social media app.
- Log in to your account.
- Click on the icon in the shape of a paper airplane. It is located in the upper right corner.
- Select the person you need from the list.
If there are no messages in our dialogue yet, we must write a new one. After that, the necessary information will be displayed under the user’s nickname. For example, “Nickname…Last seen 37 minutes ago.”
Useful to know. If a subscriber is currently reading Instagram, a green circle will light up next to their avatar in direct messages and the message “Now online” will appear.
By the time of the last post
The second way to find out when a user was last active is less accurate. If this is acceptable to you, follow these steps:
- Login to Instagram.
- Find the profile you are interested in among your followers or use the general search function.
- Open the profile.
- Tap on the most recent post or select the latest story (if available).
- Check the date of the post.
Note: In older versions of the social network, it was possible to view the activity of subscriptions in the likes section, but this option is no longer available.
How to hide the time of your visit on Instagram
As you may have already heard, developers value the privacy and anonymity of their users’ actions. Therefore, sometimes it is impossible to see the time of visits, as the author deemed it necessary to hide it from prying eyes.
If you want to remove the “Online” label next to your nickname, choose one of the methods below:
- blocking the display of network status in Instagram via your phone;
- cancelling the tracking option via a personal computer or laptop.
From the phone
To disable an unnecessary function on your phone, you need to:
- Open the Instagram app and log in to your profile. If you don’t remember your login details, click “Forgot password?”.
- Click on the “person” icon located in the bottom panel.
- Tap on the menu button and go to settings.
- Click on “Privacy” – “Network Status”.
- Switch the toggle to the inactive position.
Done. Now no one can see when you last accessed your page.
Useful to know. This instruction is suitable not only for Instagram on iPhone but also on Android. This is because the interface of the applications for each of these OS is completely similar.
From the computer
You can also hide the date of your last visit from your followers on your computer. Here’s how:
- Go to the Instagram.com website.
- Log in to your account.
- Click on the “profile” icon and the “settings” icon.
- Open the “Privacy and Security” section.
- Uncheck the “Show Activity Status” function.
That’s it, your changes will be automatically saved.
There are a couple of other tips on how to hide your activity tracking:
- Go to the user you want to hide information from. Click on the functional button (three dots) in the top right corner of the screen and block them. You can remove them from the blacklist at any time.
- Close your profile in the “Privacy” section of the settings and manually delete unwanted followers.
Note: You can find out who is on your blacklist through settings – privacy and security – account data – blocked accounts.
The option introduced by developers allows you to see when a person last logged into Instagram. By using it correctly, you can filter out inactive followers and unsubscribe from outdated feeds. If the “Online” label is not displayed next to the desired nickname, then most likely they have blocked the ability to track their network status. In this case, you can only watch for new posts and stories.