How to See a Friend’s Instagram Activity

Instagram remains a popular app because there is just so much you can do on it to pass the time. To begin with, it is a place where you can freely post images and videos from your life, showing your followers what you are getting up to. Then, it is also a place where you can interact with others and have some fun. But, one thing that a lot of people like to do is keep up with their friends and people they know. This includes looking at their posts. But, can you see your friend’s Instagram activity and what they are doing on the app? Let’s take a closer look at this question.

Let’s Take a Step Back in Time

For a minute, let’s rewind back a few years. Instagram used to let you see a lot when it came to your friends and the people you were following. Of course, you were able to see the photos they posted on their profile. But, you were also able to see what posts they liked on Instagram. The following tab would show who had liked a post, as well as the comments they left on them. Indeed, this could be very interesting and it was a much-liked feature on the Instagram app. It also allowed you to see the new people that your friends have followed.

But, if you are a user of Instagram now, you will know that this feature is no longer available. In other words, you cannot keep an eye on whom your friends have just followed, the comments they have left or the photos they have liked recently on the app. For some people, this is a disappointment and they miss this feature. For others, it is a relief and they feel like they have gained some privacy on the app.

So, why did Instagram get rid of this feature? Well, there are a few reasons why this tab might have been removed from the app. Perhaps not many people were using it. So, it was no longer necessary. Alternatively, it could be quite controversial and lead to arguments between people. For instance, imagine if your partner liked an image of an ex on the Instagram app. It is unlikely that this feature is ever going to return since years have passed since it has disappeared from the app.

Ways to See What Friends Are Doing

Of course, there are still a number of ways to keep up with what your friends are doing on Instagram. You can see their recent posts when you are on the homepage and scroll. In addition, you can choose to visit their profile and take a look at their posts. But, there are also some tricks to see what your friends are up to on the app that we are going to discuss.

For example, you are able to see when your friend is online and using the app. In order to do this, you should go to the direct message you have with your friend. When they are online, you will see a green circle beside their profile photo, as well as an ‘active now’. Alternatively, if they are not on Instagram right now, you will be able to see the hours that they last used the app.

There are a bunch of apps out there that claim they can help you keep an eye on what your friends are doing. But, we can confirm that most of them do not work. They are just a gimmick and are not going to allow you to see more information about your friends. Remember that everyone wants to have fun on Instagram and you cannot always spy on what others are doing. If you want to know more about what your friends are doing on the app, you are better to ask them about it.

Note that if you do not want people to see when you were last online, there is a way you can hide this. It involves logging into your profile and going to settings. From here, there is going to be a section on privacy. Then, you can click on activity status and make sure that this is not shown. Now, people will not know when you were last on the app and active. This gives you a certain degree of privacy.

To Summarize

Sometimes, it can be cool to see what your friends are up to. Alternatively, you might be trying to find out more about someone and you are looking at their social media for clues. Either way, you may be wondering whether you are able to see a person’s Instagram activity. Well, the answer is no. Let’s summarize what we are talking about.

There used to be a feature on Instagram many years ago when you could see what posts people liked and the accounts they recently followed. But, this feature was removed when Instagram claimed it was not popular. Of course, now that they have taken it away, people want it back. But, we have some bad news to share. It does not look like this feature is going to be making a return. Certainly, as things stand, you cannot view a friend’s Instagram activity when you are on the app.

The only thing you can really do is see when a person was last active on Instagram. This is something you can view if you have a direct message conversation with them. It can show up when they are online or how many hours ago they were last using the app. There is a feature that means people can turn this off. But, for the most part, it is something that you can keep your eyes on.

Of course, do not forget that you can visit your friend’s page and just see the content they are posting. After all, this is what they want you to be able to view and that is what is important.