Can you see who viewed your story

Instagram has lots of cool features beyond its photo filters and hashtags. But can you see who views your Instagram profile? Here's the answer.

Scrolling through Instagram can be good inspiration for everything from selfie captions to fashion choices thanks to friends, family, and influencers with likable photos. You might even be that inspiration for someone else. Whether people view your profile out of nosiness or admiration, is it possible to see who views your Instagram profile?

Can you see who views your Instagram profile?

Instagram doesn’t allow users to see who views their profile. So if you look through someone’s profile and don’t like or comment on a post, there’s no way for them to know who sees the pictures. “Similar to Facebook, users are unable to see who has viewed their profiles regardless of the type of profile they own: personal, business, or creator,” says Reggie Azevedo Filho, who works for the social media management platform Traject Social (here’s how to block someone on Facebook Messenger, by the way). This goes for both users with accounts and people without accounts who use the web to browse Instagram publicly. Instagram Business accounts will display stats about the volume of traffic but doesn’t show specific profile information, according to Alex Heid, Chief Research and Development Officer at SecurityScorecard. Business accounts specifically show the number of who people visited your profile in the past seven days, or how many people saw your posts in their feed, according to an Instagram representative. Here’s what it means to restrict someone on Instagram.

How to see who views your Instagram stories

If you share more Instagram stories than posts, you’ll have better luck finding out who’s viewing your content. Users who view stories appear in a “viewers list” for 24 hours after the story is live for the original poster to see. “This grants you insights into the specific audience members who have viewed your photo, video, or story post for the same period of time your post is active,” Azevedo says. After 24 hours, the list disappears, but if you save your stories, you can still see the number of people who saw them (and who). You must be logged in to see this information. By the way, here’s how to see who unfollows you on Facebook.

Is there a third-party app that lets me see who views my Instagram profile?

Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, so there’s some overlap in privacy settings. So, like Facebook, no third-party apps will tell you who looks at your Instagram profile. “Anything advertising a feature that shows who viewed your profile would not be a legitimate service and should be avoided as it is likely just an app that is there to collect data for those who use it,” Heid says. There’s no indication that Instagram will ever decide to allow users to see who views their profile. Next, learn how to tell if someone blocked you on Instagram.

Sources:

• Reggie Azevedo Filho, social media management platform Traject Social
• Alex Heid, Chief Research and Development officer at SecurityScorecard

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Here’s everything you need to know about Instagram Stories.

Instagram launched its Stories feature in 2016 in a bid to compete with rival social media network Snapchat. Since then, it’s become one of Instagram’s most popular functionalities.  

With Instagram Stories, you can share photos, video clips, and posts that are viewable for 24 hours. A day after being posted, most Instagram Stories will disappear forever.

If there’s a specific Instagram Story you’d like to treasure for all eternity, you can save it to your Instagram memories or download it onto your device.

You can even display memorable stories on your Instagram profile as highlights, which don’t have an expiration date.

Overall, Instagram Stories are a great way to give people a glimpse into your daily life without uploading a traditional post.

But can you see who views your Instagram Stories, and if so, how do you find out Instagram Story views?

So, can you see who looks at your Instagram Stories?

Short answer: Yes

When you upload an Instagram Story, it can be watched by your followers – unless you block certain users from seeing your Story or only share it with close friends.

And if you don’t have a private account, other Instagram users can access your Stories by typing your username into the Instagram search bar and clicking the profile picture on your profile. 

READ MORE: Who’s the most followed person on Instagram?

Once you’ve uploaded an Instagram Story and people start viewing it, you can find out how many views your Story has received and viewers’ identities. 

How do you see Instagram Story views? 

Short answer: Click on a Story and swipe up

It’s quick and simple to look at your Instagram Story views. Just click on your Instagram Story, and swipe up.

You’ll see an eye icon that indicates how many people have seen your Story. And underneath, there’ll be a list of all the users who have viewed it thus far.

Of course, when you first add a new Instagram Story, it’s quite possible that nobody has viewed it at that point. If this is the case, you’ll see a message saying: “No one has seen this yet.”

Can other people find out that you’ve looked at their Story? 

Short answer: Yes

As well as uploading your own Instagram Stories, you no doubt look at other users’ Stories.

Just like you can see which users have looked at your Story, other people will be able to tell when you’ve viewed theirs.

Sadly, Instagram doesn’t currently offer a way to prevent this. That said, a possible workaround is using airplane mode on your smartphone.

You’ll need an internet connection to load an Instagram Story, but once the Story you want to view is visible, simply turn on airplane mode before viewing it.

If you view someone’s Story by accident and don’t want them to know, blocking them should do the trick.

Of course, using the block button is typically a last resort.

Think before viewing 

While there are many hacks for unseeing Instagram Stories, perhaps you should just avoid looking at stories uploaded by people who aren’t in your life anymore.

Those could be ex-partners, friends you’ve argued with, or estranged family members. That way, you don’t need to overthink.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• How to post on Instagram from a desktop
• Here’s how to add pronouns to your Instagram profile
• How to block words, phrases, and emojis on Instagram
• Here’s how to block sensitive content on Instagram

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