UPDATE:
Huge Instagram Update 2019 that completely changes the way you can see your friend’s Instagram activity More info in point number 4.
Want to see a friend’s Instagram activity? Want to know what they are up to on Instagram?
Whether you are really stalking your friend on Instagram, or are just interested in what posts they like, you’ll be happy to hear that there are ways with which you can see your friend’s Instagram activity. Today, we share more information about ourselves than ever before. We share what we eat, what we do, how we feel, and much more. Something we also don’t think about is that social media also share our way of living, our awake times, when we go to bed, and how we use social media.
When we use social media, we leave traces of our social media usage which enables other people to spy on us. Instagram is no different, and this is why you can, in fact, see a friend’s Instagram activity.
In this article, I’ll, therefore, go through how you can see someone’s Instagram activity step-by-step, and I’ll go through each and every method of doing so.
First off, a simple way to see someone’s activity on Instagram is by looking at what content they are interacting with. This means posts that they’ve liked and commented on. On Instagram, however, there are certain limitations:
- You can only see posts that someone has interacted with on Instagram if you are following them.
- You can not view old interactions, only their most recent ones (the more accounts you follow, the shorter of a time you’ll be able to see someone’s interactions).
So how can you see A Friend’s Instagram Activity? Well, things are always changing with Instagram, but as of now, there are a few ways you can see your friend’s Instagram activity on, and here they are:
See friend’s Instagram activity with mSpy
The perfect app to see Instagram activity is mSpy that is easy to install and use. It has intuitive interface and is compatible with Android and iOS. Another advantage of mSpy is 24/7 customer support.
mSpy lets you read someone’s Instagram messages and see the media and links that have been shared in the DMs. Also mSpy allows to follow the device and see its location in real-time with the built-in GPS tracker.
How to see someone’s Instagram activity:
1. See their most recent posts
You can see someone’s most recent posts by going to the home button, then scrolling through your news feed and see if a post from them shows up. You will also be able to see when they made the post. Another method to see their most recent posts is to visit their profile. To do so, go to the search bar in Search & Explore and search for their username. When you come to their profile, you’ll be able to see their most recent posts at the top and the oldest posts towards the bottom.
Depending on if the account is set to private, there are different measures you need to take to see an account’s post.
If the account is private, it means that only the followers of that account can see their posts. Therefore, in order to see the posts they’ve shared, you must first request to follow, and then if the person accepts, you’ll be able to see their posts.
If the account is open, seeing an account’s posts is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Just search for their account in the search bar and look through their posts. Their most recent will be displayed at the top, and the oldest will be located at the bottom. When you click on a post, you’ll also be able to see when it was shared.
If you start to follow an account, you will automatically get their new posts in your feed. Simply open up the app and tap on the home icon in the bottom left corner and scroll through to see if you can find any posts from them. If you don’t, it’s usually because they haven’t posted anything recently.
Do however have in mind that the Instagram Algorithm now decides what you see in your feed based on several different criteria. If you don’t interact with the posts from a particular account that you follow, Instagram takes this as an indication that you don’t care about their posts, and will, therefore, start sorting them out from your feed. Therefore, if you don’t see posts from an account, it might be because the Algorithm is filtering them away from you.
2. See who your friend recently followed through their profile
You can see who your friend most recently followed through their profile. You do so by clicking the Explore (star) button next to the Home button and then searching for their username in the search box at the top. When you find their profile, tap it and you’ll be directed to their profile. Now, tap “Following” above the follow/unfollow button.
This will present you with a list of users that your friend has followed. Normally, this list is sorted in the following way: The top accounts in your following/followers list on Instagram is influenced by the frequency that you visit or interact with them. Instagram is doing everything to tailor the user experience, and when you interact with specific accounts, you tell Instagram that you find them more interesting and relevant than others. Accordingly, the algorithm sorts accounts based on which accounts it believes you will find the most interesting.
Note that you cannot see the accounts someone is following if they have their account set to private and you are not following that account. You will only be able to see the number of accounts they are following (unless you”re blocked).
3. See who your friend was recently followed by through their profile
You can find the users that followed your friend most recently by going to their profile. Once you’re on their profile, click “Followers” above the follow/unfollow button. You will now see a list of users who are following your friend (this is usually ordered from most recently followed to least recently followed).
4. See their most recent interactions
NOTE: Instagram removed this feature in 2019 which means you can no longer use it to see a friend’s Instagram activity. A reason for this may have been that Instagram saw it as too intrusive of users’ privacy as you could see each and every interaction a user did on the platform. But now this feature has been removed and cannot be used.
You can find posts that your friend has liked by tapping the chat bubble with a heart inside, located to the right of the” take a photo button”, at the bottom of the screen.
Once you’ve navigated to the Activity screen click “Following” at the top of the screen. Now, you’ll be presented with a “list of notifications” of actions that the people you follow have made. here, you’ll be able to see accounts they’ve started to follow, posts they’ve liked, and comments they’ve left.
In my eyes, this is the single most effective way to see someone’s Instagram activity, because virtually everything is gathered in one place. You just need to stay updated because if you follow a lot of accounts, the notifications will disappear quickly.
5. See a friend’s Instagram activity: See when they shared a Story
Instagram Stories has exploded in popularity since it was first launched. Stories allow users on Instagram
Stories is also a great way to see a friend’s Instagram activity. Now, far from everyone uses Instagram Stories, but those who do tends to update their Stories regularly. This is great for you if you want to see someone’s Instagram activity because looking at their Stories will let you know when they were online the last time – or at least when they last posted their story.
6. See accounts they’re tagged in
On Instagram, you can see posts that an account has been tagged in when visiting their profile. If you have an account and get tagged in an image, you have the possibility of hiding posts that you are tagged in if you don’t want other people to see, it. By hiding it, you remove it from your “tagged in” section so people can’t find it from your profile. Therefore, if you are looking for a particular post that someone is tagged in, but you can’t find it, the reason might be that they have hidden it from their profile.
To see the accounts someone has been tagged in, go to their profile and tap the human icon at the top of their feed.
Here, you will see posts presented in the same way as they are in their feed, only that the images are posted by someone else. The photos will be displayed in chronological order where you’ll see the most recent post that they are tagged in at the top.
Can you track someone’s Instagram activity?
There are different meanings to that question, so the answer is both yes and no.
In one way you can track your friend’s Instagram activity by using the methods listed above, but in terms of tracking someone’s Instagram activity and being notified with each action they take – not just when they share a post (or engage with one of yours), there’s no real way of doing this.
The only way you can “track” your friend’s Instagram activity is by turning on their post notifications.
That way, you’ll get a notification every time they post something on Instagram, thus allowing you to see their Instagram activity and when they’re online.
To turn on post notifications so you get a notification every time they share a new post, go to their profile and tap the three dots in the top-right corner. Now, tap “Turn on post notifications” or “turn on Story notifications”. If you activate both, you’ll get notifications when they both share Stories and new posts. This will allow you to get full control over your friends and see your friend’s Instagram activity each step they take.
You can also complete the same process by going to any of the posts they’ve shared and go through the same process.
Do note that you need to follow an account in order to be able to turn on post notifications, you need to follow the account first.
How to see someone’s activity on Instagram: How to see when someone is online on Instagram
A new Instagram update has made it possible to see someone’s Instagram activity, or more specifically when they are online on the app.
The fact that you can now see when someone is online, and when they were online last has made some people upset because this allows people to stalk their Instagram activity and see exactly when someone is online on Instagram (and if they are)
The way you do this is not the way you might think.
In order to track someone’s Instagram activity and see when they were last online, you need to have spoken to them on Instagram Direct Message.
To see their activity, go to your Instagram Direct Messages where you’ll have a complete list of all the people you’ve talked to.
Note that in order to be able to see someone’s Instagram activity and when they were last online, they have to be the one who sent the last message in your Direct Message conversation.
If you’re in a Direct Message group, you’ll see the number of people who have been active today.
This method doesn’t allow you to see their activity on Instagram in detail, meaning what they actually did when they were online, but it does tell you when they were last online – or if they’re online right now.
Now, there are a few apps that claim that they help you see your friend’s Instagram activity, exactly when they are online and not, but these apps have yet to prove that they work. This is why it’s best to stay away from them and use the methods as listed above to see your friend’s Instagram activity.
Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful and you’ve gotten to know How To See A Friend’s Instagram Activity. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask them below!
It appears I can only see what photos my friend, who I follow, likes in the app (Android) version, but not the desktop version. Is this correct?
Hi Perry!
Yes, that is correct.
You can only see your friend’s activity on the mobile verion.
Jens
Hello Perry,
Actually you can also see the photos liked by other users (even if you don’t follow them) on your desktop – by using the Instagram tool Snoopreport. it tracks the likes, comments and follows made by users, you just need to add an Instagram username in a dashboard on https://snoopreport.com
Hello Jens!
Great tips! Actually there is one more way to track an user’s activity on Instagram. By using Snoopreport service https://snoopreport.com you can monitor what any public account does on Instagram: what it likes, comments and whom follows. Hope it will be helpful 🙂
Thanks for sharing valuable information for those who want to view someone’s else instagram profile.
Such a great article. This article explained about how to check your Instagram activity.
Thank you for sharing this useful information with us.
On the activity page, the followers tab has disappeared. It only shows my activity? All of my followers tab is gone?
Hi Mike!
That’s strange. Have you tried updating the app?
Hope it helps!
J
Me too!
Me too!
I’m having the same problem
Same problem
Me to
Hi
I have problem with my instagram. When i tap heart symbol, i can’t view my following activity (like) please somebody help me
Hi!
Try updating the app, restarting your phone, and logging out.
Hope it helps!
Thanks for your support. I did everything but it didn’t work.
Me too
I don’t know why this happened
On the activity page, the followers tab has disappeared. It only shows my activity? All of my followers tab is gone? is there any solution???
Hi Ran!
I’ve never heard of this before.
Try updating the app, restarting your phone, or logging in and out!
Hope it helps!
Hi in the feed to see your friends activity it shows when they become friends with so wine but is that when the request was accepted or when they requested it ? Example I can request a friend who is private today but they won’t accept me until the next day. Is that when it shows up and may misconstrue my activity because I wasn’t online at the time I was accepted ?
Hi Gerry,
When someone accepts your follow request, you will get a notification and see the notification inside your app.
Hope it helps!
Veloce
The following tab on my activity page on Instagram has not been showing for last week!!!!!!
Please help and sort it out!!
Hi!
Have you tried the following:
Restarting your phone
Updating the Instagram app
Reinstalling the app
Logging in and out from your account?
Hope it helps!
I can’t see my following activity on heart icon .They show activity insitan of following and you .what to do for following and you
Hi!
Have you tried updating the app, reinstalling it, restarting your phone and logging out from your account?
Hope it helps!
i can’t see the posts that the people i’m following are liking. when i press the heart on the bottom it only days “my activity”. it doesn’t say “following” and “you” anymore
I Salma,
Either this is a new update that Instagram is testing out, or it can be a bug.
Try:
Updating the Instagram app
Restarting the app
Delete and re-download Instagram app
Restarting your phone
Logging in and out
Hope it helps!
Last few days I am facing big issue when I am clicking on heart icon there showing ‘Activity..only mine who like mine photo and there no following details like before I see my followers like there photo and commant. …why following tap disappear please let let know
Either this is an update/test from Instagram who might be testing a new feature (most likely), or it can be a bug.
Hope it helps!
Same problem there please sort out
I deleted app many time again download..log out…even try another phone same issue…please help me in this
It may just be Instagram trying out a new feature where you are not able to see your friends activity. We are following the news closely and will report.
-Veloce
Hi.How can I see my friend Activity
Hi!
Instagram has removed this feature now. Sorry!
Yes, it appears this is no longer a feature. This was a good way to find ppl to follow who share common interest w particular friend/follower. It’s unfortunate.
Yes indeed. It seems they are slowly phasing it out. The feature is still available for some.
Regards
Been keeping tab on someones profile, I see they gained a follower but there is no new person at the top of the list when clicking following, all others are in order as most recently added but the number has gone up and the most recent follower is still the same as before?
Hi Max,
No, Instagram’s list of followers is not necessarily in order, even though many of them are.
Hope it helps!
And what about list of following people changing order ?does it mean there is an activity or more interaction with the one on the top and the same one can go down
Hello,
This is more or less completely random and does not say anything about interactions.
Snoopreport is still doing it!