Since Instagram was first launched a decade ago, it has steadily been rising on the list of the most popular social media apps on the Internet. With newer features in the app now brought in with every upgrade, it seems like everyone is on the ‘Gram. And why not? People love the app. Besides the features, the user interface of the platform is also very user-friendly and easy to use. For example, people only have to double-tap on a post to like it.

Furthermore, commenting and messaging people is also very easy on Instagram, allowing people to communicate freely. Even though Instagram has evolved from a mere social media platform to a marketing hub for businesses and brands, the essence of the platform is still the same. Speaking of a marketing hub, Instagram is like the primary step towards gaining individual popularity. The influencer market is also expanding.

But still, most people who use this app share their photos and videos and connect with their loved ones. They also share a certain bit of personal information about themselves. Now, a few years back, Instagram had introduced a tab called the “Follower Activity,” where you could see the activities of the people you were following.

One could see what his or her friend had liked, commented on and whom they had followed recently in the “Follower Activity” Tab. Most people had divided opinions on this feature as their privacy could be breached. Still, they would also see the activities of their close ones. Even though Instagram soon removed this feature, Instagram soon removed this feature to see someone’s activities on the ‘Gram. If you too have a similar question, we will answer it for you in this.

Why did Instagram remove the Following Activity Tab?

Even though you may be a bit guilty to admit it, it was fun having the ‘Following Activity’ Tab on Instagram. Back in 2019, this feature was all the rage as in just a single click; you could see who followed whom and what pictures or posts your best friend may have liked. We can deny it wasn’t the least bit creepy, not to mention a breach of privacy, but we are all guilty of checking out what our friends have been up to. When Instagram removed the Tab, the spokesperson of Instagram said that not every person used the Tab.

Some users even felt uncomfortable due to the Tab as and when they saw any vulgar content. Sure, there are still features to enable you to see someone’s recent posts or comments on their profile, but that may not be enough for everyone out there.

Moreover, if you are not following someone but want to see what they have posted, you will be unable to have a private profile. Even if you follow a person, you can’t always see what they have posted due to constant upgrades in the Instagram algorithm. Moreover, the algorithm keeps changing anyway as there is no single moment when content is not being posted on the platform. But leaving all that aside, there are still certain ways to see what someone is doing on Instagram. We will elaborate on these further in the article.

How to see someone’s activity on Instagram whether you are following them or not?

Checking the activities of someone you are following is mostly easy. Still, you may want to see the activities of someone who you are not following on Instagram. Here are the ways that you can do that-

  1. See a person’s most recent Instagram posts:

    There are two main ways to see someone’s Instagram activity. If you follow them, it is pretty easy to see what someone has posted recently. To check the recent posts of a person that you are already following, you have to go to your home page and scroll through your news feed to see if any of their posts show up. You may not always spot their posts in your feed because of the Instagram algorithm, as we have said earlier. In that case, you will have to visit their profile to see if they have posted anything.

    • When you want to view someone’s most recent post, you first have to go to the search option, which will be on the bottom of the main Instagram page.
    • Then, you have to enter the person’s username in the search bar, whose posts you want to view.
    • When you are directed to their profile, after clicking on their username, you can view all their posts, the most recent being on the top.
    • If you want to know when someone had shared a particular post, you have to click on the picture. That will show you the date when someone uploaded the post.

    But if you want to view the posts of a person whose profile is private, you would have to send them a follow request first and wait for them to accept it. After that, you can see their latest posts.

  2. If you want to see if a person is online:

    As we have already said, direct messages on Instagram are a great way for people to connect, but here’s the catch. If you want to see if someone is online on Instagram, you will first need to have a conversation with them on Direct Messages. Here’s how to see if someone is online.

    • First, click on the arrowhead icon on the top right corner of your Instagram Homepage. It will lead you to the Direct Messages. Here, you will see the list of all the people you have spoken to in the past on Instagram.
    • When you have the Direct Messages list, you have to click on the person’s username whose last seen you wish to see.

    To reiterate what we have said, you would be able to see when a person was last online if you had a conversation with them. But you won’t see when a person was online last if you haven’t talked to him in Instagram Direct Messages.

  3. If you want to see if a person recently followed someone on Instagram:

    We are quite familiar with a certain problem. We are certain you must have experienced this as well. Suppose you go to someone’s profile on Instagram, and you click on the follower or following lust. Still, it isn’t easy to see who followed that person because they are not arranged chronologically.

    Fortunately, we can easily tackle this problem. Though we must warn you that this trick worked fine, it may not work later. We are talking about whether you want to see the ‘followers‘ or ‘following’ list of someone arranged in chronological order. You can open Instagram through the web browser instead of the app. That should solve your dilemma!

How can you track the activity of someone whom you don’t follow on Instagram?

When we talk about tracking a person’s activities without following them, you will find several trackers to help you do that. The number of people who want to see people they know is increasing every day; these trackers will help you a lot in tracking any person’s activity smoothly.

Mostly, these activity trackers are applications where you may have to set up accounts and link your Instagram accounts to see the activities of the people you want. Most of the trackers allow you to track accounts of people and send you notification alerts whenever they have a new like, comments or if the person who is tracking has uploaded new stories. Generally, these trackers come with free trials or demos, which would walk you through the entire operation of the tracker.

Conclusion

Since the ‘Following Activity’ Tab had been taken down and for good reasons too, you now know all the ways that you could see the activities of any particular person on Instagram. The ‘Following Activity’ Tab did give us an insight into other’s activities, but even after its removal, the app does retain many of its features. Thus, considering the ways that we have listed above, you will find that it is easy for you to track the activities of people you know and those who are close to you.

Besides tracking the activities of friends, family members, and acquaintances, you can also see and research how influencers and other popular pages on Instagram acquire so many followers and what they do to gain so much engagement. By doing a study on this, you can develop strategies for your page to gain followers and popularity on Instagram.