How to know if someone is stalking you on Instagram

Social networks are exactly that, social. If you are online, you are in the public eye and people taking an interest in you is the cost of doing business online. That being said, there is a difference between actively interacting with you, being curious and observing you, and stalking you.

Do you think someone is stalking you on Instagram? Do you think someone might secretly have a crush on you and follow you online? Do you want to know if someone is taking too much interest in what you do on social media?

This tutorial will show you how to tell if someone is watching but not engaging or just lurking on your Instagram.

Unfortunately, your options are limited for finding out if someone is constantly viewing your Instagram profile. There isn’t a lot of commentary from the social network about what’s going on, who saw what, or when someone views your profile. Your only option is Instagram Stories which, like its parent Snapchat, tells you who viewed them.

Instagram Stories: the only way to know who is watching

Instagram Stories are essentially a copy of Snapchat Stories and work in almost the same way. You create a post, set it to Story, and then it becomes public for 24 hours before disappearing.

You select someone’s profile in the app to see their stories and they do the same to see yours. Like Snapchat, Instagram Stories tell you who has viewed your Story.

• You can swipe up from one of your own Instagram Stories to see who has viewed it.

The screen shows the username of each person who viewed the Story in question. While it is not confirmed, some believe that the order in which the names appear indicates how often they have seen it. Of course, Instagram has never confirmed this, but it’s an interesting theory.

Basically, your first stop should be your Instagram Stories. If you’ve posted one of the short clips, you’ll be able to see who is reviewing your content.

Catching the Instagram stalker

Instagram Stories are the only way to know who is interacting with your content. Instagram Analytics tells professional account owners how many people viewed your posts, but they don’t reveal the account that views your posts. So we have come up with an alternative method to take down your stalker.

When you post an Instagram Story, you have the option to hide it from others. This situation is different from the “Close Friends” list that alerts users that you have shared it with certain people.

Assuming you suspect someone is stalking your content, post a Story and hide it from everyone else on your list.

• Before posting your story, go to Instagram story settings and select the option “Hide history.” Select everyone except the person of interest. Doing this means that they won’t know that they are the only person who can see the Story.
• Not only will you see that they viewed it, but if you’re using Instagram Analytics, you’ll also be able to see the view count increase every time they do. If they see the Story several times, you will know it was them because they are the only person who has access to it.

Unfortunately, this is the best way we know to know if someone is actively seeking out your content to view it over and over again. If you don’t have Instagram Analytics set up, this will only tell you if they viewed it.

Other ways to check if someone is stalking you on Instagram

Other than showing who has viewed your Instagram Story, there is no other way to know what is happening within the app. Snapchat offers a lot more information about who does what, but Instagram doesn’t.

So if no one leaves a comment or otherwise interacts with you, you’re in the dark, aren’t you?

Using third-party apps to detect a stalker on Instagram

There are many third-party apps, browser extensions, and websites that promise to show you who is viewing your profile. Many of them do not work, while others require access to your private information for nefarious purposes.

Although there may be some legitimate resources, users should be aware of the dangers of using such a service. Read reviews and research the developer before signing up for anything.

Handling harassment on Instagram

There’s not much you can do if you think someone is stalking you on Instagram. As long as they are not threatening or seriously bothering you in any way, they are not doing anything legally wrong. This fact is the price of social media. You are there for everyone to see and people can do whatever they want with the information you post online.

Change Instagram privacy settings

If your suspicions overcome you, you can change some privacy settings on Instagram to prevent the person from following you on the network.

1. Start the Instagram application.
2. touch your ic profileohnorth (settings) to open your profile page.
3. Play the hamburger icon (menu) in the upper right section.
   
4. Select Settings in the menu and then choose Privacy.
   
5. Low Account Privacy towards the top, activate Private account.
   

A private account is only visible to people who follow you. People who want to follow you will send you a request, which you can accept or reject at your discretion. This setting makes you much less visible on Instagram by allowing you to decide who sees your profile and posts.

Change the status of your Instagram activity

In addition to adjusting your privacy settings, you can also disable your activity status to prevent the stalker from seeing your activity.

1. Open Settingsso Privacy On Instagram.
   
2. Select Activity status and toggle Show activity status disabled.
   

The steps above prevent anyone from seeing what you’re doing on Instagram, but they also prevent you from seeing other people’s activity status. It is a two-way street.

Remove someone from your Instagram followers

If you have an idea who is harassing you, you can remove them as a follower.

1. Select your Profile On Instagram.
   
2. Tap on Followers on top.
   
3. Select the Eliminate button next to the follower you want to remove.
   

If you have set your Instagram profile to private, this person will no longer see anything you do on your account, as long as they are not a follower. They may still see your comments or likes on other people’s posts, but they won’t see anything you post on your own.

Change your Instagram account to private

A private Instagram account reduces the social media engagement factor but also offers a bit of protection. You could try making your account private for a month or two and then making it public again. Chances are, whoever was harassing you would get bored by then and move on, maybe.

Instagram Privacy FAQ

Here are the answers to more questions about how to take back control of your privacy on Instagram.

What can I do if someone threatens me on Instagram?

If someone has threatened you through a comment or direct message, the first thing you should do is take a screenshot. Many professionals recommend avoiding responding to someone hostile on social media, but capturing an image of the content with their username will help you move forward.

You can report the user on Instagram by clicking the three-dot menu on their profile or by visiting the Instagram support website (this is where the screenshot comes in. If the threat is serious enough, or you think it is valid, it is probably It is a good idea to contact local law enforcement authorities.

Is there a way to know if a fake account is following me?

Some users want to stalk your account anonymously. Maybe you’ve blocked someone or not accepted a follow request from someone you know. Unfortunately, Instagram won’t tell you if an account is fake or who created it. But you can use deductive reasoning to better detect an illegitimate Instagram account.

The first sign that an Instagram profile is fake is the username. People who create fake profiles for the purpose of stalking may leave clues about who they are in the username or they won’t put much effort into it. Scroll through the list of followers to see which usernames don’t add up.

Another telltale sign that an Instagram profile is not on the rise is the lack of published posts. While some users don’t interact much, most will follow other people, have followers, or post content. A basic Instagram account is certainly suspicious.

Lastly, some Instagram stalkers will create accounts that mimic your friends’ profiles. Check your follower list to see if there are any repeat accounts. If you have more than one follower who appears to be the same person, one account could be that of a stalker.

Final thoughts

Instagram may be a great app for sharing photos and videos with friends, family, and followers, but it’s not the best app for those who worry about their online privacy.

As things stand, there is no genuine way to tell if someone is stalking you on Instagram. So, as you should when using any social media platform, always be mindful of what you post.