You may have a valid suspicion that you have an Instagram stalker, and you likely question whether your feelings are justified.
In this post, I will help you learn how to identify who is stalking your Instagram. You will discover how to recognize stalkers and protect yourself from them.
I will review each method step by step, discuss strategies for dealing with stalkers, and debunk some myths about ineffective methods.
Table of Contents
How to See Who Stalks Your Instagram – 4 Best Ways
There are various steps you can take to identify who is stalking you on Instagram. These steps will depend on the commitment and vigilance of the Instagram users who are stalking you.
If someone frequently stalks your Instagram account, it will be much easier to identify them.
1. Check Instagram Story Viewers
The first method you should use to find out who is stalking you on Instagram is to check your stories.
You can accomplish this by visiting your Instagram profile and clicking on your profile picture once your story is live.
After clicking your profile picture, simply swipe up to display the list of people who have viewed your Instagram stories.
Instagram has not disclosed how the listed users are ranked, but there are theories suggesting that those at the top have viewed your story the most.
Regardless, the more you post and check who views your stories, the better you will be at identifying those who do so frequently.
2. Capturing a Suspected Stalker through Instagram Story
If you have someone specific in mind and strongly suspect that they are stalking you, there is a way to test your suspicion.
Instagram offers an option to “Hide story from“, enabling you to conceal your stories from specific individuals you choose.
You can utilize this option before publishing stories by navigating to “Story setting” and selecting the “Hide story from” option.
To identify an Instagram stalker in this manner, we will conceal the story from everyone except for that one individual.
Since they are the only person who can view the story, the view count will reflect only their visits.
3. Review Instagram Highlights
Another action you can take while investigating whether someone is stalking you on Instagram is to check your Instagram highlights. Highlights are essentially stories that stay on your account for as long as you choose to keep them.
If you have many of them and someone has viewed all of them, it can strongly suggest that they are stalking you.
4. Utilize third-party applications
There is a vast market of apps that claim to help you answer questions like “who viewed my Instagram?” However, such apps are never a good idea.
They will typically use your account to harvest and sell your data, providing you with no more information than what you could obtain by simply using Instagram.
4 Ways to Handle Instagram Stalkers
Unless the stalker is harassing or threatening you, there is not much you can do legally. However, there are several ways you can address the situation on the platform.
1. Block them
The simplest and most effective way to prevent someone from bothering you is to block them outright. Blocking will completely eliminate their ability to search your Instagram profile and interact with you on the platform.
Here’s how to block someone on Instagram:
It is reasonable to assume that someone who spends their time stalking you on Instagram may not be deterred by you blocking them.
They can always create a new account to bypass your block; however, if that happens, you can continue blocking them until they give up.
2. Remove Them From Your Followers List
If you feel uncomfortable with someone stalking you, you might consider removing them from your followers list. For many people, this action will be sufficient to send a clear message.
Here is how you can accomplish it:
3. Switch to a Private Account
Having a public account exposes you to the watchful eyes of stalkers. When your account is public, anyone can see everything you publish, including both posts and stories.
Most people will occasionally check your account and interact with you appropriately, but stalkers may exploit this to cause you distress.
Switching to a private account can provide you with peace of mind. When your account is private, only the people you have permitted to follow you will be able to see your posts.
Here is how to switch to a private account:
4. Disable Activity Status
Not all stalkers are alike; some may even be your friends. They will frequently check if you are online and may inundate you with messages whenever you do appear online.
If you want to avoid being spammed while online, the simplest solution is to disable your activity status.
When you disable your online status, you will not be visible as online. Here’s how you can do this:
Conclusion
The nature of the Internet has made it easy for individuals to be stalked. While most stalking is relatively harmless, it can still be bothersome to manage. Once you identify your stalkers, you can employ various methods to eliminate them.
The most effective method is to block the stalkers and set your account to private. This approach significantly reduces the likelihood of them bothering you.
FAQ
Can you tell who stalks your Instagram?
It is very hard to tell if one of your Instagram followers is stalking you, but there are a few things you can do. The longer someone stalks you, the more traces they will leave. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eFollowing Instagram statistics for a while will give you a pretty good idea if they are stalking you or not.
What does it mean when a person is first on your Instagram story?
The most common reason someone is first seeing your story is that it was published while they were browsing other stories. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eIf someone is checking your stories regularly, it is safe to assume they are interested in you.
