Frankly, we’d like to see a feature where you can check the active status for any Instagram user, but we certainly would never see it. Not only will that be a massive privacy violation, but it will also be plain creepy.
If you’re reading this post, you must have noticed that you can’t see if some Instagram users are active, including some people you message regularly.
That is a feature and not a bug. There are requirements you need to meet to see someone’s active status on Instagram. The chances are high that you don’t meet them.
In this post, we’ll look at how to see If someone is active on Instagram without messaging them. Also, you’ll learn why you can’t see the active statuses for most people on Instagram.
Can you tell if someone is active on Instagram without messaging them?
As of press time, we haven’t found a reliable way to check if someone is active on Instagram without engaging them in a conversation.
This is only one of the numerous conditions necessary for checking someone’s active status. Of course, messaging someone and even getting a reply doesn’t mean you’ll have access to their activity status.
During the research for this article, I came across several sites claiming to be able to tell someone’s active status without you needing to log into your Instagram account.
Do they work?
No, they don’t. No website, app, or program can access Instagram’s API to tell you if someone is active on the platform at any specific moment.
To be sure that the above theory is correct, I tried out a couple of these websites. Not only does their interface look unconvincing, but they also have no functionality.
After inputting my Instagram handle on one of these websites for a test, it loaded up many different spinning boxes to give me the impression that it was doing something in the background.
After waiting a couple of seconds, a message came up, notifying me that they started downloading the Instagram data for the handle I entered.
That’s just plain ridiculous. I know how difficult it is to access my Instagram data, even if I have my password and email. Now, a website without any affiliations to Instagram will access my data to tell me when I was last active?
As I predicted before even starting the process, this website loaded up a survey, asking me to answer the survey in two minutes to access the ‘Instagram data.’
Since everything went as I predicted, there is no need to go any further. These websites have nothing to offer, and they can’t tell if an Instagram user is active or not. The best they can do is to make blind guesses.
If these websites don’t work, how, then, do you check someone’s Instagram activity status without messaging them?
How to See If Someone Is Active on Instagram Without Messaging Them
The only way to check someone’s active status on Instagram requires exchanging messages. In other words, you can’t check if someone is active on Instagram without messaging them recently.
Yes, recently. You can only check the active status for your 25 most recently contacted followers. If you sent someone a message since last year, you may have to send another to check their active status.
However, you can circumvent messaging them by teaming up with someone else. The trick below will only work if the target is someone in your social circle and a couple of mutual friends.
The logic for this is simple; your target has likely followed most people in your friendship circle, making them eligible to view their active statuses.
If you can get one person she’s following to message her, you can check if she’s online without ever having to message her from your account.
I can’t think of a practical use for this trick right now, but you always want to have it handy if the perfect scenario comes along. If you can’t get a friend to help you out, here are other potential ways to check their active status without exchanging a message.
- Checking their Instagram activity
You may have already guessed that this won’t give you results nearly as accurate as having that ‘last seen’ tell you exactly when a user logged out of Instagram.
However, it’s a perfect way to determine if someone is deliberately avoiding you or if they’re just too busy to start a conversation with you on Instagram.
Check their recent posts and stories, and check if they’ve left comments on Instagram recently. If someone continuously uploads stories and posts while ignoring your DMs, they’re most likely ghosting you.
I don’t know about you, but I think this sounds a bit stalky. If you want to know if someone is active, it might be better to send in a DM.
Why can’t see someone’s active status on Instagram
There are many reasons why you may be unable to see if someone is online on Instagram. You don’t control most of them, so there’s only so much you can do about it.
You can’t see when someone who isn’t following you logs in or out of Instagram. This is a privacy feature on Instagram that most people won’t notice until it affects them.
If the Instagram account in question is private, then you can’t see much about them. Even if they follow you, you may have to send a follow request and wait for a positive response to see if they’re active on Instagram.
READ MORE: How To Copy And Paste On Instagram
Conclusion
If you’re trying to track someone’s active status on Instagram, you’re not alone. Hundreds of other people are trying the same thing, desperately trying to crack out the code without sending a DM.
This article has shown you how to see If someone is active on Instagram without messaging them. While this feat is technically impossible, you can work around it. Try to read the article up there to see my idea on getting around this requirement.