If you unfollow someone on instagram can you still see if they are active

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If you unfollow someone on instagram can you still see if they are active

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Oh Instagram, you ubiquitous enabler of social stalking — I mean, um, peeking into the lives of your friends. Yes, that sounds much better. OK, let's be honest here: Who hasn't done a little Instagram creeping? We — I mean, um, all the other people who do this — know the cardinal rule: Only look, never like. But sometimes, you fall out of like with someone and you really don't need to see their Instagram posts anymore because you're totally above that. Now, let's think about this from the other side of those photos and the people who take them. Do people know if you unfollow them on Instagram?

Fret not, fellow Instagrammers. Your secrets are safe — for the most part. According to Instagram's Help Center, "People won't be notified when you unfollow them." So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.

But of course, that doesn't mean someone can't figure out that you've unfollowed them on Instagram. In fact, there are actually lots of ways to tell if someone unfollowed you on Instagram. You can do it the old-fashioned way by manually looking at your list and checking your followers one by one, or you can use any one of these three apps to see who's unfollowed you on Instagram.

Hey, at least you can take solace in the fact that if you do unfollow someone on Instagram, the actual Instagram app won't be sending them a notification about it. That said, lets talk for a quick sec about this whole "Instagram creeper" phenomenon, because of course that's a thing.

Instagram has made social creeping actually pretty easy for users as they don't provide notifications for when someone unfollows you. People aren't notified when you remove someone as a follower on Instagram, either. Social media has created a whole new beast of online social etiquette — heaven forbid someone finds out they've been unfollowed and you've dropped them from your social feed.

But this also creates an environment where it's super easy to just scope out someone from afar across their social media accounts — and it doesn't take much for social media creeping to turn into actual online cyber stalking. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, as many as 1 in 4 people have been victims of some form of cyber stalking.

Retired police detective Mike Proctor and cyberstalking expert Jennifer Perry spoke with ATTN: last year and shared five important ways to tell if you're being cyber stalked. They include:

  1. Someone checking your social media counts to the point of obsession.
  2. Even if you try to block them, they still find ways to connect with you online.
  3. They start social creeping on your friends, family, and other followers to whom you're connected.
  4. You get your personal info doxxed by them.
  5. They know where you are all the time, thanks to timestamps and location check-ins.

So, will your unfollowed Instagram peeps know what's up? Nope — but even though they might not know it from Instagram, they can still find out. Stay safe out there on the interwebs, people.

Are you thinking of “Can I follow someone on Instagram without them getting a notification”? Or perhaps you accidentally tapped on the follow button and were anxious if they received a notification of that action. If you do, read it!

It is normal to have such concern, especially since everyone has that one person that they don’t wish to follow on Instagram. 

Towards the end of this article, you will have your answer. Besides, you will also know a way to follow someone without them knowing. 

Without further ado, let’s get started. 

  • If You Follow Someone on Instagram Will They Get A Notification?
  • How To Follow Someone On Instagram Without Them Getting A Notification
  • How To Follow Someone On Instagram?
  • How To UnFollow Someone On Instagram?
  • If I Follow And Unfollow Them Immediately, Will They Know?
  • Final Thoughts

If You Follow Someone on Instagram Will They Get A Notification?

Unfortunately, or fortunately, a person will receive a push-notification from Instagram almost right away once you click on the “Follow” button.  

If you click the “Follow” button on someone that has their account set to public, they will get a notification of “X started following you” in their notification drop-down menu. Whereas, if it is a private account, they will receive a notification that you requested to follow them. 

If you unfollow someone on instagram can you still see if they are active

Depending if your account is set as a public or private, the type of information that they can see when checking out your profile will be different too. 

If your Instagram account is public, they can see all your information, from username, profile picture, Instagram posts (including tagged posts), stories etc. However, if you set it to private, only your username and profile picture are visible to them. 

Either way, any Instagram account that you are trying to follow will surely receive a notification from the platform.

Of course, they might overlook the notification and wouldn’t know if you have started following them.

Situations like this usually happen to someone that has a large following. Most of the time, these people do not have the time to check every notification they receive.

Since you know that a person will receive a notification immediately, is there any way to do it without them getting a notification? Let’s move on to know more. 

Is there a way to follow someone without them getting a notification? Sadly, there isn’t. 

As we assert, a person will get a push-notification from Instagram once you tap on the “Follow” button. Hence, it is not possible to follow someone without them getting the notification.  

Still, there is a way to follow a person without letting them know it is you. All you need to do is create a secondary account, hide or modify your personal information, then follow that person.

Avoid following your main account as Instagram might show it as a mutual connection, which will reveal your identity.

You also need to avoid using your personal number on your secondary account as the platform might show your main profile as a suggestion to that person. 

How To Follow Someone On Instagram?

Find the user you want to follow, on their profile you will see a “Follow” button in blue, tap on it and done! Now you are following someone on Instagram.

The process is really easy and quick, unless the account you want to follow is private, then you will have wait for them to accept your follow requests.

Following someone on Instagram is one of those things you will do plenty of times while you continue using the app so make sure you nail down the process.

If you unfollow someone on instagram can you still see if they are active

How To UnFollow Someone On Instagram?

To unfollow someone on Instagram is easy. You just have to go to the users profile, tap on the “Following” button, then on the options tap on “Unfollow” and that’s it. You are not following the user anymore.

If you unfollowed them by mistake don’t worry, you can just follow the user right again but keep in mind that they will get a notification.

But, when you unfollow them they will not get a notification, you have nothing to worry about. They can find out by checking their followers list, but hardly anyone checks on the list frequently.

If you unfollow someone on instagram can you still see if they are active

If I Follow And Unfollow Them Immediately, Will They Know?

When you follow someone on Instagram, they will be notified by the platform. However, if you click on the “Unfollow” button immediately, Instagram will remove the notification.

This only works if it happens when that person is inactive. Basically, the person will still know you have followed and unfollowed them when they are active on Instagram at that exact moment. 

But, if you unfollow someone on Instagram when they are not active, and they only login into their account after you unfollow them, they won’t see the notification. 

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, there is no way for you to secretly follow a person without them receiving a notification, at least not through your main account. 

The only way to secretly follow someone is by creating a secondary account, if hiding your identity is that important.

Avoid using your personal number in the secondary account to avoid the main account being suggested. Also, don’t follow your main account as it will show mutual connections that are going to reveal your identity. 

Can you still see if someone is online if you unfollow them?

People aren't notified when you remove someone as a follower on Instagram, either. Social media has created a whole new beast of online social etiquette — heaven forbid someone finds out they've been unfollowed and you've dropped them from your social feed.

What happens if you unfollow someone on Instagram?

Unfollowing someone means you will no longer see their content in your feed. If they have a public account then you may still be able to see what they post by visiting their profile directly. If you choose to unfollow someone on Instagram they will not receive a notification saying that you have done this.

Can someone still see your Instagram if you unfollow them?

When You Unfollow Someone On Instagram, Can They See Your Posts. As mentioned before, unfollowing is a one-way street. So the other person can still see your posts, both in the feed and on profile, even if you unfollow them. They need to unfollow on their end to stop seeing your posts.

Can I know if someone unfollowed me on Instagram?

Simply head over to their Instagram profile and tap the box that says “Following”. There, you'll see a list of people that person is following. If you know for sure they were following you, but you're not on that list, you can safely assume you've been unfollowed.