If you are a private account holder, no, people who are not your followers cannot see your following list. However, if you have a public account, anyone can see your followers/following list.
Instagram, the queen of social media, has been dominating the field for several years. It has always been catching up with the leading trends in social media in this fierce competition.
Now it is one of the best platforms in the world for capturing and sharing moments.
However, it is quite usual to question our privacy on such a crowded platform. You may wonder, can people see who you follow on Instagram? Now, let’s find out together.
How Account Privacy Works for Your Follower List
Let’s get to the point. If your account is private, a random Instagram user who is not your follower cannot see who you follow, nor can they see who follows you. So, you are safe if you are concerned about this! If someone is not following your account, they cannot see who you are following.
If your account is public, there is no restriction. Any user can see who you follow. They do not need to do extra things like following you to see your following list.
I know this might feel a little uncomfortable. However, there aren’t many things you can do to prevent this from happening with a public account. Let’s get into them:
Turn Your Account into a Private Account
It is quite simple to turn your account into a private account if you are disturbed by the fact that people, you don’t know might see your following list:
Go to your Instagram account.
Tap on the three horizontal lines.
Under the “Who can see your content” heading, you will see “Account Privacy.”
Go to “Account Privacy” and click on the button near “Private Account.”
Tap on “Switch to Private” and you are done.
However, don’t forget this change won’t affect who can mention or message you.
In this way, only your followers can see your following list, photos, and videos. So, people you don’t know cannot see anything about your profile unless you give them access by accepting their follow request.
Another Way to Prevent People to See Your Following List
If you want to hide your list from your followers, who can access the list, you might want to explore other options if there are any. Unfortunately, there isn’t a feature that allows you to hide your list from specific people.
The only way to do this is to block them. By doing so, they cannot see your posts or activities on Instagram.
Additional Tips
If you feel very uncomfortable about who can see your following list, it would be best to check your followers periodically and block/unblock people you might not feel comfortable with.
Also, always check for new updates on the app to stay informed on this issue!
FAQs
What becomes restricted for blocked users?
When you block someone, they cannot see your posts, stories, videos, or any activity, including your following/followers list. They cannot see you on the app at all. If they try to search your username, they cannot find you. So, you become nearly invisible to them.
I made my account private, but people can still message/mention me. How?
You may switch your account to private; however, that doesn’t mean people cannot mention or message you. You should manage it from different settings. Manage mentions from Settings > Privacy > Mentions/Messages. You can choose who can mention/message you from “Everyone,” “People You Follow,” or “No One.”
How can I stay up to date with Instagram privacy policies?
You can check updates in the app’s settings. This is the most reliable way to stay up to date. Look for “Settings and privacy” to check. Also, you can follow Instagram’s account on the app or their blog platform. For external sources, look for specific websites focusing on tech news or privacy.
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