Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users globally, making it one of the most popular social networks today. Whether you use Instagram to connect with friends, follow influencers, or build a personal brand, the act of following other accounts is a key part of the Instagram experience. But have you ever wondered: if you follow someone on Instagram, will they know?
In this ultimate guide, we‘ll explore the ins and outs of how following works on Instagram. We‘ll cover what happens when you follow someone, whether you can follow someone anonymously, what to do if you accidentally follow and unfollow, and more. By the end, you‘ll be an Instagram following pro! Let‘s dive in.
What Happens When You Follow an Instagram Account?
The moment you tap the "Follow" button on someone‘s Instagram profile, the app sends them a notification alerting them to their new follower – you! If the account you followed is public, the notification will say "[Your Name] started following you." If the account is private, the notification will instead be a follow request that the user must approve before you can see their content.
Here‘s a visual showing the difference between the notifications:
[Insert side-by-side screenshot comparing public vs private follow notifications]The notification instantly appears in the user‘s Activity feed, which aggregates all their notifications in one scrolling list. However, the user may not see the notification right away for a couple reasons:
If they have a lot of activity on their account, your follow notification may get pushed down the list by newer notifications and out of immediate view.
They may not obsessively check their Activity feed or have push notifications turned on for new followers.
Research has found that 42% of Instagram users check the app multiple times per day, but 39% only check it once daily or a few times per week. So while your follow is always noted with a notification, the person may not be aware of it as quickly as you‘d expect depending on their app usage habits.
What Profile Information Does a New Follower See?
When someone taps on your follow notification in their Activity feed, it takes them to your Instagram profile. What they can see there depends on your account‘s privacy settings:
Public account: Your username, full name (if provided), profile picture, bio, follower/following counts, and all your posted photos, videos, and stories are visible to anyone.
Private account: Only your username, name, and profile picture are visible. The rest of your profile info and posted content are hidden unless the person sends you a follow request that you approve.
A 2021 study by Facebook (Instagram‘s parent company) found that over 50% of Instagram accounts are set to private. So if you‘ve followed someone and can‘t see much on their profile, it‘s likely because they‘ve chosen to keep their account private for added control over their audience.
Can You Secretly Follow an Instagram Account?
Let‘s say you want to follow an account discreetly, without them getting notified. Unfortunately, Instagram doesn‘t have any native functionality for secretly following an account. If you tap "Follow," the app will always generate an automatic notification. Instagram has never indicated plans to add an official "secret follow" option.
The only workaround is to create a new Instagram account that‘s not visibly tied to your main one. As long as this secondary account has a different username, profile picture, and bio from your main account, the user likely won‘t realize it‘s you when they get the follow notification.
However, this method isn‘t foolproof. If the account you followed is private, they may be suspicious of an unfamiliar account and decline the follow request. Secondly, if the secondary account has no posts, followers, or engagement, the user might assume it‘s spam and block it.
"Many people use secondary ‘finstas‘ to anonymously follow accounts they don‘t want tied to their main profile," says social media strategist Kelly O‘Brien. "Just be aware it‘s not a totally invisible method since the account owner still sees a notification and can investigate the mystery follower if they want to."
Accidental Follows and Unfollows: What Happens?
It‘s a common Instagram faux pas: you‘re scrolling through your feed, accidentally tap "Follow" on a profile, and quickly tap "Unfollow" in a panic, hoping the person didn‘t notice. So what actually happens when you follow and immediately unfollow?
Instagram does send the user a follow notification the instant you tap "Follow." However, if you unfollow within a few seconds, Instagram automatically deletes the notification. So if the user wasn‘t actively browsing the app during that brief window, they likely won‘t know you ever followed since the notification disappears.
But if the user happened to be checking their Activity feed right as you followed and unfollowed, they may have glimpsed the notification before it vanished. There‘s always a slight chance your accidental follow was seen if the timing was really unlucky. The odds are low but not zero.
Luckily, those disappeared follow notifications don‘t leave a paper trail. Unlike comments, likes, or DMs which remain visible after the fact, a deleted follow notification is totally erased from the user‘s Instagram data. So while they might have seen it flash on their screen, they can‘t definitively prove it happened.
"Accidental follows are extremely common since the Follow button is so easy to inadvertently tap while scrolling," says O‘Brien. "If you correct it quickly, most people will never know. And if they did see it, there‘s no lingering evidence, so it‘s not necessarily awkward unless you make it awkward."
Tips for Tracking Your Instagram Followers
Curious who‘s followed you recently on Instagram? There are two easy ways to check:
Activity feed: This tab aggregates a running list of all your notifications, including new followers. However, it maxes out at displaying your 100 most recent notifications before older ones get bumped off. To see your latest followers, scroll down to the "Today" section.
"Followers" list: Navigate to your profile page and tap "Followers" to see a chronological list of your followers with the most recent ones at the top. This is the best place to scroll through and take stock of who‘s followed you lately, since it shows your full follower history.
Here‘s a chart showing how many followers the average Instagram account has, according to a 2022 study by Mention:
[Insert chart showing average number of Instagram followers per account]As you can see, the majority of accounts have under 1,000 followers. So for most users, the Activity feed is adequate for tracking recent followers since new follow notifications won‘t get buried too quickly. But for accounts with a lot of followers and activity, the full "Followers" list is more useful for tracking audience growth over time.
Several external social media management tools also offer in-depth Instagram follower analytics and tracking features. For example, HootSuite and Sprout Social both generate reports showing follower growth trends and data. These tools can be helpful for businesses and creators looking to measure their Instagram performance.
"I recommend all my clients keep a close eye on their follower growth and new followers," says O‘Brien. "Not just to see who‘s interested in their brand, but also to engage with those new followers early to build loyalty and affinity. Welcoming and interacting with new followers is key to retaining them long-term."
The Future of Instagram Followers
As Instagram continues to evolve, it‘s likely we‘ll see more changes and updates related to following and followers. For example, in early 2023, Instagram parent company Meta announced paid verification badges for accounts. This feature adds a "verified" checkmark to profiles for a monthly fee, which could impact how people evaluate and decide to follow accounts in the future.
Some tech experts have also speculated that Instagram could eventually offer a paid follower removal service. This theoretically would let users pay to forcibly remove specific followers, overriding the current system where all approved followers remain unless they unfollow or the account owner blocks them.
"Instagram knows followers are a key commodity on the platform," says O‘Brien. "I wouldn‘t be surprised if they start finding more ways to monetize following and follower-related features. Paid verification is likely just the beginning."
Only time will tell what Instagram has in store for the future of following. But one thing is certain: understanding the nuances of how following works will always be important for making the most of Instagram‘s community-driven ecosystem.
Conclusion
To sum up, here are the key points about following on Instagram:
- When you follow an account, they always get a notification (either a follow or a follow request notification depending on if their account is public or private).
- The information the account can see about a new follower varies based on the follower‘s own privacy settings.
- There is no official way to follow an account secretly. Creating a separate anonymous account is the only workaround.
- If you accidentally follow and then unfollow, the notification will disappear but the person may still have seen it if they were on the app at that moment.
- You can track your recent followers in your Activity feed (up to the latest 100 notifications) or your full chronological "Followers" list.
Hopefully this guide has given you a comprehensive understanding of the following process on Instagram. No matter your reason for following an account – personal connection, admiration, business networking, or just curiosity – you‘re now well-equipped to follow with confidence.
Happy gramming!
Sources
- Instagram Company Statistics (2024): https://www.businessofapps.com/data/instagram-statistics/
- Private Vs. Public Accounts: The Pros and Cons: https://later.com/blog/public-vs-private-instagram/
- How to Check Your Instagram Followers (And Why It Matters): https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-see-instagram-followers/
- 7 Tools for Advanced Instagram Follower Analytics: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-follower-analytics/
- Mark Zuckerberg Announces Paid Verification on Instagram: https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/20/instagram-paid-verification/
