Can you see who views your Instagram story

Instagram Stories are now the talk of the town. Originally made after being “influenced” by a similar Snapchat feature. Instagram Stories appear at the top of your newsfeed or timeline, with each story available for twenty-four hours, unless deleted before or highlighted later.

Instagram shared that during the coronavirus pandemic, the Stories became a phenomenon with data analyzers pondering how social media consumption or posting has changed while people were in quarantine and lockdowns with nothing much to pass the time at home some way. Back in March-June, Instagram Stories posting was at its peak, with people and celebrities making banana bread or dalgona coffee and sharing it on their Stories!

Instagram doesn’t allow people to see who viewed their videos unless the viewer chooses to double-tap (like!) on the video. Therefore, it came as a surprise to users when the application first launched its Stories feature to let users see the followers who viewed their stories.

followers who viewed their stories

While you may not know when the pandemic will end (please end soon!), you can surely know who viewed your Stories!

And here’s how you can see those who saw your Instagram story (see what I did there?):

Step 1:

On the top-left side of your Instagram homepage, there’s a round icon with your profile picture on it. Click it to open your story.

Step 2:

Once your story is open, swipe up to see the username and profile picture of all those who have viewed your story. This insight is available to the original poster only.

According to the Instagram Help Centre, you can view who has watched your story for up to forty-eight hours of initially posting it.

If it has been over 24 hours since you posted the story, the above steps may not work. To view it afterward, follow these instructions posted by the official Instagram Help Centre:

Step 1:

Tap or your profile picture at the bottom right of your Instagram homepage to go to your profile or account.

Step 2:

Tap at the top right of your profile.

Step 3:

Tap Archive, which is the first option in the list that appears to the right.

Step 4:

There, you will see a literal archive of every story you’ve uploaded. However, you will only see story viewers on those you uploaded before 48 hours. Scroll to the story you want to check your viewers’ info on.

Step 5:

Tap the story and swipe to see the usernames and profile pictures

Disclaimer: The count on the views and usernames could be different because the count shows how many times your story was viewed in total. That means, if one account views your story three times, it will be counted as three distinct views, while the user info will only be visible for one.

Thus, this is how you can keep a lookout for whoever watches your story. It helps hide it from certain people you do not want to share your stories with, Instagram, or otherwise.

Bonus: Instagram allows its users to choose from various options with who to share their stories. When you are initially uploading a photo or video on your Instagram story, you have the option to share it with either Close Friends or Send as a message or share it usually. Here, you can curate a list of your Close Friends with whom you share stories exclusively.

There’s also another option to choose from on the three-line icon at your profile’s top right. When you tap on it, click on Settings at the bottom right of the screen. From the option that appears, tap on Privacy. Inside that option, you will see Story along with its icon.

Inside this option, the first option is Hide Story From. Eureka! You can now hide your stories by searching the usernames of the people you want to hide them from. This remains applicable to all your stories unless you go back and change it.

So, this was a detailed manual on how to see who views your Instagram story, as well as instructions on how to hide your story from certain people. Let us know if you found it helpful and if you know of any other feature or option not mentioned here.