How to tell who views your instagram story the most
Understanding Instagram algorithms: Are Instagram Story views ranked based on your likes?
Trying to understand the data behind your Instagram Story views sequence? Learn how Instagram ranks Story viewers and how you can boost Instagram engagement for your business.
By now, most of us are Instagram users either for business or personal reasons, or both. It’s an amazing platform for visual inspiration and to keep up with everyone from friends to Instagram influencers and celebrities you’ve never met. It has also become a major shopping platform for products and services.
Instagram Stories, in particular, are increasing in popularity. For business owners trying to develop an Instagram presence and engagement, you will benefit from learning more about the Instagram algorithm, what it tells you about potential clients, and how to leverage Instagram into business growth.
You might’ve noticed that you can see a list of people who watch your Instagram Stories, but how much do you know about the data behind the order of viewers that Instagram shows you? Is it meaningful or random?
Let’s dive into Instagram Stories, how to interpret the order of Instagram Stories views, how to maximize your profile views, and how to turn it into conversion for your business.
Instagram took a page out of Snapchat’s book by unveiling Instagram Stories in 2016. Since then they’ve only increased in popularity. Now, some Insta users don’t even bother to scroll down their feed, they just stick to story viewing!
Instagram Stories allow users to post 15-second videos that only last for 24 hours. To extend their life, you can save your Instagram Stories to your profile by adding them to your Instagram profile page’s “Highlights,” where they will be available indefinitely.
You can use filters, add text, and add fun gifs and images. Stories allow you to play around with filters, text, GIFs, images, videos, polls, stickers, Q&As, and music. For businesses, Stories present an opportunity to share promotions, discount codes, and behind-the-scenes content. They’re great for content that’s time-sensitive or a little more casual.
Businesses can also advertise using Instagram Stories. Users will see a sponsored story every few Stories that they tap through, so you’ll reach many users with this sort of ad placement.
Want to know how to track Instagram viewers? It’s simple. Tap your profile picture at the top of your feed to view your story. Look at the lower-left corner of your story. If anyone has viewed it, you’ll see one or multiple profile pictures with a “Seen by” label and number beneath it.
Tap the “Seen by #” label to open your Instagram story viewers list. Here, you’ll see a list of everyone who has viewed your story as well as the total view count.
How does Instagram rank story viewers?Many users suspect that Instagram displays story viewers in a particular order. According to Julian Gutman, product lead for Instagram Home, the profiles at the top of your list are based on who you engage with the most, not vice versa.
Just because someone is at the top of your viewer list doesn’t mean that they visit your Instagram feed the most or watched your story multiple times.
The Instagram algorithm simply displays your viewer list based on your activity and who it thinks you’re closest to.
Your interaction data can come from posts you like or comment on, profiles you look for in the search bar, and when you swipe up on an account’s Instagram Story. This data reveals quite a bit about our social media habits. Your taps and swipes are telling the app who you care about most!
There’s your answer! The profiles at the top of the list have nothing to do with privacy settings, number of views, number of Instagram posts, or your business account’s unfollow ratio — and won’t tip you off if you have an Instagram stalker. It’s simply a reflection of how you spend your time in the Instagram app.
While the order of Insta Stories views isn’t the most compelling engagement data for business owners, it’s interesting to be aware of your own habits and understand how the platform works.
So, the Instagram algorithm isn’t telling me who likes my Instagram business account the most?The Instagram feed algorithm is different from the Instagram Story algorithm.
When we refer to the “Instagram algorithm,” we’re talking about the order in which Instagram presents new content posted by accounts you follow as well as the profiles that appear on your Discover page.
You might’ve noticed that Instagram doesn’t display feed posts in chronological order. The Instagram algorithm intends to surface the best, most pertinent content to each user every time they check their feed.
What you see is an algorithmic timeline, which means the content Instagram thinks you’ll likely be most interested in. The order of photos and videos in your feed is based on the likelihood you’ll engage with the content, your relationship with the account posting it, and how recently the content was posted.
Instagram is all about engagement, so its algorithm is precisely designed to increase the chances of users liking, swiping, or making a purchase in the app. Of course, timeliness still plays a part in what you see, as Instagram considers recent posts more relevant.
If you’re worried that the algorithmic timeline means you won’t see posts from friends and loved ones, Instagram has addressed in concern, stating, “no matter how many accounts you follow, you should see your best friend’s latest posts.”
How to watch Instagram Stories anonymouslyMany of us have the occasional instinct to view Instagram stories anonymously. So how can you watch stories anonymously without revealing who you are to the person who posted? If someone has a public profile, you can always view it from your "finsta," or unidentifiable account. There are also third-party apps that apparently let you view people's stories without notifying the poster that you viewed them.
How can I improve my Instagram Story engagement?An Instagram account is worth pursuing for your business simply because there are more than a billion active monthly users on the platform!
The foundation of a successful Instagram presence is to post frequently.
First, make sure you have a public Instagram account so people can search for you and gain access to your active Stories. Over time, you will learn how fast and often your audience views, likes, comments, shares, and saves your new posts and Stories. Until then, all you can control is sharing high-quality content regularly. The Instagram algorithm will reward you for your output.
To increase the engagement your posts and Stories receive, which will rank you higher in the app’s algorithm, you should always post crisp, attention-grabbing photos and videos that offer value to your audience.
If your content isn’t as strong as you’d like, you can try doing giveaways or promotions that encourage visitors to engage with you. This may mean responding to a poll, submitting a question, or asking them to slide into your DMs (direct messages) with responses. Soliciting questions from followers allows you to respond to them directly. This establishes authority, lets you give them free advice, and builds rapport.
Your content will improve as you devote more time and resources to it. The better you get at creating interesting content for your audience, the higher your engagement will be and the more relevant your posts will be according to the Instagram algorithm.
If you’re using Instagram for your professional venture and want to know how to get more likes and followers, this guide helps you to do just that.
Download my free guide
Tracking your Instagram insightsLike any project, it’s a good idea to track your Instagram profile insights over time. Keep a spreadsheet where you track each week’s performance metrics, including likes, comments, shares, and saves that your content (both new and old posts) receives.
This will help you objectively measure which posts perform better, and over time, identify trends when it comes to the type of content that delivers the most value. No ads needed! Just organic growth for your business.
You should also seek out other accounts in your niche and engage with them. You can team up for cross-promotions, content collaborations, partner giveaways, or simply repost their content that your follower might enjoy.
What affects Instagram engagement?Factors that may impact an Insta story or post’s metrics include:
- Number of Instagram followers
- Number of people who see your post
- Hashtags
- Frequency of your feed posts
- Type of content
- Timeliness of content
- Number of fake accounts following you
For more tips on how to get the most out of your Instagram efforts, check out our guide for succeeding on Instagram.
Download my free guide
How can I turn an Instagram Story viewer into a client for my business?Now that you understand how the Instagram algorithm works for Stories and how to use it to your advantage, you can start building a better Insta presence for your business. However, an effective Instagram business profile is only one piece of your digital marketing strategy. The most important part is a professional website, which is where you’ll want to direct all of your online traffic, including from social media platforms.
B12 builds professional websites that have the tools and functionality your business needs to sell your services online and engage new and existing clients. Beyond websites, we offer SEO, blog posts, online scheduling, online payments, and much more. Elevate your online presence and professionalize your business by getting started with B12 today.
The Algorithm Behind the Order of Who Views Your Story
Let’s face it, Instagram Stories are great for “stalking.”
Since its release, Instagram Stories have taken off big time.
In fact, in early 2017, they overtook Snapchat in audience size, and now they have over 300 million daily active users. That’s almost the population of the entire United States. WOW.
Source
But while they let people interact with their followers at the moment and share snippets of daily life with the click of a button, there’s still one thing that’s puzzling Insta users when it comes to the platform’s newest feature.
And that’s the method behind the madness when it comes to the order of who’s viewed your Instagram Stories.
In other words, how does Instagram determine the order of this list:
The algorithm is pretty simple for the general Insta feed.
Recommended Reading: Our Stupid Simple Guide to the Instagram Algorithm
Back in June 2016, the platform placed a heavy emphasis on showing people more of what they wanted to see. In the past, it had been chronological, but now users were seeing more posts by the people they interacted with the most. And, when it comes to the order of how Instagram Stories are presented at the top of the app, it’s all based on engagement data taken from Insta and Facebook.
The real mystery lies in the order of Story views.
The Instagram Story Views Mystery
Wanna hear the truth?
No one really knows how Instagram chooses to show Story views in the way it does, but there are plenty of half-baked theories that are doing the rounds (some that have some substance to them and others that are just way out left field).
Here’s what we know:
The list of viewers isn’t chronological, though it might start off chronological. That is until a Story gets a certain amount of views, the viewers’ list remains in chronological order depending on who watched it first.
But then the list also doesn’t seem to be rooted in activity data, like public interactions, likes, tags, and comments – at least, it’s not rooted in just this.
Now, there is a theory that people are throwing around, but it’s unclear as to whether this is based on research and facts or simply wishful thinking.
According to this theory, the people who view our profiles the most – even if they don’t engage with our content – rank the highest in our Instagram Story views list.
Basically, profile lurkers and our stalkers appear at the top of the list.
To test this theory, a number of Reddit users created fake accounts and checked out their main profile multiple times from their alt account without commenting, liking, or interacting with anything.
The results?
Their fake, “stalker” accounts started showing up top in their Instagram Story views list. Weird? Or simply Insta tapping into our stalkerish tendencies?
“So, I tried a little experiment with a friend of mine,” said one Reddit user. “In fact, for a few days I visited his profile a lot each day and I told him not to visit my profile at all. After I did this for almost one week, my friend uploaded a story and guess who was on top of his list? Me!”.
“I created another account using a different email address and stalked my own (original) profile every day,” said another Reddit user. “I watched all of my stories multiple times, went right back to the beginning of my profile, but I didn’t see anything so it would appear like an anonymous stalker. After 3 days of solidly checking my original profile, my new account became 1st in the ‘view’ list and dropped to second when my current top viewer had seen the story.”
There are plenty more experiments where this came from, but are people just seeing what they want to see here?
Would Instagram really be this creepy?
How is the Order of Story Views REALLY Measured?
Okay, so we know that the order of actual Stories at the top of our feeds work in a similar algorithmic way to our actual feeds. This has even been confirmed by Paige Thelan, who works in tech communications at Instagram:
“Similar to the feed, Stories are ordered based on which moments you’ll care about most. The order is determined based on a number of signals, including 1) the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content; 2) timeliness of the posts, and 3) your relationships to the person posting. The technology is powered by machine learning, which is adaptive to your behavior and improves over time.”
She adds that “profile visits are considered, as well as likes and comments.”
But remember:
This is just for the order that Stories show up in our feeds. It doesn’t account for how the viewers of those Stories are ranked.
The Truth About How Instagram Determines the Order of Who Viewed Your Story
The main source of research for this seems to come from Reddit, where hundreds of users have experimented with their Stories to see which viewers would come up in what order.
Based on their experiments, they seem to have come up with two conclusions:
- The list of Story viewers is shown in reverse chronological order until there have been more than 50 viewers.
- After 50 views, Instagram then pushes those who have interacted the most with the Instagram account at the top. But here’s the catch: profile views are given the heaviest weight in this equation according to the research.
We’re still pretty much in the dark, right?
So we decided to run a test to see if we could determine what factors came into play. Here are the results of the experiment, with each screenshot taken at least 50 views between one another.
Story Experiment #1
Story Experiment #2
Despite the viewer numbers being at least 50 apart (aligning with the theory that the first 50 views are listed in chronological order), the top of the lists seems to stay the same for both Stories.
So this could mean that neither theory is founded in any reality; we don’t know why the first few people are listed at the top, but we do know that it doesn’t seem to be chronological – or, at least, it doesn’t seem to stay in a chronological order.
Though the chronological theory and the profile views theory seem to be the two most circulated and talked about, we all know that Instagram rarely relies on one single factor to determine this sort of stuff.
So while we can guess all we like and really hope that the people at the top of the list are our biggest fans (*cough* stalkers *cough*), only the team at Instagram really know what’s going on.
For the rest of us, the mystery still remains, though we can assume that there is some sort of algorithm at play.
Does the Order Even Matter?
Perhaps the bigger question in all of this is why people are so obsessed with knowing why their Story viewers come up in the order they do. Does it really matter whether it shows your Aunt Doreen as number one or your high-school ex?
It’s understandable that businesses and personalities that rely on Instagram engagement are keen to know what determines the order of their Story views list because then they can work on building relationships with those people.
But for the regular Instagram user, does it even matter?
Especially when we might never know for sure what little tricks Instagram has up its sleeve for this. Maybe the viewers are listed in chronological order up until the first 50 views, and then maybe then it switches to the most engaged viewers, even if “engaged” simply means those who have lurked on your profile the most.
The only thing we can say for certain is that people are hungry for this knowledge. Like, really, really ravenous, and it’s easy to see when.
Lots of people look at the list of who viewed their story as a popularity thing, and getting to the bottom of the algorithm could answer a lot of questions that regular people using Instagram have, such as one of the age-old, million-dollar questions, “is my ex still into me?!”.
Is there a way to find out how many times someone has viewed your Instagram story?
Have you ever wondered who actually views the stories you add to your Instagram account? And can you tell if someone has watched it more than once? Well, there is no need to be surprised, because we will answer all these questions and many more.
What is an Instagram Story?
Instagram allows you to add content that disappears after 24 hours. This is separate from your posts, which are visible on your profile. You can set privacy on your account to control who can view these disappearing stories. Instagram has also added a feature (Private Stories) that allows you to create custom audiences for your stories.
You can also repost content to your story so others can easily find it. Clicking on the repost will take you to the original content. If you want your story to last longer than the 24-hour limit, you can save it to Highlights. Your saved history will be available on your profile.
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How to find out who viewed your story on Instagram
Instagram lets you know who viewed your story in the app. It also lets you know the order in which your history was viewed. This way, you can probably guess who has notifications for your stories.
To find out who viewed your Instagram story, launch the app and click on your story in the top left corner.
At the bottom of the story, you should see a "Who Sees" button with images above it. This means that your story has been viewed. Next to the "Who's watching" box is a number that represents the number of people who viewed your story, i.e. 100 people saw them.
Click the Seen button to open a list of people who have viewed your story.
Alternatively, you can simply scroll through the history.
Do you see how many times someone views your Instagram story?
Although you can see who has viewed your story, it is not possible to tell if a person has viewed your story more than once. The generated list is based on who viewed your story and when. It is not restored if the user views your history again at a later stage.
Every time a new user views your story, they are added to the top of the list. However, if a person who has already viewed your story before reviewing it again, their name will not rise to the top of the list. This means you can't tell if a person has viewed your story once or a hundred times.
Can you tell if someone is taking screenshots of your story?
No, Instagram doesn't notify you if a user takes a screenshot of your story. While some apps, such as Snapchat, immediately notify the user when someone captures their story, there is no way for Instagram to tell the same.
In fact, even if a user shares your story with someone, you won't get a notification.
How to know if someone is taking a screenshot of your DM photo
A new app update now notifies you when a user takes a screenshot of your profile photo. To be clear, you will only get a notification when you send a live photo (taken from your camera) to a person and they take a screenshot. The same does not apply to messages, direct messages, or sent stories.
When a person takes a screenshot of your photo in their account, it will bring this conversation to the top of the list. Your DM list will also say "Screenshot".
In addition, you can check if a person has a screenshot of your photo in their account by opening a chat. A screenshot symbol will appear next to the photo you sent.
What about Snapchat?
So Snapchat tells you how many times your Snapchat story is viewed?
In this aspect, Snapchat follows the same rule as Instagram. The app doesn't let you know if a user has viewed your story more than once. Until a recent update, there was a trick to detect if someone was viewing your story again (because their name jumped to the top of the viewer list). However, a recent update got rid of this feature.
The list of viewers is now simply populated based on the order in which the story is viewed. This way, even if the person views your story again, their name won't move to the top of the list.
What about other social media apps?
Do any social media apps tell you how many times a user views your story?
Currently, none of the popular social media applications allow this. They all seem to follow the same ideology - they don't want users to know that someone has viewed their story multiple times.
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat allow you to see who has viewed your story, but do not tell you if someone has viewed it again. In fact, their viewership lists fill out the same way. Once a person has viewed your story, their name will not move to the top if they view it again.
So currently you have no way of knowing who has viewed your Instagram story more than once. Do you think Instagram should add this feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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So you want to know if someone is following you on Instagram. Instagram stalkers are usually defined as people who visit your profile without actually interacting with your posts.
Also, stalkers are not likely to be following you, making them hard to spot.
It's important to know who your Instagram stalkers are because you may not want some of them to spy on your profile.
Therefore, this article will tell you how to know if someone is stalking you on Instagram without leaving you in the dark.
How to know if someone is following you on Instagram
To find out if someone is stalking you on Instagram, simply post an Instagram story, wait a couple of hours, and then check the users who have viewed your story. The people at the top of your story viewer list are your stalkers and most popular viewers.
Alternatively, you can use the Instagram analytics app.
Checking who has viewed your stories is a great way to find people who are following you on Instagram. You can also use the Instagram analytics app if you don't mind it.
Instagram stalkers are usually people who view your Instagram profile without liking or commenting on your posts and following you.
So if you want to know who is following your Instagram, you need to keep these few factors in mind.
Read on to learn how the Instagram story algorithm works and how to use the Instagram analytics app to your advantage.
1. Check who viewed your Instagram story.
The first way is to check who viewed your Instagram story .
Basically, Instagram stories allow you to check the people who are viewing your profile.
This is the best way to check that you can check stalkers who are not following you.
Post story
First of all, you need to post something in your story; be it a photo or a video.
This way you can check the people who are actively viewing/visiting your profile.
Check who viewed your story
After you've published a story, wait a couple of hours for people to enter it.
Then click on your story and check who has viewed it.
People who viewed your story but didn't follow you are either passers-by or stalkers.
"Passersby" are people who stumbled upon your profile from other social networks, from a research page, or from another person's profile.
These people are not your stalkers because they are likely to visit your profile only once.
Those who follow you are those who constantly return to your profile (more than once).
To find these people, you will have to post stories on Instagram frequently.
If you're only going to publish one story, you won't be able to tell a random person from a stalker.
Therefore, it is highly recommended that you post once a day for a week to recognize people who are actively harassing you.
What is the order of viewers in an Instagram story?
To decipher the view order of Instagram stories, you need to understand how the algorithm works.
Instagram wants to display the most relevant people who have viewed your stories.
Similarly, your stories are shown to the most relevant people on their timeline.
The order of the audience is determined by two factors.
How much time someone spends viewing your stories and how often they view them.
For example, immediately after posting a story on Instagram, the order of viewers starts in chronological order.
This means that the people who appear at the top of your list are the latest visitors.
When enough people have viewed your stories, the algorithm will reorder the list.
The order of your Instagram story viewers starts in chronological order. Once your story gets enough views, the order will change.
The algorithm usually kicks in after 50 people have viewed your story.
The question is, how does the viewer order of a story change after 50 users have viewed it?
How does Instagram evaluate story viewers?
Instagram ranks story viewers based on how often a user interacts with your stories.
Users at the top of the viewers list interact with your stories the most.
On the other hand, users at the bottom of your story are the least likely to view your stories.
Code leaked from Instagram in the past that appears to be part of the algorithm.
It determined how the viewers were sorted, which stories appeared first on the timeline and on the research pages.
However, no one knows if the code is currently valid.
But there are some tests that determine the factors that affect the order in the list.
First, the people who interact with your stories the most and post the most will rank higher in the list (like likes, comments).
People who interact with your stories frequently will rank higher on your viewers list.
Basically, the person who first appears on your stories' viewers list is the one who views your stories the most.
This way you can identify people who are interested in your content.
One of the reasons the list is important is because if you are selling a product/service, you can check out the people who are interested in it.
Once you have this information, these are the people you want to reach out to because you are more likely to get a sale from them.
Secondly, how much time someone spends on your profile, how many times someone visits your profile and views your stories, plays a huge role in sorting the list of viewers.
As a general rule, someone who visits your profile often will be higher in your list of viewers. That being said, the people who are at the top of your viewer list are most likely your stalkers.
It's not just how many of your stories someone watches, but how they interact with them.
There are many types of interaction, but are not limited to: skip story (swipe left), exit story, swipe left (previous story), and swipe right (next story).
Finally, your interaction with a person on Whatsapp and Facebook may be part of the algorithm.
After all, Instagram monetizes with ads. This means that the app will try to collect as much data as possible from you in order to display the most relevant ads.
How to see your stalkers from your Instagram followers
People ran some tests to determine how Instagram sorts your story views.
Let's start with what Paige Thelen of Instagram's tech communications team noted:
Now let's see how Instagram story viewers are ordered.
There is a thread on Reddit where some people tested the algorithm. Here are the results:
A week later his friend posted a story on Instagram and after a while he was at the top of the list.
The people who are at the top of your stories' viewers list frequently visit your profile.
To a large extent, these people may be stalking you.
This means that the person at the top of your story's viewer list visits your profile the most.
Based on this experiment, if you happen to see someone at the top of your story's viewer list who isn't following you, that person may be stalking you.
Here is another experiment done by another person.
He used a sub account to view his main account's stories several times.
After 3 days, the secondary account has moved to the top of the viewers list in its main account's stories.
Again, this proves that the people at the top of your viewer list are your stalkers/most popular viewers.
The people at the top of your story viewer list are your stalkers and your most popular viewers.
