Paige Leskin/Business Insider
- Instagram has updated its app so users are unable to see viewer lists on their Stories after 24 hours.
- Users have taken to Twitter to decry the update for no longer letting them see who is "stalking" them through Stories.
- Viewer lists are also now unavailable after 24 hours even on Highlights, the Stories that users can choose to permanently live on their profiles.
People are furious with Instagram's latest update that hides the viewer lists for your Stories after 24 hours.
People on Instagram started to take notice of the change after the app's latest update was made available Monday. Users have been taking to social media to express outrage that they can no longer "catch people Insta stalking," as one Twitter user put it.
Facebook-owned Instagram has for a while given users the ability to see what accounts have viewed their Stories, a feature that some have realized they can use to check if ex-partners or potential love interests are keeping tabs on them.
Stories are only available on Instagram profiles for a 24-hour window after they're posted, but users have been able to preserve their Stories - and their respective viewer lists - with Instagram's archive feature.
But these viewer lists are now unavailable on archived Stories, and are instead replaced with the message, "Viewer lists aren't available after 24 hours."
This update has also hidden viewer lists for users' Highlights, which are old Stories that people can choose to keep permanently on their profiles.
Instagram did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the update.
Here are some of the best reactions from users on Twitter:
instagram deleted the story viewer list on archived stories BUT THE WHOLE REASON I ARCHIVE STORIES IS TO CATCH PEOPLE INSTA STALKING pic.twitter.com/V3vh3ur9Iv
- jessica mathers (@jessicamatherss) February 6, 2019
instagram story viewer lists aren't visible after 24 hours?? how am i supposed to know who's stalking me
- emma (@xemma_degennaro) February 5, 2019
Everyone:
Instagram: we're going to take away your viewer lists off your stories after 24 hours instead of giving everyone chronological order like we're constantly asked for
- Chris (@meek_christina) February 6, 2019
im sorry but Instagram just keeps getting suckier. no chronological order, endless sponsored ads on my feed, and now viewer lists aren't available after 24 hours LMAO? And like what is even the purpose of removing viewers? @instagram
- riya (@riiyyab) February 6, 2019
ig made it so that you can't see your OWN story's viewer list after 24 hours (not even on highlights or archives). why are you hiding our own data from us @instagram?
- Lexi 🍷 (@TheNightLexi) February 5, 2019