Instagram Adds 'Last Seen,' Here's How You Turn It Off

Most of us check social media like you might check on an infant left in your care. It's a problem, but I'm not here to counsel you through it. I am here instead to alert you that Instagram have decided to make your habit, public knowledge. 

The "last seen" functionality is most commonly known for causing domestics thanks to WhatsApp. If somebody has sent you a message and you avoid it until you have the time to answer, they'll know about it. Well now, some users on Instagram are noticing that the same thing is rolling out on the beloved photography platform too.

The Instagram description of how this works is as follows:

Allow accounts you follow and anyone you message to see when you were last active on Instagram apps. When this is turned off, you won't be able to see the activity status of other accounts.

So, in many way, it works similar to how LinkedIn tells you when someone looks at your profile, but also when you look at someone else's. However, should you turn it off, then you can't see anyone who has looked at your profile and they can't see when you look at their profile either.

This "Activity Status" is going to horrify a lot of us who appreciate a little privacy when being public, so the knee-jerk reaction for nearly every user who has seen it has been: "how do I turn it off?" The good news — as you can see in the above description — is that you can.

Open Instagram and click your picture in the bottom right to bring up your profile. In the top right-hand corner is three stacked dots which will bring up "Options". Scroll down until you see "Show Activity Status" and then simply turn it off. It does appear to be on by default.

I'm sure there is someone somewhere who wants this sort of functionality added for purposes other than stalking, but for the life of me, I can't think of a good reason why.

Lead image by Pixabay via Pexels.