Instagram Introduces Feature Letting Friends Know When You Were Last Online – Here’s How to Turn it Off

A new Instagram feature lets your friends know when you were last online — here’s how to disable it.

Business Insider UK reports that a new Instagram feature allows friends to know when you were last online — not unlike Facebook Messenger. The feature was first noticed by Instagram users on iOS on Thursday, and doesn’t tell all your followers when you were last online but does display the time since a user you have privately messaged was last active. The feature reportedly shows the last time a user was browsing Instagram or had a private conversation open.

CREEPY…Instagram now has an "Activity Status" that tells you when your friends and followers "were last active on Instagram apps." TL;DR: Instagram is now Facebook.

RUN. pic.twitter.com/Hv1wuIIm06

— Raymond Wong📱💾📼 (@raywongy) January 18, 2018

Some Instagram users had mixed reactions to the new feature:

https://twitter.com/Razeen_21/status/953999493883625472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2F2018%2F01%2F18%2Finstagram-activity-status-stalking-creepy%2F

Instagram need to calm down with their activity status bullshit like I don’t have enough people crying already over me not responding now you’re baiting my life out even more

— ZAKS (@zakssssx) January 18, 2018

This new activity status shit on instagram is stupid. They are doing too much

— BRAX (@braxattacks) January 18, 2018

Luckily, Instagram has made disabling the feature surprisingly easy.  To disable the feature follow these steps:

Tap on you user profile

Click the gear icon beside the “Edit Profile” button

Look for the toggle which reads “Show Activity Status”

Tap the toggle to turn the feature off

Those you have direct messaged will no longer be able to tell when you were last active on the app — but there is a catch. You will also no longer be able to tell when they were last online. For those that are privacy conscious this is likely not a particularly bad tradeoff. Instagram also introduced a new “follow back” button, giving users a greater insight into who does and doesn’t follow them on the image posting platform.

https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/953795233871024128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.businessinsider.com%2Finstagram-how-to-turn-off-activity-status-2018-1