This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Cory Stillman. Cory Stillman is a Technology Writer for wikiHow. Cory has experience writing about Film and TV for several online publications, including Screen Rant and Film Cred. He earned a degree in Film and Media Studies with a minor in Creative Writing and certificates in Global Studies and Children’s Literature from the University of Pittsburgh.
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We are all curious about who is looking at our stories on Instagram. Does the order of viewers on your Instagram story mean anything? There is a lot of speculation as to how Instagram sorts your Instagram story's viewers, but few definitive answers. This wikiHow article offers a deep dive into the order of our Instagram story viewers, helping you understand why some users top the list, and others are at the very bottom.
Things You Should Know
- The first 50 views on your story are sorted chronologically, with users atop the list having viewed your story most recently.
- After 50 views, users are sorted by engagement (who you interact with most).
- The people at the top of your viewer list are not your Instagram stalkers—just those you engage with most.
- Accounts you do not follow back appear at the bottom of the story viewer list.
Steps
Who appears at the top of story views?
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1You interact the most with the accounts listed first. One possible explanation is that you engage with those users very often. Engagement could refer to liking, commenting, or reposting someone else's content. It could also include communicating with someone via direct message.
- If you see a name that you know you do not interact with often, there may be another explanation for being high on your list.
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2The accounts listed first interact with you most often. This is similar to the previous possibility, but can instead refer to users who are consistently liking and commenting on your content.
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3The accounts listed first may also be your friends on Facebook. Because Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, many users have both accounts connected. If you have a friend on Facebook who also follows you on Instagram, they may be placed higher on your list of story viewers.
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4People who like your story will automatically be placed at the top. Anyone who likes your Instagram story will automatically shoot to the top of the list. Their placement here is independent of any of the aforementioned explanations. Instagram simply does this so you can quickly and conveniently see everyone who has liked your story.
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5Accounts listed first are NOT your stalkers. There is a long-held rumor that the people placed first on your list of story viewers are your Instagram stalkers (i.e., people that often visit your account without interacting). While users can interact with an account often and then appear high on the viewer list, stalking an account will not land a user high on the list.
- This wikiHow article offers some alternative methods for finding your Instagram stalkers.
- There is another common rumor which contends that viewing a story several times will land a user high on the list of story viewers. The algorithm does not order viewers according to how many times they have interacted with a single story, but rather their overall engagement with an account over a longer period of time.
References
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