How to Turn Off Instagram’s New ‘Last Seen’ Feature
Tobenna Ezike
In a recent iteration of the Instagram app, the Facebook-owned picture sharing platform has suddenly gained the ability to show last seen activity to contacts in your direct messages. The new feature is dubbed ‘Activity Status’, and can be found turned on by default in the app settings.
With the new feature, people you chat with, in your direct messages or DM, can now see when last you were online, and you can also see when last, they were online. The information is only shared with people you follow, as well as, anyone that you send a direct message to. Hence, not all your Instagram followers will be able to see when last you were online, and definitely not any random person that isn’t even following you.
This ‘last seen’ activity feature seems to be a feature that resonates within all of the Facebook-owned social media and messaging apps (Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram). Some users may be totally fine with the feature, but for those who find it intrusive, those who wish to keep their online activity very private, follow the steps below to turn off the Last Seen feature.
Open the Instagram app, and Navigate to your personal profile, by tapping the last icon on the bottom right corner.
Tap the gear icon next to the “Edit Profile” button to open Options, or you can tap on the three-dotted menu at the top right corner of the app to access options.
Scroll to the bottom of the page till you reach “Show activity status”.
