So you’ve amassed a decent following on Instagram and now you want to hide some of your followers from prying eyes. Maybe you’ve got some sketchy followers you’d rather not broadcast, or perhaps you just value your privacy. Whatever the reason, Instagram does provide options to how to hide followers in IG list from others. The process is pretty straightforward, but not immediately obvious. In just a few taps, you can make your follower count private, hide your entire follower list, or selectively hide followers one by one. Keep reading to learn how to curate your Instagram followers and keep some on the down low. Your Instagram stalkers won’t know what hit ’em.
Why and How to Hide Followers on Instagram?
Why would you want to hide your followers on Instagram? There are a few good reasons:
Privacy
Some people value their privacy and don’t want everyone to know who they follow or how many followers they have. Hiding your follower’s list prevents others from snooping through the accounts you choose to follow.
Avoid Judgment
You may follow some accounts that others could judge you for or find embarrassing. Rather than dealing with possible judgment or awkward questions, hiding your followers list avoids this issue altogether.
Discourage Follower Poaching
Publicly displaying your followers makes their accounts an easy target for others trying to gain followers. Hiding your list protects your followers from follower poaching by those just trying to boost their numbers.
Focus on Your Content
When your follower count and list are private, the focus remains on the content you share rather than how many followers you have or don’t have. This allows you to build an engaged audience that connects with your posts.
Hiding your Instagram followers is really about maintaining control of your account and curating the experience for your followers and visitors. While Instagram is a social network, that doesn’t mean every aspect of your profile has to be public. Choosing to hide your followers allows you to be social on your own terms.
How to Hide Followers on Instagram List So Others Can’t See
So you want to keep your Instagram followers list private, do you? No problem, it’s actually pretty easy to hide who you’re following on Instagram. Here are the steps:
Adjust Your Privacy Settings
Open the Instagram app and tap the profile icon to access your profile settings. Select “Privacy and Security” and toggle the switch next to “Hide followers” to on. This will instantly make your followers list private so no one can see who you follow.
Be Aware of Limitations
Hiding your followers list means new followers won’t be notified when you follow them. They also won’t be able to see your followers to determine if you have similar interests. Your current followers can still see updates from accounts you follow though.
Consider a Finsta
Some Instagram users choose to create a “finsta”, or fake Instagram account, in addition to their real profile. A finsta is a secondary private account you use to follow people you don’t want on your main feed. If you go this route, leave your main profile public but follow more private accounts from your finsta.
Keep Your Activity Private Too
Don’t forget, hiding your followers list only conceals one part of your Instagram activity. To make your profile fully private, head to the “Account Privacy” section of your settings and turn on the options to hide your comments, likes, photos, stories, and profile from search engines and other discovery surfaces on Instagram.
Following these tips will help ensure your Instagram followers and activity stay as private as you want. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Making Your Following List Private to Hide Your Followers
Making your Instagram following list private is an easy way to hide your followers from others. Here are the steps to make your following list private:
Go to your profile settings
Tap the profile icon to open your profile, then tap the three dots in the top right corner. Select “Settings” from the menu.
Scroll down to the “Privacy” section and tap “Followers”. This will open the followers settings for your profile.
Choose “Followers” and select “Private”
Under the “Followers” heading, tap the circle next to “Private Account” to enable it. This will make your following list private, hiding it from anyone who visits your profile. People will still be able to see your posts and other profile information, they just won’t see who you follow.
Review and confirm
Instagram will prompt you to review and confirm making your following list private. Tap “Done” to save the setting.
Your following list is now private and hidden from others. To make it public again in the future, just go back to your profile settings, tap “Followers” and disable the “Private Account” option.
Remember, making your following list private means new followers won’t be able to see who you’re following when they visit your profile. But anyone you were already following before enabling this setting will still have access to your following list. Keep this in mind if you have followers you’d rather hide your activity from completely.
The key to maintaining your privacy on Instagram is regularly checking your settings and making sure they reflect how public or private you want to be on the platform. Reviewing your profile settings every few months is a good habit to get into.
Conclusion
So there you have it, a few easy steps on how to hide your followers on Instagram and take back some control over your account privacy. Instagram makes it simple to adjust these settings, you just have to know where to look. Now you can focus on sharing what you want without worrying about who might be watching. Your Instagram profile is all about you, so make it exactly what you want it to be. Go ahead and give these tips a try, your followers list is now hidden from prying eyes and you have one less thing to stress over on social media. Spend that newfound time and energy on the important things in life – like taking more selfies, of course!
