Instagram makes "stalking" difficult with major changes: Details here
What's the story
Instagram is evolving in more ways than one could imagine. The photo-sharing giant recently released a fancy dark mode, but in addition to that, it rolled out two minor but pretty impactful changes. They both, in effect, make a direct impact on how you look at public Instagram profiles as well as the activity of your friends. Here's what it means.
Change #1
No more following tab to see friends' activity
The first change came with the departure of the 'following' tab - the option that allowed you to take a peek at the activity of the people or friends you're following. It showed the photos/videos they had liked or commented on as well as the profiles they had followed, making stalking easier than many would have liked. But now, that capability is gone!
Details
You can only see your own activity now
Previously, tapping on the 'heart' icon of Instagram displayed a page divided into 'Following' and 'You' sections, where the former displayed friends' activity while the latter showed the same related to your own account. However, now, with the latest change in effect (since October 8), you'll only see your account activity, like people following you or your post, by heading over to this page.
Quote
Instagram's reason for scraping the feature
"People didn't always know that their activity is surfacing," Instagram product head told BuzzFeed while explaining the reason. "So you have a case where it's not serving the use case you built if for, but it's also causing people to be surprised."
Change #2
Plus, you cannot lurk on public profiles without logging in
Instagram is also introducing a change that will make it mandatory for users to log in for viewing photos on a profile, even if they are public. Previously, the service allowed you to view as many public photos as you may like. But, now, you would be able to see only a handful of photos on a profile before a login box pops-up.
Details
No way to remove this box
The log-in box would require the user to sign in with their Instagram ID to continue viewing the photos, and it won't be removable. "This is to help people see photos on Instagram and then understand how to get the best Instagram experience by being part of the community, connecting and interacting with the people.. they love," Facebook said while confirming the change.