Ever wondered who might have viewed your profile? You are not alone. A lot of people are also obsessed with finding out who their biggest fans are (or stalkers, depending on your perspective). Several apps claim to provide you with this sought-after information. But do they work? And what are the other ways to know who viewed your Instagram profile and highlights?

Let’s dive deep.

Unlike Friendster, Facebook and Instagram do not give users the option to see who visited their profiles.

If you own a business or creator account, you will only see stats about traffic volume for the last seven days on your dashboard, but not the individual profile information about who visited your account.

However, some people have discovered a little trick to bypass the system using Instagram stories.

In 2019, YouTuber Biaheza conducted an experiment inspired by a Reddit post to find out who might be your secret Instagram admirers (or stalkers?) using Instagram stories. He tested the theory that accounts who always view your Instagram profiles do not need to engage with you to appear on top of your stories viewer list. He teamed up with a friend to test the theory.

Biaheza kept visiting his friend’s Instagram profile daily for several days and instructed him not to check his profile back. His friend uploaded a story almost a week after. Guess who is at the top of the viewer’s list? You are right. It is Biaheza.

So far, Instagram stories are the only closest thing we could have to find out who visited our profile.

Users who view your Instagram stories will appear on a “viewer list” for 24 hours after your story goes live. The list disappears after 24 hours, even if you add the story to your highlights. So, before the data goes away, make sure to check who viewed them.

Sadly, this is the only closest thing we could get for now. There are no other ways to find out who else visited your profile if they stay away from your stories. Unless, they leave a comment or like your pictures.

Instagram Stories Highlights are saved stories that appears and stays on categorized albums on a user’s profile even after 24 hours. Here’s how you can check who views your highlights.

1. Open your Instagram app and log in to your account.

2. Click on the small profile icon at the bottom-right corner and go to your Instagram profile.

3. Look for the Instagram highlight on your profile that you want to check.

We know it sounds frustrating not to know who our stalkers are. Knowing who views our profile could come in handy, especially when we want proof that someone is romantically into us or the other way around. But always remember, there is always a good side to the lack of this feature. At least, you can stalk anyone you want with confidence, knowing that you will not get caught, be that someone you hate or love (though we suggest staying away from their stories).

Instead of spending your energy trying to find out who your stalkers are, why not make sure that your profile looks so good that whoever checks your profile would stay interested? Unless safety is your concern, which if it is the case, you better go and check out Instagram’s privacy settings.

But if you want to harness the power of social media and establish a great personal brand, you need to have good content, plenty of followers, and a high engagement rate! Doing so will not only make your haters jealous or look good in your crush’s eyes. Having a huge following and high engagement rate attacks lucrative opportunities, too.