Can you see who viewed your Instagram? The answer is complicated.

If you use Instagram, you're probably wondering who out there is actually paying attention to what you post. Followers can post comments and offer likes, but how do you know if they even saw your latest photo? Can you see who viewed your Instagram?

The answer: yes and no. With standard Instagram posts, there's no way to track who's looking at your posts or visiting your profile. One sort-of exception: You can see the amount of views on a video or Boomerang post, but Instagram won't reveal who exactly interacted with them, only how many people did. Fortunately, there's another way to discover your most loyal and curious followers.

How to see who viewed your Instagram Story

Instagram Stories is the Snapchat-like feature that Instagram rolled out over the summer. It's a massive hit already — Instagram Stories surpassed 100 million actively daily users after just two months of operation. One likely reason for this is that the feature lets you track who's viewing your content on a day-to-day — or even hour-to-hour — basis. 

So how do you get that information? It's quite easy. Once you've posted a Story, simply tap on your icon on the top-left side of the home page and swipe up. Not only can you see how many people viewed your Story, but you can see who viewed it and in what order. 

That's part of the appeal of this latest form of storytelling social media. With platforms like Facebook, anyone can post content and their followers have the option to like or comment. But sometimes these posts may not necessitate interaction — your followers merely want to look at them. On Facebook, it's probable those friends are stumbling on your posts thanks to the News Feed's algorithm, rather than going directly to your page. With Instagram Stories, followers aren't randomly encountering your posts; they're seeking it out intentionally, and best of all: you can see exactly who's doing it.

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