When a user restricts another user on Instagram, a number of subtle changes happen behind the scenes of their Instagram interactions, which may or may not be noticeable.
If you are the one who does the restricting, then you will notice several changes.
If you restrict an account and they then try to comment on your post, you will have to approve the comment before it is shown. Similarly, if they send you a message this will be sent to a requests inbox that you have to approve before it moves to your messages folder. Finally, they will be unable to see when you are online – creating a series of obstacles that prevent them from being quite as active on your Instagram.
One important thing to note is that restricting a user is not the same as blocking a user.
When you block a user, they can no longer see your account or updates. When you restrict a user, they can see everything as normal but will not be able to interact as easily.
This makes it difficult to tell if someone has restricted you – but there are a few hacks you can try.
1. Check Their Comments
The first thing to try if you think that someone has restricted you, is posting a comment under one of their posts. As soon as you have posted the comment, log in via another account (or access someone else’s Instagram via their device) and see if the comment appears.
If it doesn’t, there’s a chance that your comment is in the middle stage of requiring approval before it can be seen.
2. Are They Ever Online
The green “active” button pops up whenever a user is online (unless, of course, they switch it off – which makes this option redundant).
If they have the feature switched on but you never see them online, then they may have restricted you. However, there is no way to tell if the feature is switched on or off so the chances are they might simply hide that activity from everyone.
3. Send Them a DM
Again, this is not foolproof – but it is worth a try. If you fear that a user has restricted you, send them a message that starts with something that you think they will open swiftly, and see if the message is marked as “seen” when they are online.
While none of these options are in any way a guarantee of restricted access to another user’s Instagram, they can be used to sow the seeds – or indeed to prove that a user hasn’t restricted you!
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