Instagram recently rolled out a new feature for direct messages which shows people how long ago a user was active on the app. It’s similar to the “Last Seen” feature on WhatsApp. It quickly tells other users with the user was last online. It’s unclear why Instagram felt the need to add this feature even though its app is not necessarily used for text-based communication like WhatsApp is. This obviously causes anxiety for users who don’t want others to know when they were last online if they want to avoid unwanted DMs. Fortunately, there is a way to disable Instagram’s Last Active feature easily.
The feature does appear to be useful for those who are trying to get in touch with a business on Instagram. It lets them see at a glance just how long it has been since that account last replied to direct messages on Instagram.
It can prove to be a nuisance for the average user as well because it means that their activity on Instagram DMs can be tracked by other users that they may not want to receive a direct message from. That can lead to awkward conversations about not replying to someone’s DMs even when they can clearly see that you’re active.
Users can easily disable Instagram’s last active feature from the app’s settings menu by scrolling down to the “Show Activity Status” option and turning it off. Do bear in mind that once this feature is disabled, you won’t be able to see the activity status of other users as well.
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