Why Instagram removed the Following activity tab

Updated: 26 October 2026

Short answer: Instagram used to have a Following tab in its activity feed that showed what the accounts you followed were liking and following. It was removed in 2019. Instagram has not published a detailed reason; the usual explanations are privacy and the fact that the tab let you follow other people's activity.

What the tab did

The Following tab listed the recent likes, comments and new follows of the accounts you followed. It made it easy to see who someone had just started following.

Why it disappeared

Instagram removed it in 2019. The company has not given a long public explanation, and the common reading is a privacy one: people did not expect their likes and follows to be browsable by others.

What you can still see

On a public account you can open the following list and sort it by default, latest or earliest followed. You cannot see a feed of someone's recent follows, and the list sorting is not a precise log.

Where trackers come in

A tracker fills the gap by comparing the public list over time, so you see what was added and removed since the previous check. It is a record of what it noticed, not a copy of Instagram's old feed.

FAQ

Can I still see who my friends followed recently?

Not through a feed. You can open a public following list and sort it, or use a tracker.

When was the Following tab removed?

In 2019.

Does Instagram have an official follow log?

No, not for other people's accounts.

Is a tracker the same thing?

Not exactly: it compares lists at intervals, about every 2 hours on Snytch.

Get started in 4 steps

Open snytch.co and sign in with an email code, Google or Apple. You never sign in to Instagram.
Type the @ of a public account: yours or anyone else's.
Snytch saves a reference snapshot of the account's followers.
It rechecks about every 2 hours and alerts you when someone follows or unfollows.

See who unfollowed you →
No Instagram login. Public accounts only. They will never know.