Cracking the Order: How Are Instagram Story Views Sorted?

Profile photo of Karen Lin, author

Karen Lin

Instagram Growth | Aug 21, 2024

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We’ve all found ourselves overthinking our Instagram Story viewer list at least once or twice in our lives. Why is my crush always at the top? Why do my best friends take up the first five spots on the list? And who are these strangers at the very bottom? These are questions you might typically ask when looking at Story views. But how are Instagram Story views sorted anyway?

Many Instagram users think the platform uses a secret algorithm to jumble up the names on the views list. But the explanation of the order of views is actually pretty simple. To learn how Instagram arranges these names on the list, keep scrolling.

Someone holding a phone to take a photo of a group of friends in a place with graffiti on the walls for their IG Story.

Why It’s Important To See Who Views Your Instagram Stories

Before we get into the science behind the Instagram views order, let’s discuss why you need to see your viewers.

The first reason it’s important to check your Instagram Story viewers is to know the type of audience you attract. It gives you an idea of whether the people you want viewing your Stories are actually watching. If not, it means you have to work double-time to make sure your Stories end up on their screens.

After you analyze whether your target audience is viewing your Stories, it’s time to optimize. That means tweaking your creative content strategy, boosting fan engagement with stickers, or even running Story ads. This is a great game plan for creators with low Story views who want to increase them.

It also allows you to assess whether Stories is a great avenue for marketing your brand. For example, let’s say you want to promote your products to younger people. Data from HubSpot suggests that 49% of Gen Z use Stories to discover new products. But are your Stories getting enough views from your younger audience to promote your products effectively? You’ll get your answer by regularly checking the list of people who view your Stories.

How Are Instagram Story Views Sorted?

If your Instagram Story is newly uploaded and has less than 50 viewers, the names are arranged chronologically. At the very top of the list, you’ll find the users who viewed your content the most recently. As more people watch it, they’ll appear at the top again, and the algorithm pushes older names down.

Instagram hasn’t explicitly confirmed this theory. However, many users sharing their theory online (as well as tests within our own team) have found it quite accurate.

This Instagram story views sorting method makes it easy to keep tabs on who has seen your Story or not. It’s perfect for checking on your newly posted content in real time.

But the more posts you get, the arrangement starts to morph into something different.

A woman holding a magnifying glass in front of her eye against a red background.

How Are Instagram Story Views Ordered After 50 People See Your Post?

Views are chronologically sorted at the start, but how are Instagram Story views ordered later on? The longer your Story has been up, the order of Story views Instagram shows you becomes more based on interactions.

After 50 users view your Instagram Story, the viewer list no longer appears to be chronological. Instead, Instagram lists the names based on how much you’ve interacted with them historically.

People at the top of the list will typically be your closest friends, at least on the Instagram app. These include those you regularly send direct messages to, share content with, whose posts you comment on, and more. Instagram takes note of every profile visit, DM shared, photo liked, and every other type of engagement. Then, they rank viewers based on that.

This Story views Instagram order makes it easier for creators to see if their closest friends have seen their content. The larger the number of viewers you have, the more impractical it is to see views in chronological order. What’s more important is seeing if people relevant to you have opened your post. So, IG suggests names it thinks you want to check have seen your Story.

Where Your Secret Admirers Go in the Viewer List

It’s easy to assume that the people at the top of the list are your most passionate online stalkers. But don’t blindly believe in this misconception. Names at the top of the list pertain to those you interact with a lot on the app. So, if you’re looking for certain acquaintances on the viewer list, the top is the wrong place to look.

People who aren’t so close to you will go to the bottom of the list. These are people you don’t usually interact with on Instagram. And if there are people who don’t follow you and watch your Story, their names stay at the bottom, too.

So, if you want to see who among your non-followers is looking at your Story, go to the bottom. That’s where you’ll see fans who don’t follow you or people who visited your profile by chance. It’s the juiciest part of the Story viewer list!

Feel uncomfortable with these viewers you don’t know and don’t want them to watch your Stories? You can always hide your Stories from these users—or even block them!

5 Ways To Keep Your Instagram Story View From Getting Recorded

Now, let’s turn the tables. What if it’s you viewing someone’s Story, but don’t want your name to end up on their viewer list? Maybe you don’t want your ex to know you’re stalking his page. Or maybe you don’t want your competitor brand to catch you lurking on theirs. What do you do then?

We’ve got you. Here are five sneaky ways to keep your Instagram Story view from appearing on that user’s end.

1. View the Story With a Secondary Account

The first way is to use a completely different account to watch that person’s Stories. It can be anything from a spam account, a finsta, or any secondary account you own.

Ensure the account has no trace back to you, like an easily recognizable display name or profile photo. That way, the person won’t identify you as a viewer.

2. Use an Anonymous Instagram Story Viewer

You can also try using an anonymous third-party Instagram Story viewer. These free tools are a dime a dozen on the internet. They allow you to watch any public Story on the Instagram app. All you have to do is provide the username of the person whose Stories you’d like to see. Then, wait for them to fetch the data and view their Stories and Highlights from the site.

What’s great about these sites is that they usually don’t require you to register an account. That’s awesome for preserving anonymity. If the site you’re using asks for your password, run for the hills. That’s a tell-tale sign of a phishing scam.

3. Do a Sneaky Half-Swipe To View the IG Story

Do you have fast fingers? Consider watching that person’s Story from the Instagram app but doing a half-swipe instead of a full one. By doing a half-swipe, you can sneakily peek at half of someone’s photo Story without recording it as a view. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Instagram app.
  2. Swipe through people’s profile photos in the Instagram Story tray at the top of the app. Find the Story you want to watch.
  3. Instead of clicking on that Story, tap the one to its right.
  4. When that Story is open on your screen, slowly swipe right until you see half of the previous Story.
  5. Drag the screen back to the current Story after you’ve peeked at it. Never let go of this swipe, or else your name will appear on the viewer list.

This trick is great specifically for photo Stories. Since the screen is essentially frozen the whole time you do a half-swipe, it won’t work as effectively for videos.

4. View the Story While Your Device Is on Airplane Mode

When you open the Instagram app, the platform automatically pre-loads some of the Stories of people you follow. That means before you click on those Stories, they’re already stored on your device. To view these Stories without recording it as a view, open the pre-loaded Stories while in airplane mode. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Instagram app.
  2. Wait a few seconds to give Instagram time to pre-load some Stories.
  3. Turn on airplane mode on your device.
  4. Make sure your Wi-Fi is off, too.Go back to Instagram and watch the Story you want to view.
  5. Close the app by doing a vertical half-swipe from the bottom and swiping up on the Instagram window.
  6. Turn off airplane mode.

An Android phone showing that airplane mode is switched on.

5. Ask a Mutual Friend To Screenshot the Story

Our last suggestion is to ask your mutual friends for a copy of their Story. They can screenshot it and send it to you through DM. Don’t worry—Instagram doesn’t notify users when others screenshot or screen-record their Stories. Or, if you’re together in person, they can simply show you the Story on their device.

A blonde woman showing her friend something on her phone screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the order of Instagram Story views mean?

When your Story is new, the order of views simply means who watched your content most recently. But as you get more views, the meaning of being at the top of the list changes. The names at the top slowly turn into who interacts with you most on the platform.

How are Instagram Stories viewers ranked?

Story viewers are ranked according to either chronological order or how much you interact with them. If you have less than 50 viewers, Instagram arranges the names according to who viewed the Story most recently. For Stories with over 50 views, usernames are ranked according to which people you interact with most.

What does it mean when someone is at the top of your Instagram Story views?

If you have less than 50 views, the person at the top viewed your Story most recently. If you have more than 50 views, they’re the viewer you interact with the most historically.

Why is the same person always at the top of my viewers on my Instagram Story?

This could simply mean that this person interacts with you a lot on the platform. Instagram sorts viewers according to relevance over time. So, it’s not unusual to see your best friends, family members, or significant others at the top of the list.

Can you tell if someone viewed your Story multiple times?

No, Instagram doesn’t tell you how many times a user has seen your Story—only that they did. Even if a user watches your Story multiple times, they will only appear once on your viewer list.

Lead More Viewers to Your Story by Promoting Your Page With Path Social!

So, how are Instagram Story views sorted? Easy—either chronologically or by interaction. Now, it’s going to be super interesting reading into your viewer list.

Don’t want to appear on other users’ views? Use our anonymous Story viewer. And if you want to expand your own list of viewers, work with us.

At Path Social, we use AI to promote your content to your target market. This boosts your followers, giving you a wider audience to share Stories with. It’s what we did for Modern Fit, which got thousands of new fans. Get more eyes on your Stories with Path Social!