While you cannot directly sort another user's Instagram "Following" list by the date they started following new accounts, as Instagram does not provide this specific feature, you can easily view their complete list of followed profiles. Instagram typically displays these lists in alphabetical order.
Understanding Instagram's Following List Sort Order
Instagram's platform design prioritizes user experience and, in the case of a user's "Following" list on someone else's profile, the default sorting mechanism is alphabetical. This means that when you access this list, accounts are ordered from A to Z, rather than by the most recent follow date. There is no native option within Instagram to reorder this list to show the newest follows first for another user's profile.
How to View Someone's Complete Following List on Instagram
To see all the accounts someone follows, you can use the Instagram website on a computer. This method allows you to access their entire following list, though it will not be sorted by the date they followed each account.
Steps to Access a User's Following List:
- Access Instagram: Open your web browser and go to the official Instagram website.
- Log In: Enter your Instagram username and password to log in to your account.
- Find the Profile: Use the search bar, usually located at the top of the page, to type in the username of the person whose following list you wish to check. Click on their profile when it appears in the search results.
- View Following: Once on their profile page, you will see their follower count and "Following" count. Click or tap on the "Following" tab to open a comprehensive list of all the accounts they currently follow.
This list will show you all the profiles they follow, typically sorted alphabetically.
Why You Cannot See "Newest" Following Directly
Instagram's design choices are often influenced by user privacy, platform performance, and data display policies. The absence of a "newest following" sort option for other users' profiles is consistent with these principles. This approach helps maintain a degree of privacy regarding a user's recent activity and keeps the interface straightforward without offering advanced sorting functionalities for public-facing data that is not explicitly intended for such analysis.
What You Can and Cannot Do
| Feature | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| View someone's full Following list | Yes | Accessible via their profile on the Instagram website or mobile app. The list displays all accounts they follow. |
| Sort someone's Following list by newest | No | Instagram does not provide a built-in feature to reorder another user's following list by the date they initiated the follow. |
| Following list default sort order | Alphabetical | For other users' profiles, the list of accounts they follow is typically presented in alphabetical order, making it easier to find specific accounts if you know their username. |
Practical Insight: If you are keen to observe new accounts a specific user follows, your best approach is to periodically check their "Following" list manually. However, this is largely impractical and labor-intensive, especially for users who follow many accounts.
