How the Instagram Following List is Ordered

Instagram is one of the most popular and widely used social media platform. There are many features which many users enjoy. However, there are some users who are wondering how their followers list are arranged and sorted. If you are one of them, you came to the right place. In this article, we shall learn how the Instagram following list is ordered.

If you would check your following list on Instagram, you would find it sorted randomly. The good news is, Instagram actually arranges your followers and following list. In fact, in the past, following and followers list are arranged based on who followed you recently. Though Instagram did not mention anything about the order of the mentioned lists, the arrangement clearly is backed up by a complex algorithm.

If you have been trying to figure out the order of your following list, you would soon realize that the order of recently followers is not a definite order of it. In fact, there are more factors which are considered by Instagram when they arrange your following list.

How the Instagram Following List is Ordered

If you are a viewing third-party accounts, the following list order you would see would be based on mutual interaction. This means the accounts which you would like more often would be prioritized to be on top of the list. Also, if you DM each other, comment, tag regularly, their profile would appear on top of the list. Though this applies to the accounts that you are viewing, the next question would be how about your own following list?

The good news about your following list, there is now a feature which would allow you to sort your following list. All you need to do is to click on the following number on your profile page. You would find two arrows. Click the two arrows. A sort by feature will appear. Arrange your following list according to your preference.

How the Instagram Followers List is Ordered in 2023

The order of your followers list is a bit more complicated than it may seem. For those accounts which has less than 200 followers, followers list would be arranged alphabetically. Keep in mind this is not based on usernames but rather by specific names on the profile. If the owner of the profile did not enter any name or has intentionally left it blank, the profile will appear on the top of your list. Then, it would be followed by usernames in alphabetically order. Keep in mind that this is only the case when you have less than 200 followers.

Last year, this arrangement has changed. The reason behind this is because Instagram started using algorithm on the lists of followers. The algorithm checks which of the users you interact with the most.

How the Instagram Followers List Algorithm Works

People You Follow

If you are a third-party account, you would see the people you follow would appear first which the other user is following as well. In short, it shows your mutual followers as the top of the list.

Interactions

Another important factor which the algorithm considers is how much interaction you have with your following and followers list. Interactions could be through DM, likes and comments. The more interaction you have the higher the profile would be on the list.

Mutual Followers

If you happen to follow the same user even if you do not follow them back, the account your are checking would be prioritized on the list.

Accounts that Follow You

Accounts that follow you are also considered in case of list of followers. If you are checking your followers list, you would find the ones who follow you which often times are on top of your list.

Accounts that Stalk You

Unfortunately, it is not true that those who just views and visits your profile often would be found on top of your followers list. The reason behind this is because they would need to be actively interacting with you and your posts like posting comments or liking your photos. To put is simply, viewing profiles is not an indicator that you would appear on the top of the list.

Accounts that Have Recently Followed You

Instagram takes into consideration the accounts that you have recently followed. This means, that if you recently followed someone, his or her account would be prioritized on your list. The reason behind this is because it shows that you have a connection.

Geo-Location

Another factor that Instagram takes into account is the location. If you have followers who are in the same location as you, they are given priority. For example, if you are located in the USA and a follower of yours is in the USA as well as close to where you are in – let’s say city, state, county, then, that follower gets a priority as well on the list.

Lots of Posts

If your account has a lot of posts, even when you do not have a close connection, your account would be seen in Instagram as very active. This means they would prioritize you more than those who are not as active as you are.

Popular Accounts with More Followers and Following

When you have more followers and followings, the algorithm of Instagram would see you as someone popular and would trust you more. The higher the number of followers and followings you have the more prioritization you get.

Verified Accounts

Verified accounts then to have more attention than others. However, upon checking this, it has been observed that the more followers that the verified account has, the farther it gets into the list. While the reason to this is unknown, do not worry as it is not always the case as sometimes if you have more followers, Instagram could associate you as a brand account which means you would not interact much as an actual and real account.