Instagram’s friend suggestion feature is designed to help users connect with people they may know or find interesting on the platform. There are a few different factors that can cause someone to show up as a suggested friend for you on Instagram.
People You May Know
One of the main sources of friend suggestions on Instagram comes from the “People You May Know” section. This section shows you users who you likely have some connection to, even if you don’t follow each other on Instagram yet.
So what types of connections might cause someone to show up in your People You May Know?
- Friends of your friends on Instagram. If someone follows people you also follow, they may show up as a suggestion.
- Your contacts from your phone book. If someone in your contacts is on Instagram with the same phone number, they may appear as a suggestion.
- Connections from Facebook. If you’ve connected your Facebook account to Instagram, any of your Facebook friends or friends of friends who are on Instagram may show up.
- Shared networks. People who went to the same school or work at the same company as you may show up as suggestions.
The key point is that People You May Know primarily shows you users who you likely have some real-world connection to, even if you don’t directly follow one another on Instagram yet. So getting a friend suggestion doesn’t necessarily mean that person was looking at your profile – it may just mean Instagram has detected you have overlapping social circles.
Posts and Accounts You’ve Shown Interest In
Another source of friend suggestions on Instagram comes from the posts, accounts, hashtags, or locations you’ve recently interacted with. For example:
- If you like, comment on, or save someone’s post, they may show up as a suggestion.
- If you visit someone’s profile or view their Story multiple times, Instagram may suggest them.
- Interacting with posts from a certain hashtag or location can lead to suggestions from others who also post there.
So in these cases, friend suggestions are based on the activity and content you’ve shown an interest in on Instagram. Someone showing up as a suggestion may indicate you’ve checked out their profile or engaged with their content recently.
Paid Partnerships and Sponsored Suggestions
In some cases, brands and influencers can pay to get their accounts suggested to targeted groups of users on Instagram. These paid partnership suggestions appear in the “Discover People” section rather than “People You May Know.”
So if you get a suggestion for an account you have no connection to in the Discover People section, it’s likely they paid to get in front of you based on Instagram’s data about your interests and activity. This doesn’t mean they necessarily looked at your profile specifically.
Follower/Following Overlap
Instagram may also suggest people for you to follow who already follow you or who you share a lot of mutual followers with. Having overlapping followers and followings suggests you may be interested in similar content and accounts.
Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean the person showing up looked directly at your profile – just that Instagram’s algorithms have detected you share similar connections and interests.
Activity on Your Profile
There are a couple scenarios where someone interacting directly with your profile could cause them to be suggested to you:
- If someone views your profile, your posts, or your Stories, Instagram may suggest them as someone to follow.
- If someone likes or comments on multiple posts of yours within a short timeframe, they’re more likely to show up as a friend suggestion.
So in these cases, yes – direct engagement with your profile and content could lead someone to get suggested to you. But it’s not the only factor that goes into Instagram’s suggestions. Oftentimes, someone showing up is due to more subtle connections detected by Instagram’s algorithms rather than direct profile viewing or stalking.
People You’ve Interacted With
It’s also possible for the reverse to happen – for you to show up as a suggestion to someone after you’ve engaged with their profile or content. Some examples:
- If you view someone else’s profile, you may get suggested to them.
- If you like or comment on someone’s posts, especially multiple times, you could get suggested.
- Interacting with someone’s Story by responding to it could cause the suggestion to appear.
So if you’re wondering if a certain person can see you in their friend suggestions, consider whether you’ve viewed their profile or engaged with their content lately. Those actions could potentially lead to the algorithms showing you as a suggestion.
Other Ways to Get Suggested
Here are a few other ways you could end up getting suggested to someone or having someone suggested to you on Instagram:
- Adding someone’s phone number to your contacts if they are on Instagram could lead to a suggestion.
- Following or mentioning someone in your captions and comments could cause them to get suggested to you.
- Common hashtags and geotags used on posts could result in suggestions between users.
- Tagging someone in your photos/videos could lead to them appearing as a suggestion.
Can You Turn Off Friend Suggestions?
If you don’t want to receive friend suggestions on Instagram, you can turn them off:
- Go to your profile and tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right.
- Select “Settings” from the menu.
- Go to the “Account” section in Settings.
- Toggle off the switch next to “Suggest Accounts to Follow” to disable suggestions.
This will prevent Instagram from suggesting you new accounts to follow. However, it won’t remove existing suggestions you still see.
Conclusion
While someone interacting with your profile can cause them to show up in your Instagram suggestions, it’s not the only factor at play. The algorithms also suggest people based on shared connections, interests, follower overlap, and more.
So just because you get a new friend suggestion does not definitively mean that specific person visited your profile. Instagram’s suggestion process is nuanced and aims to help you discover new, relevant accounts to follow based on a variety of signals. Disabling suggestions can help if you find the feature intrusive or annoying.
Key Takeaways
- Getting a friend suggestion does not always mean that person looked at your profile.
- Instagram suggests accounts you may know through social connections, common interests, follower overlap, and more.
- Interacting directly with someone’s profile/content can cause suggestions, but it’s not the only factor.
- You can disable Instagram suggestions if you don’t want to see them.
| Factor | Description |
|---|---|
| People You May Know | Suggests accounts of friends, contacts, and connections from other networks |
| Posts/accounts you’ve engaged with | Suggests people whose content you’ve liked, commented on, or viewed |
| Paid partnerships | Suggests accounts who’ve paid to get in front of targeted users |
| Follower/following overlap | Suggests accounts that share many of the same followers as you |
| Engaging with your profile | Suggests people who’ve viewed your profile or content recently |
| Other interactions | Suggests people you’ve tagged, mentioned, contacted, etc. |
In summary, while Instagram friend suggestions often are based on algorithmic signals and connections, sometimes they do directly result from another user engaging with your profile. But it’s difficult to know for certain whether any specific suggestion came from someone looking at your page. The best approach is to evaluate each suggestion individually and only follow accounts you genuinely want to see more content from.
Instagram’s algorithms certainly aren’t perfect. You may get suggestions that don’t make sense or seem totally irrelevant. But in general, the platform is designed to show you accounts you may find interesting based on a variety of factors. With over one billion monthly active users, friend suggestions help enhance discovery and connection on the platform.
As with any social media, it’s important to apply common sense when engaging with new accounts suggested to you. Look for red flags like lack of authentic content, few followers, or requests for personal information or money. Suggestions can help you discover new friends, brands, creators, and communities – but always keep privacy and security top of mind when deciding who to interact with.
With its continued growth, Instagram is fast becoming one of the most influential social networks in the world. Understanding how its algorithms work can help you get the most out of the platform. While friend suggestions may sometimes feel a bit creepy or invasive, they’re mostly designed to connect you with accounts you’ll genuinely appreciate – not exposures your profile to strangers.
By combining relevant suggestions with tools to customize your feed and connections, Instagram empowers users to create an experience that brings joy, inspiration, and value on a daily basis. So don’t stress too much if you see an unexpected face pop up in your friend suggestions from time to time. Just take it as a signal to meet someone new who shares your interests and keep enjoying the visual world of Instagram.
Instagram is continually evolving its suggestion technology to improve relevance and privacy. So you can expect the system to get smarter over time. Paying attention to which types of suggestions really feel spot on – and which you dislike or ignore – can help train the algorithm as well. As with any AI system, your feedback improves results for everyone.
Do you have a specific question about how friend suggestions work on Instagram? Feel free to ask! I’m here to help explain any aspect of how this feature functions.