If you are a new Instagram user, you might get a notification saying, “X, who you might know, is on Instagram’ while X will be another Instagram user who you may or may not know.
This is a feature on Instagram that suggests people you might want to follow based on your existing connections and interactions on the platform.
For example, if you are friends with someone on Instagram, “who you might know” will suggest other people who are also friends with that person.
This can be a useful way to discover new accounts and content to follow on Instagram. However, some people might consider this a privacy intrusion.
How do the ‘You Might Know’ notifications work?
“Who you might know” notifications on Instagram are notifications that appear when the platform suggests accounts for you to follow.
The suggestions will be based on factors such as;
- People you already follow on Instagram or Facebook
- People you are connected to on Facebook
- People you have interacted with on Instagram lately
- Your contact lists that you have synced with Facebook or Instagram
You can scroll through the suggestions and follow any of the accounts.
If you are not interested in following the suggested account, you can simply ignore it, and the notification go away.
These notifications can help you discover new accounts and content to follow, but you are not required to follow the accounts that Instagram suggests.
Is it a privacy concern?
Some people may find Instagram’s “who you might know” feature to be intrusive, as it suggests accounts for you to follow based on your connections and interactions on the platform.
This can feel like an invasion of privacy, as Instagram uses information about who you are connected to and who you have interacted with to make these suggestions.
However, it is important to note that the information that Instagram uses to make these suggestions is not private.
When you connect with someone on Instagram or Facebook or interact with their content, this information is visible to others on the platform.
Instagram is simply using this information to make suggestions for accounts that you might be interested in following.
This can also get a little interesting if you are stalking your crush, as someone on Twitter pointed out.
In summary, this can be a good way to find new accounts or even old friends on Instagram but for some people, it might seem a little…. nosy.
This brings us to our next section – i.e how to disable these notifications.
Disable ‘Who you might know’ notifications
Some people might not like them because they are intrusive, cause distraction, or not very useful.
If you also think these Instagram-suggested account notifications are creepy, you can disable them entirely.
To do this, you will have to use the Instagram desktop (can’t do this on the App) and follow the below steps:
- Go to Instagram.com and log in to your account.
- Click on your profile icon in the top right corner of the screen, then click on the gear icon to access your Settings menu.
- In the settings menu, click on “Notifications“. This will open a page where you can manage your notifications.
4. From the list on the next page, click on Push Notifications.
5. Scroll down to the “Account Suggestions” section and select OFF from the option below. This will disable the “who you might know” notifications for your account.
After you have disabled the “who you might know” notifications, you will no longer receive notifications when Instagram suggests accounts for you to follow.
Final word – Who You Might Know meaning on Instagram
Instagram suggests people who you have interacted with or have an existing connection to follow so that you can have a bigger social circle and a more engaging experience on the app.
However, some people might think of it as a privacy intrusion and not like it.
Although these suggestions are based on your publically shared profile data, you can still turn them off from your notification settings.
Finally, it is worth noting that there are a lot of myths and stories about Instagram listening to your conversation or tracking your public meetings to make these suggestions.
These myths are not very convincing and true.