Just like any other social media app, Instagram also shows the active status of the friends you are connected with. Simply go to Direct Messages on Instagram to see your friend’s active status. ‘Active Now’ on Instagram means the person is online and available to chat but what does Active Today mean?
What Does Active Today Mean on Instagram?
‘Active Today’ on Instagram simply means that a person has not been online or inactive on Instagram from the last 8 hours or more but less than 24 hours. If it is more than 24 hours, you will see ‘Active Yesterday’.
Instagram keeps on tracking the last active session of its users and if the last active session happens more than 8 hours ago, you will see ‘Active Today’ on Instagram. This 8 hours duration is absolutely accurate.
For example, one of your friends was active on Instagram at 1:00 PM and after that, he/she didn’t open Instagram for more than 8 hours. At around 9:00 PM, you will see ‘Active Today’ in the Instagram chat section.
After 12:00 AM at midnight, that ‘Active Today’ will turn into ‘Active Yesterday’ because it is the next day after midnight and the person was active last day at 1:00 PM.
See Also: How to Share Instagram Profile Link
Why is Instagram Not Showing Active Today or Active Now?
You don’t get to see the Active Status of everyone in your chat section. If you are not seeing someone’s active status on Instagram, these are the reasons:
1. Instagram only shows you ‘Active Today’, ‘Active Now’, ‘Active Yesterday’ when there is 2-way communication between you & them. If another person never replied to your message and didn’t accept your request to send a message, you will not be able to see their ‘Active Now’ or ‘Active Today’ status.
2. To keep things private, some users turned off their Activity status on Instagram in Privacy settings so that no one can see to see if they are ‘Active Now’ on Instagram. This feature also hides the green dot which denotes ‘Active Now’. So if you are not seeing Active Now status of someone, they have probably using this setting to hide it. Here is how to turn off the Activity status on Instagram.
3. If the other person has disabled ‘direct messages from others on Instagram and you are not following them, you will not able to see their active status. For seeing active status on Instagram, you must be following each other. If you are following them but still not able to see someone’s Active Today or Active Now, they might have removed you from their followers.
4. Poor internet connection is also a reason why Instagram not showing Active Today or Active now.
These are the reasons why you are not able to ‘Active Today’ or ‘Active Now’ status on Instagram. If the above-mentioned situation doesn’t fit in your case, try clearing Instagram cache here.
Different Types of Active Status on Instagram
Instagram shows different types of Active Statuses on Instagram and if you are new to Instagram, here is a quick idea of what different active status means. Apart from that, here are the Instagram icons explained.
1. Active Today
As we have already discussed, ‘Active Today’ means the person is inactive on Instagram for the last 8 hours but not more than 24 hours. After 8 hours (confirmed number) of inactivity, Instagram stops giving you a number of hours or minutes, and instead, shows us ‘Active Today’.
2. Active x hours or Minutes Ago
This is pretty simple to understand. If a person was active 6 hours ago, you will see ‘Active 6h Ago’. If the person was active 25 minutes ago, you will see ‘Active 25m ago’. But if a person was active more than 8 hours ago, it will come back to ‘Active Today’.
3. Active Yesterday
‘Active Yesterday’ on Instagram means, a person is inactive from more than last 24 hours but it is not always the case. You will also see ‘Active Yesterday’ if the person hasn’t used Instagram past 12:00 AM midnight.
For example, the person was active till 11:30 PM and after 12:00 AM, he/she was inactive, in that case, even though the inactive duration is just 30 minutes but since it is the next day past 12:00 AM midnight, Instagram will show you ‘Active Yesterday’.
4. Active Now
Active Now on Instagram simply means the person is active on Instagram right this moment but this ‘Active Now’ status is not accurate all the time. Sometimes it shows ‘Active Now’ even though the person is not using the Instagram app. If Instagram is showing ‘Active Now’, it is not guaranteed that person is actually active. Sometimes you will even see a green dot but the person was active 5 minutes ago.
It is been more than 5 minutes and my co-worker’s phone is lying in front of me and he is writing the article but Instagram still shows ‘Active Now’ on his profile. So yes, that also happens.
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Why is Instagram Showing Last Sent/received Message, Seen, Reacted to your Message Instead of Active Status?
If Instagram is showing their last sent message, message ‘Seen’, or ‘Reacted to your Message’ at the place of ‘Active today’, ‘Active Now’ that means you haven’t contacted them for more than 4 weeks. But you can see their ‘Active Now’, ‘Active Yesterday’ or ‘Active x hours ago’ status without contacting them.
Here is how to see Active Status in place of the Last received message, reacted to your message, or Seen.
1. Go to the chat section on Instagram and tap on the person’s name you want to check the Active Status of.
2. At the top, just under their name, you will see the Active Status of the person. If they were active hours or minutes ago, you will see that right below their name.
Still not showing active status?
If you are still seeing their last sent message in place of Active Now or Active Today status, that means they have ‘Turned off their Activity Status’ in Privacy settings and you cannot see their Instagram status.
Also See: Can you Add GIF to Instagram Comments
What is the Meaning of Active Today on Instagram: Final Words
Now you know everything about Active Today on Instagram. The words are pretty self-explanatory but Instagram works in a weird way and confuses the users. There are so many Privacy settings, Message related settings on Instagram and keeping ourselves updated is not possible for regular Instagram users.
But we are always here to keep you updated with the latest Instagram changes and settings so that you can have a better Instagram experience.
So if you are asking what Instagram Active Today means, you have all the answers you need. If you have more queries or questions to ask, let us know in the comments.
