Investigating Instagram: How to find out if you’ve been blocked, and whodunit

One of the convenient things about social media is that it removes certain awkward or potentially confrontational situations from our everyday interactions with each other. Don’t want to see someone’s pictures or posts? Unfollow them. Don’t want to be their “friend” on social media? Unfriend them. Want to erase their online presence completely from your sight? Block them. You don’t need to say a word to them, and they won’t even know what’s going on because sites like Instagram or Facebook don’t inform someone when they get unfollowed, unfriended or blocked.

But what if you suspect that someone has blocked you? How do you find out if you’ve been blocked, and more importantly, by whom?

Perhaps you’ve noticed that you haven’t seen a certain someone’s posts in your Insta feed for a while now, and that’s gotten you thinking. Could it be that they just haven’t been actively posting, or (gasp!) could they have blocked you?

You wouldn’t know if they have, because Instagram doesn’t send you notifications of that kind. They quietly take care of all that awkwardness, put it in a box, tie it up with a bow and throw it away.

As humans, we have a desire to find out things. We are curious creatures, and if we think we’ve been blocked (and if we have a suspicion of who might have done the blocking), we will without a doubt investigate.

If you think you have indeed been blocked on Instagram, it’s not that hard to find out for sure, no matter which version of the Instagram app you have — iPhone or Android.

First things first. Simply search for the account that you suspect has blocked you in your smartphone app.

If the account is private and you can’t find it, it’s quite likely that you have been blocked. If the account is a public one, take note. Visit their page. If you can’t see their profile image, post count, follower count, or following count, and the photo grid area says “No Posts Yet,” then you have most certainly been blocked.

Let’s try it on a laptop or computer this time.

Type in the link Instagram.com/username (replace the word “username” with the possible blocker’s Insta handle)in your browser’s search bar. If you get a page that reads “Sorry, this page isn’t available,” then you have likely been blocked, assuming they didn’t delete their account, which could account for the unavailable message.

Now you need to determine whether the account in question has been deleted or taken down. This is where some Insta-sleuthing will come in handy.

Search for an Instagram account that you know the person follows and hunt around for likes or comments they’ve left; if there are any, it confirms that their account is active (and not deleted) and that they have definitely blocked you.

There’s also the good old ask-a-friend option. Use a friend’s account, or (if you’re really desperate to know) even create a new Instagram account just for spying purposes, and look for the person you think might have blocked you. If your friend’s account or the new for-sleuthing-only account can find their profile, see their photos, and so forth, I’m sorry to say it, but you’ve most certainly been blocked.

Good luck with the sleuthing! /TISG