Who Does My Crush Follow on Instagram? How to Find Out Anonymously

We have all been there. You are interested in someone, and you want to know more about them — specifically, who they are following on Instagram. Are they following your friends? An ex? Someone you do not recognize? The accounts someone follows say a lot about who they are and what is going on in their life.

The problem is that checking their following list on Instagram does not tell you much. The list is randomized, there are no timestamps, and unless you memorize every account, you will never notice when something changes. Here is how to actually find out who your crush follows and has recently followed — without them ever knowing you checked.

Why Checking Their Following List Manually Does Not Work

You might have already tried the manual approach: go to their profile, tap "Following," and scroll through. But you quickly realize the limitations:

The list is not sorted by date. Instagram arranges the following list algorithmically, and the order is personalized to the viewer (you). This means you cannot tell who they followed recently versus three years ago. For a full explanation of how the list order works, read our article on Instagram following order meaning.

There are no timestamps. Even if you spot an account you do not recognize, you have no idea when they followed it. It could have been yesterday or in 2021.

The order changes between visits. If you check the list today and check again tomorrow, accounts may be in a completely different order, making comparison impossible.

How to See Who Your Crush Recently Followed

Quick Check (30 Seconds, Free)

The fastest way to see your crush's recent follow activity:

Open your browser and go to getlurk.app/username

Type in their Instagram username

See who they recently followed — with profile pictures and timestamps

It takes seconds. No Instagram login required, no app download, and absolutely no way for them to find out. You do not even need your own Instagram account to use this.

Ongoing Monitoring (Know Every New Follow)

If you want to be notified every time your crush follows someone new:

Download Lurk from the App Store or Google Play

Add their username

Enable push notifications

Get an alert on your phone every time they follow a new account

Each notification shows the profile photo and username of who they just followed, so you can see at a glance whether it is someone you know, a random brand, or someone you might want to investigate further.

What Their Follows Can Tell You

The accounts someone follows reveal a lot about them:

Shared interests — If they follow hiking accounts, book clubs, or photography pages, you have potential conversation starters and date ideas.

Social circle — Seeing who they follow from your school, workplace, or friend group can tell you how connected your social circles are.

Relationship status clues — New follows of specific people (especially if they seem to be flirty accounts or exes) can provide context about their current situation.

Lifestyle indicators — Following fitness influencers, travel bloggers, foodies, or gaming accounts paints a picture of their daily interests.

Of course, following an account does not mean they are close to that person or even that they actively look at their content. People follow accounts for all sorts of reasons. Take the information as data points, not conclusions.

Can They Tell You Are Looking?

Absolutely not. Here is why:

If you use Lurk: The tool never interacts with their Instagram account. No follow request, no Story view, no like, no trace. Their notifications stay empty. Their viewer lists stay clean. There is zero evidence.

If you check their following list on Instagram directly: Instagram does not notify users when someone views their profile or following list. So even the manual method does not leave a trace — it is just less useful because of the randomized order.

Either way, your crush will never know you checked. You can even view their Stories anonymously through Lurk without appearing in their viewer list.

Viewing Their Stories Without Them Knowing

Beyond follows, you probably want to watch their Stories too. Every Story view through the Instagram app adds your name to their viewer list — and many people check that list carefully, especially for crushes and close friends.

With Lurk, you can watch their Stories without your name ever appearing. Since Lurk accesses the Story content without using your Instagram account, there is nothing to add to the viewer list.

This means you can:

Watch their Stories as many times as you want

View their Highlights (saved Story collections)

Check their content at any time of day without it looking suspicious

Never worry about accidental double-taps or screen recordings

The Ethics of Checking Your Crush's Follows

Let's be real — looking at who someone follows on Instagram is not harmful. The information is publicly available, and most people check out their crush's profile regularly anyway. Using a tool to track follow changes is just a more efficient version of what everyone does manually.

That said, here are some healthy boundaries to keep in mind:

It is fine to: Check occasionally out of curiosity, use the information for conversation topics, gauge shared interests, or satisfy a one-time curiosity.

It might be excessive to: Check multiple times a day, obsess over every new follow, confront them about who they follow, or use the information to manipulate situations.

A better approach: If you like someone, the best move is usually to just talk to them. Use the information from their follows as icebreakers and conversation starters — "I noticed you are into hiking, have you been to [trail name]?" — rather than as surveillance data.

What If Their Account Is Private?

If your crush's Instagram is set to private, no external tool can see their following list. This is an Instagram privacy setting that restricts profile information to approved followers only.

In this case, your options are:

Send a follow request (but they will know you followed them)

Check any public accounts you think they might also follow

Focus on what IS publicly visible — their bio, profile photo, and follower/following counts

Start Finding Out

Curiosity is natural. See who your crush recently followed on Instagram — it is free, it is instant, and they will never know. For more ways to track Instagram activity anonymously, check out our complete guide to seeing who someone followed.