Mastering the stages of distancing yourself from annoying people on Instagram

Stage 1: Turn off live updates

We all know that one influencer who posts the most aesthetically pleasing photos but simply won’t stop going live every 5 minutes, thereby spamming us with notifications. Whether they’re showing off their elaborate breakfast routine or ranting about their ex, we really don’t need to see it. Luckily, there’s a simple solution to this problem: turn off live updates.

By default, you get some notifications. (Express image)

Just go to their profile, tap on the bell icon on the top right, and change the Goes live setting to Turn off notifications.

That’s it, no more interruptions from their boring broadcasts.

If you’re also seeing notifications for other stuff, then it could be possible that you turned on post notifications for them and forgot about it. Tap on the same bell icon and tap on any toggles you see to turn them off.

Stage 2: Mute the person

Turning off live updates is only a small step toward reducing someone’s footprint on your Instagram feed. There may be instances of you liking someone’s posts but not their stories, or vice versa. Or maybe you don’t want to see someone on your feed at all. In such a case, you’d want to mute that person.

Finally, some peace of mind. (Express image)

Head to the profile of the person you wish to see less of and tap on the Following button. Next, tap the Mute button. Here, you’ll see toggles pertaining to Posts, Stories, and Notes, tapping which will immediately stop showing you their content in your feed or stories section.

Stage 3: Restrict the person

Sometimes a person is more than just an annoyance and it’s better to have nothing to do with them at all. But blocking them may not be the best option if you know them in real life – it can make things pretty awkward as they will know you have blocked them and might confront you about it. Restricting someone helps you avoid unwanted interactions with other users without causing more conflict or drama. It’s like putting them in a virtual time-out.

To restrict someone, head to the profile of the person you wish to see less of and tap on the Following button. Next, tap the Restrict button.

A restricted person will have no clue that you’ve restricted them. They won’t see when you’re online or if you’ve read their messages. Their new comments on your posts will only be visible to that person, and you can choose to see the comment by tapping See comment.

Stage 4: Unfollow or block the person

When all else fails, the last resort is to unfollow the person and hope that they take the hint that you don’t like them anymore. If that doesn’t work, the only option left is to block that person.

To block someone, head to their profile, tap on the three-dot icon toward the top right and hit the block button. You can report them too if you feel they have the potential to cause other people problems.