We’ve had “stalking” for as long as we’ve had computers and the Internet. And, with the introduction of social media, things have only become simpler. The type of “stalking” we are talking about is the harmless one and not the type that gets you arrested. We’re naturally curious beings, and we have all of this information there in front of us. It’s as if it was designed specifically to be over-analyzed by our curious minds. Social media has become a game and if you’re going to participate in it, you may as well do it correctly. Most of us get the urge to stalk our exes on Instagram after a break up but none of us want to get caught doing it. Below are some ways you can stalk your ex on Instagram and not get caught.

Create an anonymous Instagram account

These days, young people refer to this as a “Finsta.” It is effectively a phony Instagram account, not your normal one.  Finstas aren’t meant to be taken too seriously. They are used to publish anything the user desires, such as memes, jokes, and funny stories. Users of these accounts have a list of followers, the majority of whom are their closest friends. Some users label their Finstas with phony account names to make stalking other people’s accounts even simpler. There’s no need to worry about unintentionally liking a post this way!

If you don’t want to have a private account, you can always create an anonymous account and upload memes, artwork, or whatever you like. Your account can even earn more followers because of your posts. But, to be honest, this can be a lot of work for someone in their late twenties and thirties who has a life and doesn’t care about building a whole new profile. You probably just want to see your ex’s pictures or view their stories without getting caught. We are here to help.

Use a friend’s account

If you’re simply just interested in stalking your ex once, you can ask for the help of friends or coworkers. If your ex’s account is public then this should be easy. And if their account is private then you should hope that at least one of your friends is in your ex’s follower list. Ask them if you can see your ex’s profile from their account or ask them to go to their page and take screenshots of their posts and stories and send them to you. So if this is just a one time thing, this will be an easy way to get it done.

Take advantage of your phone’s airplane mode

It is possible to secretly see other people’s Instagram Stories by enabling airplane mode on your phone before tapping on them. You may potentially see one without being noticed because Instagram automatically loads up a few stories to enable fast viewing even when you don’t have a stable Wi-Fi or data connection. To test this, open the Instagram app and navigate to your ex’s profile, then enable airplane mode on your smartphone before returning to the app and opening up your ex’s stories. However, if the person has uploaded many stories in a row, Instagram is unlikely to have downloaded them all, thus they will not all be available in airplane mode.

Use third-party apps

There are several third-party applications and websites that allow you to stalk your ex on Instagram and view their stories without logging in. Many of these sites aren’t very secure, and others don’t even function, so use them at your own risk. However, if you want to use one, I recommend the following websites:

• StoriesDown
• InstaNavigation
• StoriesIG
• Inflact
• StoriStalker

To see an account’s stories, simply enter an account’s username on the site’s homepage. It should be noted that these websites only function for public accounts and cannot access the stories of private accounts. Below are some apps that you can download and use on your phone:

• BlindStory Saver
• SilentStory
• Anon Story
• Easy Story Viewer
• Stalkhub

Conclusion

I don’t recommend checking out your ex on social media, especially if you’ve recently broken up. I’m not sure why you two split up, but moving on makes life simpler. You’re better off. Whoever caused the breakup, whatever happened between you two, it doesn’t matter; just accept the loss, move on, and look for new things in life. You’ve got it. Furthermore, studies have shown that if you stalk your ex on Instagram it makes it more difficult to move on from them, especially if the breakup is recent. Do everything you can to get your ex out of your head. If you have to remove them from social media, delete their pictures or get rid of the stuff they have given you, do it! In this situation, social media will simply worsen the pain rather than ease it.