It seems that more and more people are interested in learning how Instagram sorts their story views, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t have a clear answer for you.

What I can say is that the evidence points to an engagement-based sorting method, meaning that the people you interact with the most on the platform are placed at the top of the viewers’ list.

You’d have thought that the list is chronological or alphabetical but nah, Instagram goes much more in-depth than that.

But…there seems to be a different perspective to this, and you may want to hear about it. Below, of course, 😀

Uncovering Instagram’s Sorting Method for Story Viewers

Apparently, many users have begun noticing that the first 50 viewers of their stories are listed chronologically.

Whoever sees your story first will be placed at the top of your viewers’ list. Second in second, third in third, and so on. You get the gist of it…

Now, the interesting thing is what happens once more than 50 people see your story. Once that Viewers’ list gets over 50, the sorting mechanism changes.

It changes from first-come-first-served to engagement-based, meaning that the people you engage with the most on Instagram will be at the top of the list.

This won’t change those first 50 viewers who are listed chronologically, though (I’m making quite the assumption here).

But…

What Does “Engagement-Based” Mean?

This is what I mean (Instagram too) by the engagement-based sorting method:

• People who like your content the most
• People who comment the most on your posts
• People who share your content the most
• People that you engage with the most (like, comment, story views, shares)
• People you DM a lot

Engagement takes into account all possible interactions you may have with someone on Instagram. It puts all of that information into a hat and attributes a score (assumedly).

Then, when it comes to sorting out your story viewers, it takes out those users that you interact with a lot, and it places them in first places, according to their scores.

Remember that this is done behind the curtains, without your knowledge. How the Instagram algorithm functions is something we can only glean and not know for sure.

What Should I Do With This Information?

In other words, why is it useful to know the order of viewers in your stories? Well, for one, it could tell you who’s actively stalking you.

You know, stalkers, those people whose sole purpose on Instagram is to wait for your next post and react to it. Yeah, those people.

Among those 50 people who first saw your story, some of them might be stalkers and you don’t even know about it.

Whoever’s seen your story first was pretty much waiting for you to post, or it might be a coincidence.

That’s It?

Yep, that’s pretty much it. As I said, the sorting order for story views is based on two methods on Instagram:

• Chronologically the first 50 viewers
• Engagement-based for all the viewers from 50 and onward

What you do with this information is up to you. In any case, let me know in the comments below if you have anything else you’d like to know 😀