Are you observing that your comments on other’s Instagram posts aren’t receiving as much support as earlier or eliciting interest in users? Do you feel that replies to your messages are now tasking more time than they used to earlier? It may well be that the specific Instagram user may have restricted your account. In this article we will discuss two methods to verify if this is indeed the case.
But before that let us see the difference between Blocking / Restricting a user on Instagram and what happens precisely if a person restricts you on this social media platform.
Difference between Blocking or Restricting a user on Instagram
When Instagram users block you, you will not be able to find or access their profile whatsoever with your account. Moreover you will be unable to send them any messages and you cannot see their Stories, Videos or Posts. In short, if a user has blocked you on Instagram, he or she will essentially be non-existent for you.
On the other hand, if a person restricts you on Instagram, you will be allowed to view the user’s Profile, Posts, Videos, and Stories. You can also send messages to the user who has restricted you. But when you carry out these activities, certain restrictions will automatically be applied as discussed below.
What happens when you are restricted by someone on Instagram
1. If you comment on any post of the user, it isn’t published immediately. The user must review and approve / reject them manually. Until then, these comments will only be visible to you, not the other people who view the post.
2. If you send messages to the user who has restricted you, they are delivered to the request section of the user instead of the principal chat screen. This may produce a delay in obtaining a response as your messages will not be viewed straightway by the user on the chat screen.
3. You will not be able to view the Online Status of the user or the Last Seen. But this may also be as a result of the user disabling the ‘Show Activity Status’ in the Privacy Settings.
Let us now examine the two methods by which you can figure out if you have been restricted by some user on Instagram.
Comment on a Post to verify if someone has restricted you on Instagram
An easy method to verify if you have been restricted is by navigating to the Instagram profile of the user and commenting on a certain post. Next, use your alternative Instagram account (if you have one) or a friend’s account and check whether your new comment has been published.
If you are able to view the comment from the other Instagram account, you are most probably not restricted by the said user. On the other hand, if your account has been restricted, your comment will not be published straightway as is the standard scenario. You must remember to check the new comment before the user can get a chance to approve the comment request.
Send a Direct Message (DM) to find if someone has restricted you on Instagram
The second easy alternative to check if a person has restricted you on Instagram is by way of shooting a DM to the user in question. Once you have dispatched the DM, you must wait for some time for the response to be sent.
If you observe that the user is online but no response is being sent for a considerable time, there is a high possibility that you may have been restricted by the user. This is because the DM will land in the user’s request folder and then he or she can probably take a while longer to detect your message which causes a delay in sending the response.
This method is obviously not fool proof as it may happen that the user is busy and unable to respond. It is also possible that the user has deliberately chosen to ignore the DM.
Closing Comments:
You can try out any one of the above two methods to find out if you have been restricted by some user on Instagram. Since the methods are not foolproof, try both of them before you can conclude that you have been indeed blocked by someone on Instagram
