Instagram's newest feature tells people when you're online

As if Whatsapp’s ‘last seen’ wasn’t invasive enough, Instagram’s new feature now tells your followers when you were last online and it is turned on automatically.

When you load direct messages, you can now see when the person you message was last active and in turn, they’ll see your status too.

Thankfully, only people you’ve directly messaged will see it as it doesn’t show up anywhere else on the app, but still - where was the warning of this?

The good news is you can switch it off and it’s easy to do so. Simply go to settings and turn off ‘Show Activity Status’.

Acting identically to the Whatsapp option - if you don’t let them see when you’re online then you can’t see when they’re online, which feels only right.

The reaction to the app’s new feature has been largely negative with people wondering why this is necessary.

Some joke that now people will know just how many hours they waste scrolling the app with others highlighting more serious issues such as allowing stalkers to monitor people.

What do you make of the new feature? Will you keep your status public?