The concept is similar to Facebook Messenger. Instagram will show a small green bubble next to your follower’s name to let you know that they are online.
Instagram explained that the feature is to make it easier for users to chat within the app. You can turn the feature off by going to your activity status in the app’s main settings (when disabled, you won’t be able to view which of your friends are online, either).
“This update gives you the ability to have more of those real-time conversations while giving you the control to hide your status altogether,” the company wrote in a blog post.
