The action of restricting visibility of one’s follower list on the Instagram platform is a user-controlled privacy setting. This allows individuals to limit who can view the accounts they are following. For example, an Instagram user might choose to implement this setting to prevent unauthorized access to their network of followed accounts.
Controlling visibility of follower lists enhances user privacy and security. This feature prevents unwanted monitoring of an individual’s online activity, mitigating potential risks such as targeted advertising based on follower preferences or social engineering attempts. Historically, the desire for increased online privacy has driven the development and adoption of such user control mechanisms on social media platforms.