Real-time connectivity is the goal of many social networks, and Instagram is adding an icon to show your active status when you’re online. Users can then connect with site administrators when they see them active.
The introduction of this update is intended to increase engagement because it creates the ability for the user to contact and instantly interact with the person/page. Statistics indicate that users communicate with the same friends 85% of the time, so Instagram tries to simplify their communication and integrate them more into the application.
You can find a new feature in your direct message contact list. A green dot appears on the contact to indicate when the user is connected and active. The green dots indicator will also appear when you share a post with friends if you have written to them via a direct message.
You can turn off activity status in your privacy settings.
Instagram spoke about this update already in January when the first test was run and also provided information about the last connection of the user in the direct message.
Facebook and Messenger are also testing new video sharing tools that enable instant interaction with users. Real-time communication is one of the top priorities for Facebook platforms.