How To Find Your Mutuals With Someone On Instagram

If you’ve ever needed proof that it’s a small world after all, find a totally random account on Instagram — like a sustainable clothing brand, or a lifestyle influencer, or person you met at a party last week — and check their mutuals. Chances are, someone you know loves that brand, is #influenced by the celeb, or went to, like, pre-school with party-goer. Searching for mutuals on Instagram is a solid way to get to learn more about accounts before you even connect.

When you find out you have friends in common with someone or something, it can instantly make them feel more familiar to you. It can also help you place them: If they’re friends with your nearest and dearest, you know they’re (most likely) good people. If they’re mutuals with your foodie friends, you know they have good taste. And when you meet someone in wild, only to find out that you have mutuals on Instagram, it can cement your connection and give you even more to talk about — or make them feel more safe.

"If I match with someone on a dating app, and find them on Instagram and we have zero mutuals, I'm like, scared,” Ashlee, 30, tells Bustle. “I mean, how is that even possible? If you don't know people I know, I don't need to know you. Besides, I want a chance to ask our mutual for details,” she says.

But how are you supposed to find them? Here’s how to sleuth your Instagram connections for IRL connections and find more to talk about.

How To See If You Have Mutuals In Common On Instagram

There are two different ways to see mutuals on Instagram. To see just how interwoven your social circles are, head to the person’s account. Tap their followers to load the main list of people who follow them. If it’s a personal account (aka, a person and not Glossier) the first people who load will people you follow, who also follow the account. (If it’s an account like Glossier that has over two million followers, the first people to load under followers will not be mutuals.) To the left of the Followers tab, you’ll also see a Mutuals tabs with the exact number of friends you have in common with them (if you have any). If you have no friends in common with the account, you won’t see a Mutuals tab.

How To See If Your Friends Follow The Account On Instagram

Let’s say you’re curious about a new skin care company, and look them up on Instagram to learn more about their products. If you were to find out that some people you know already follow the account — say, a good skin influencer — it might give you a bit more confidence in trying out their products. To find mutual friends with an account you don’t already follow, just pull up their profile in the search bar, and look under their bio link for “Followed by.” If people you know follow the account, you’ll see a preview of two usernames followed by the number of how many other accounts you follow that follow them too. You can tap that number to open up their Mutual followers tab.