Instagram trialling feature that allows users to see whether somebody follows them back

The feature is only rolling out to select users

An attendee takes a photo of the instagram logo during a press event at Facebook headquarters on June 20, 2013 in Menlo Park, California (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Instagram is trialling a feature that will let users see when someone’s following them back.

The app is adding a little message to search results that says whether you are “Following” someone, as well as alerting you if “You follow each other”.

The feature is found by searching in the “People” tab on the phone. Putting in a name will bring up people’s names, as before, but will now show a message next to their name about their status.

At the moment, the only way to see who does (and doesn't) follow you is to scroll through the full list on your profile page.

The feature was noted in a post by photographer Anthony Quintano. But Instagram said that the feature was just in testing, and so it may never roll out to anyone.

There has been no recent update to the Instagram app, which suggests that the change can be made by Instagram without you knowing. The only way to be sure that you have the feature or not is to head to the People tab and see whether it shows up.

An Instagram spokesperson said only that the site is “always testing new experiences for the community."

It isn’t clear how the people testing the feature are chosen, or whether there is any geographical limit to who has access to it.