How Instagram tracks where traffic comes from

[yogev]

Hey all.

I heard that if you share your Instagram post with a full link for example:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq7d_VxHc2_/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1d3823rw2lfgn&fbclid=IwAR0whgbNO9HL_cHl_xQ20sQfEO-99Ff60dAG5BHbfr_lFYbqwHgP4mulU1A

Than IG can track where people came from (Telegram, DM groups etc etc...)

But, if you share a short link for example:

https://prnt.sc/lqaqk3

They can't track it down.

Can anyone confirm that?

 

[aduseia]

This is all alleged. It's only a theory.

Now is it plausible? Yes, many links can be tracked back to their source of origin. But it's impossible to say for sure in this case.

 

[imdabest123]

I wish i had coding skills and a bullet proof hosting and payment provider. Free million dollar idea , you can code a short linker to hide hearder and other information from the source the same way proxies do. it's technically illegal but if someone provided this service at like $5 a month unlimited short links i know id a user for life.

 

[ownz]

Than IG can track where people came from (Telegram, DM groups etc etc...)

Nope, that's not true. IG can't track traffic within apps. It's technically impossible, because when you open your mentioned links via telegram, telegram will open the browser like a new direct link without any history. It's like a bookmark link from webbrowser for example. IG has no idea where you came from and see's only the info, that you opened a link directly. Some users are using Telegram Webapp and when they click inside a chat/group a link, yes, than IG knows that they came from Telegram Webapp because the browser is forwarding the referer information.

When you use the share link option, IG will append some variables to the link:
- ?utm_source=ig_share_sheet -- just means, that IG marked the link as a shared one
- &fbclid &igshid=HASH_VALUE -- hashed informations about the user who created the shared link, timestamp, and some more stuff

So, if you click a IG link in webbrowser, IG is able to see your source when you're not blocking your referer.
If you click a link within apps, IG is not able to get your source. This type of traffic is monitored as direct traffic.