What Is The Heart Icon On Instagram?

By Amily Smith Last updated Mar 15, 2023

Instagram has the most heart icons of any social media site. Is it a place of love and compassion, or has the heart motif become a little stale? On Instagram, you can “heart” someone’s posts, send them “heart” messages, or “heart” their comments in place of likes and thumbs up.

The heart symbol has been used on the internet for many years, primarily by typing the less-than sign and the number three (3). Instagram did not invent the heart symbol. Emojis are now all around us, and the most widely used ones are probably hearts.

Learn everything there is to know about Instagram’s heart icons, what they stand for, and what you can do with them by reading on.

1. The Instagram Activity Icon

The first heart icon you see on Instagram is the one on your feed. Anytime you launch the Instagram app, you find a heart icon in the top right corner, next to your Direct Messages. Tapping the heart icon leads to the “Activity” page.

When you tap on it, you see all the likes on your posts by your friends and followers, any comments or posts you got tagged in, any replies to comments you made, and who followed you.

You also see “follow” requests at the top when your profile is set to private.

By tapping the activity “heart” icon at the top of the home page, all the aforementioned notifications are displayed.

On Instagram, that specific heart icon stands out the most. You can keep track of all of your social interactions on Instagram with the help of this clear and convenient feature.

What will be the upcoming Instagram Heart Icon? Go on reading.

2. Instagram Comment Heart Icon

Every comment on Instagram is accompanied by a second “heart” icon, which can be seen below each image and video. The heart can be tapped to indicate “Like.” You have the option of liking your comment for any reason you choose. The “heart” icon and the total number of likes are displayed to the right of your comment.

Finally, you can like posts from others on Instagram by tapping on the heart icon below the post or double-tapping the photo/video.

3. Instagram Direct Message Heart Icon

The Instagram heart icon that attracts the most criticism (pun intended) is the one that is used in the app’s Direct Message feature. Double-tap the specific message to indicate that you like it. People lament accidentally sending hearts to total strangers, their crushes, or, worse yet, their ex-partners.

In order to avoid any misunderstandings, Instagram’s Direct Message screen initially featured a heart icon in the bottom-right corner. Thankfully, Instagram took note of the numerous complaints and recently changed this. There used to be a heart there, but now you only see a sticker icon. This still allows you to send someone a “heart,” but you must tap on it twice rather than once to do so.

This was a welcome change because people get spared from embarrassing themselves due to an accidental tap on that heart icon. If this has happened to you before, you know how bad it was.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I unsend a heart message?

Yes! The Heart sticker can now be recalled or unsent thanks to Instagram’s addition of this feature. Simply long-press the sticker and select “Unsend” to cancel the message. The heart icon will vanish for both you and the recipient once you confirm that you’ve removed it.

Can I heart-react to an Instagram DM?

Absolutely! On Instagram, you can “Love” a message, just like on Facebook. Long-press the received message, then select the first icon on the left (the heart icon). Even if you don’t want to respond, this is a useful way to let the other person know you received and acknowledged the message.

Conclusion

Before Instagram adopted “heart” emojis and symbols, they had been around for a very long time on the internet. They won’t disappear from the internet, though, even if Instagram does. They are a vital component of online social interaction, and people adore sending them.