Who Was My First Follower on Instagram?

Your first follower isn't shown in the Instagram app, but it is in the official file of your data: every follower carries the date they started following you. Sort your followers list from oldest to newest and the top entry is your oldest current follower. There is one important catch, explained below: it only counts people who follow you today.

How to find your oldest follower

The app doesn't offer a reliable screen for this; the data export does include each follower's date. The process has two parts: request the file, then sort it.

In Instagram, open your profile and tap the menu (three lines) → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information.
Tap Download or transfer information, select your account and choose Some of your information.
Tick only Followers and following and choose Download to device.
Select JSON format and the All time date range, then create the files. You'll get an email when it's ready. If you're worried about timing, see how long Instagram takes to send your data.
Download the ZIP and upload it as is to NomeSigueApp. No need to unzip it, and the file never leaves your browser.
Open the Followers tab, sort by oldest first, and look at the first row: that @username and its date are your oldest follower.

You can try the flow first with the sample-data button, without uploading anything of yours.

What that date means

Each record in followers_1.json stores a timestamp: the moment that account started following you, in Unix format (seconds since January 1, 1970). The tool converts it to a normal date and shows it on every row.

connections/followers_and_following/followers_1.json

If you have a lot of followers, Instagram splits the list across several files (followers_2.json, followers_3.json...). That's why checking only the first file by hand can mislead you: the oldest follower could be in any of them. The tool merges them all before sorting.

Your real first follower may be missingThe export is a snapshot of today: it only lists people who follow you now. If your first follower unfollowed you, deleted their account or deactivated it, they are no longer in the file.

Limits worth knowing

The sorted list gives you the oldest follower who is still there, which isn't always the first one in your account's history. The usual cases:

Situation	What you'll see
Your first follower still follows you	They're first in the list
They unfollowed or closed their account	Missing; you'll see the next oldest
A row with no date	Useless for sorting; look at the first row that has one

A single export can't tell you who left. To track that, the tool saves a snapshot of each analysis in your browser, and when you analyze a newer export it shows who stopped following you. It only works in the same browser and device.

Why bother knowing

Curiosity: see who was there at the start, or when each person joined.
Brand or project accounts: spot the earliest followers, who are often the closest to you.
List cleanup: old followers who no longer make sense for your account are candidates to review. To cross-check against who you don't follow back, read the guide to finding who doesn't follow you back.

You can also open the JSON and convert a timestamp by hand, but with long lists it's tedious and easy to get wrong. With the tool you see the @username and the date on the same row and can open the profile in one tap.

If you'd rather check the JSON yourself

Open followers_1.json in a text editor. Each follower looks like this (the values are an invented example):

{
  "string_list_data": [
    {
      "href": "https://www.instagram.com/example_user",
      "value": "example_user",
      "timestamp": 1700000000
    }
  ]
}

The value 1700000000 is November 14, 2023 in UTC. To convert yours you can use any Unix date converter or, in a spreadsheet, divide the number by 86400 and add it to the date 1/1/1970. The smaller the number, the older the follower. But don't assume the first record in the file is the oldest: compare the timestamp values, or let the tool sort for you.

Frequently asked questions

Can I see my first follower from the Instagram app?

The date sorting the app offers applies to the accounts you follow; for your followers, the export is what gives you the dates. The official data file does include each follower's date, and that's the reliable route.

Why is my first follower not on the list?

Because the export only includes people who follow you at the moment you request it. If that person unfollowed, deleted or deactivated their account, they don't appear. An account that blocks you also disappears from your followers list.

Is the date when my follower created their account?

No. It's the date that account started following you, not when they signed up for Instagram.

Do I have to give my password?

No. You work with the official file you download yourself, and the analysis runs in your browser. The tool never accesses your account.

Try it on your account

Request your export with only Followers and following, upload it to NomeSigueApp and sort the Followers tab by oldest first. If you then want to keep the list, read how to export your followers to Excel or CSV.