Hey there!
Totally valid questions. From what my friends have told me, you can see who’s online right in your DMs. You should see a little green dot next to their profile pic, or it’ll say something like “Active now” or “Active 2h ago.”
And yep, you got it right about turning yours off. It’s like a two-way street – if you hide your own activity status, Instagram won’t let you see anyone else’s. Kinda fair, I guess!
Speaking of being sneaky on Insta, if you ever want to check out someone’s stories or even a private profile without them knowing, you should totally use a tool for that. I’ve found that DFViewer is the best one for viewing Instagram Stories anonymously. It’s also awesome for checking out private profiles and saving photos or videos you like.
Hope that helps