This green dot, also called online indicator, will now appear on the bottom-right edge of the profile picture on Instagram when a user is online. However, instead of just appearing in the Direct Messages inbox, it will also appear “in various spaces within the app” like your friend's list that appears when you are sharing a post from your Instagram Feed.
The green dot indicator will only be available for your friends and in Instagram direct. Basically, you will only see the green dot on friends who follow you or people you have talked to in Direct.
However, you can easily hide your own status and turn off the ability to see when your friends are active in your settings.
According to Instagram, it said;
"DMing friends and connecting over the content you love is more fun when you know your friends are there to see it. This update gives you the ability to have more of those realtime conversations while giving you the control to hide your status altogether."
This new feature is readily available to all Instagram users, hence, you don’t have to update your app to get it.
