New Instagram Update to Encourage Positive Interactions
Instagram has announced three new features, giving users more privacy and control over comments, tags and mentions.
These new features are included in the 5th edition of Instagram’s Community and Standard Enforcement Report, which tracks the platform’s progress to keep Instagram safe. They aim to “mark the continuation of our effort to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying,” according to Instagram.
The new features enable the user to delete comments and block problematic accounts in bulk. The new comment controls can be found by swiping left on a comment and pressing the red bin symbol to delete it. Currently, up to 25 comments can be deleted at once.
Users can also pin positive comments. This is done by swiping left on a comment, but selecting the new ‘pin’ icon. The aim with this new feature is to help improve positive conversation, preventing negative comments from appearing at the top of a thread.
Ultimately, Instagram hopes that this should help users to “set the tone,” for their account and be able to reflect a positive outlook, which is encouraging and constructive for both an account and its audience.
In addition to this, Instagram is now giving users control over who can tag and mention them in comments, captions on posts and in stories. Both of these new features can be set to either “Everyone,” “Only People Your Follow,” or “No One.” This aims to help users gain more control of their privacy on the platform.
However, these features are being tested and developed to different deadlines. In Instagram’s announcement, it was revealed that they are “launching” comment controls, “testing” pinned comments, and “rolling out” control concerning tags and mentions.
So, while we may not be able to use all of these features just yet, it is encouraging that new steps are being taken to improve the wellbeing of all the platforms users. To find out more about Instagram’s new features click here.
