Instagram's new anti-bullying measures gives users a lot more control over their accounts

Instagram has announced several new measures in its ongoing efforts to stamp out online bullying.

The brand new features, announced within its Community Standards Enforcement report, allows users to have more control over their own accounts, and monitor who can touch upon their content.

Here are a few of the steps the platform is taking…

Managing unwanted interactions

The first new feature has been made to help people handle multiple unwanted interactions simultaneously. “We know it could feel overwhelming to manage a rush of negative comments, so we’ve been testing the opportunity to delete comments in bulk, together with block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments,” Instagram said in a weblog post explaining the brand new measures.

The social media platform has been testing the function, and it says early feedback has been encouraging, especially from accounts with larger followings. Users have the ability to click into the ‘manage comments’ section and it will then bring up a tick box beside each comment, allowing them to select multiple comments at once and delete in bulk.

Highlighting positive comments

In a bid to spread more positivity on Instagram, the platform has announced that it'll soon begin testing a fresh function that could allow users to pin a select number of comments to the most notable of the thread below a post, much in the same way that you can to pin certain comments to the most notable of your Twitter feed or certain Facebook pages.

With Instagram’s update, users should be able to pin multiple comments, permitting them to highlight positivity among their followers. Currently, comments are proven chronologically, with those from other persons you follow usually highlighted for you.

“This feature gives people a way to set the tone because of their account and build relationships their community,” Instagram said.

Choosing who can tag and mention you

The final update gives users control over who can tag and mention them in comments. This feature is already trusted on Facebook, and allows people to have a lot more control over unnecessary images shared, or any negative comments fond of them.

Under the new controls, users will be able to select whether they allow everyone to tag them, only persons they follow, or nobody.

Speaking about the brand new measure, Instagram said: “We’ve seen that tags and mentions can be used to focus on or bully others.”

The updates will be the latest in a string of measures put in place by Instagram to stop online bullying. Last year, it announced it could trial hiding like count on pictures in several countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Instagram said it had introduced the move around in a bid to eliminate the pressure connected with a obvious like count. The company is yet to reveal whether this update will be rolled out universally, but it has been well received by many users online.

It has additionally made changes to just how people can comment on posts. At the beginning of 2019, a warning prompt was introduced for any comment it deemed could be offensive or used to incite hate, with a pop-up asking the commenter if they were sure they wanted to post it.