Instagram is getting serious about fighting trolls. The Facebook-owned social media platform is launching — and testing — a slew of new features intended to keep tabs on online bullying and generally speaking, to spread positivity and happiness, especially in these unprecedented times.
For starters, Instagram now allows users to delete “negative” comments in bulk. Instagram is also making it easier to block or restrict multiple accounts that may post negative comments on posts. “Early feedback has been encouraging, and we’ve found that it helps people, especially with larger followings, maintain a positive environment on their account,” Instagram said in a blog post.
The ability to delete up to 25 comments at once as well as block or restrict accounts in bulk is now available for iOS. The latter is also available for Android simultaneously. “To enable this feature on iOS, tap on a comment and then the dotted icon in the top right corner. Select Manage Comments and choose up to 25 comments to delete at once. Tap More Options to block or restrict accounts in bulk. To block or restrict accounts on Android, press and hold on a comment, tap the dotted icon and select Block or Restrict.”
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Like YouTube, Instagram is mulling bringing “pinned” comments to the platform, to “amplify and encourage positive interactions.” Soon it will be possible to pin a select number of comments to the top of the comments thread. Instagram hasn’t even started testing the said feature, so it would be some time before we see it arrive at large.
Lastly, Instagram is introducing new controls that will allow users to better manage who can tag or mention them by choosing whether they want everyone, only people they follow or no one to be able to tag or mention them in a comment, caption or Story.
It would seem like most — if not all — of these features would make more sense for people — celebrities — with large followings, and it’s true, but online bullying is a serious problem on social media that affects everyone. Therefore Instagram stepping up its game to fight the menace is a welcome move that’s surely to have “positive” repercussions for users across the board.
