Social media networks have never been a safe place to be for anyone, anywhere.
Instagram which is owned by Facebook, is one of the popular places where people share almost everything on a daily basis. The platform is so widely-used that it has experienced its own share of users being cyberbullied every now and then.
On the fifth edition of its Community Standards Enforcement report which tracks the social media's progress to keep Facebook and Instagram safe, the company introduces some new things in its "effort to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying," said Instagram on its blog post.
First, Instagram is launching a feature to help people manage multiple unwanted interactions at once.
With this feature, users can select up to 25 comments to delete at once.
Users can also tap on the 'More Options' to block or restrict accounts in bulk.
"We know it can feel overwhelming to manage a rush of negative comments, so we’ve been testing the ability to delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments,” said Instagram.
Second, Instagram is also rolling out controls to allow users manage who can tag or mention them.
"You can choose whether you want everyone, only people you follow or no one to be able to tag or mention you in a comment, caption or Story."
And third, in addition to the above, Instagram is also giving its users a way to amplify and encourage positive interactions.
That is starting with the 'Pinned Comments' feature.
This feature gives people a way to set the tone for their account and engage with their community by pinning a select number of comments to the top of their comments thread.
With the feature, users can select up to three comments they want to highlight out of the comments section, and pin them to the top. This simple feature can help users save and showcase some funny, positive, or important comments at the top of the post for others to view.
The intention is to highlight positivity in the comments section, at least according to Instagram.
Today we’re rolling out pinned comments everywhere.
That means you can a pin a few comments to the top of your feed post and better manage the conversation. pic.twitter.com/iPCMJVLxMh— Instagram (@instagram) July 7, 2020
To do this, users need to browse through one of their posts' comment field, find the comments they like, and swipe left.
Users should then see four options appear on the side. They are, from left to right: pin, reply, report, and trash. The latter three are pretty self-explanatory, and it’s the pin option that users need to choose.
Users can then pin up to three comments.
After pinning the comments, those comments will appear on the top of the comment section. If done on the right comments, the comments that appear on top can influence conversation or provide more context to the content. The person whose comment are pinned will receive a notification to let them know about this.
Early indicates that the feature can help users maintain a positive environment on their account, especially if those users have larger followings that engage.