Instagram lets you protect yourself from bullies and trolls this way
Instagram is rolling out several new features to users globally. The Meta-owned social media platform announced three new features for Notes to make it easier to post new messages and connect with friends. It also introduced a Limit Interactions feature that will prevent users from receiving messages, comments and tags from followers who haven’t been added as close friends. The platform said the feature is designed to protect teens from potential abusers and harassers. Notably, Threads has also gained a TweetDeck-like appearance for its desktop app.
Instagram rolls out new features for notes
The Notes feature launched on Instagram in December 2022 as a new way to share thoughts with friends. The feature exists in the Direct Messages (DM) section above all messages. Users can post their own short messages and read messages from their friends in this section.
On Thursday, the social media platform added three new ways for people to interact with the feature. The first is the Notes Prompt. Users will see questions and musings posted when they enter Notes, and they can post their Notes in response to the questions. Instagram is also rolling out Quick Likes for Notes. Users will be able to quickly respond to their friends’ and followers’ Notes with Likes by double-tapping the note.
Finally, users can now tag followers in notes by using the “@” symbol before their username. Users mentioned in a note will also receive a notification of it, which they can tap to respond directly. Instagram says these new ways to interact make it “easier for you to express yourself, start conversations, and connect with friends!”
Instagram Interaction Limiting Feature
The social media platform has also introduced a safety feature to protect users from potential bullying and trolling. Called Limit Interactions, the feature prevents users from receiving DMs, comments or tags from certain users. This feature can be set for a temporary period of one day to up to four weeks.
Users can limit their interactions to Close Friends or simply pause them for recent followers and accounts that don’t follow them. Instagram head Adam Mosseri highlighted the feature in a post , saying it could help a soccer player who just missed a penalty avoid harassment or protect a teenager from online bullies.
To activate the feature, users need to go to Settings and activity > Limit interactionsThere users will find options to choose whether the above should be restricted or whether only new comments on messages and chats should be hidden from them, who should be restricted and for how long.
