Ever blocked someone and they confronted you about it later? Ever noticed that you’ve been blocked by someone and wondered why? It’s so awkward when we go to look at someone’s page and see the confusing “No Posts Yet” on their feed but it shows that they have over 500 photos at the top of their profile. It’s the worst! #Embarrasing. Instagram’s newest restriction feature is changing the blocking game altogether. Introduced with the purpose of combating online bullying, this feature lets you limit what you see from specific accounts. With full intentions to limit the internet trolls and control unsolicited interactions with other users, the Restrict feature gives you full reign on subtly kicking those haters to the curb.
Blocking seems to be an easy solution when tension rises between you and your ex-BFF or when that creepy guy in your English class won’t stop messaging you, but most young people are actually hesitant towards blocking. Sometimes it can make the situation even worse if the other person happens to find out and the last thing we need is more unnecessary drama.
Courtesty: NeONBRANDÂ
With the new decision to restrict certain accounts, there are options to limit comments so that only the commenter will see it and you, along with other users, don’t have to. If you wish to eventually see the comment, you can, and then decide to keep it up on the post, delete it, or even report it from there. Unlike blocking, restricting another account will not inform the user in any way that they are restricted. The restricted account also has no way to tell that the other user is active online or if they’re DM’s have been read. With the feature activated, direct messages from a restricted account will not give you notifications and will only show up in the requests instead of your messages inbox. To activate this feature, it’s as simple as swiping left on a comment, pushing the restrict button directly on the other person’s account, or managing who you restrict on the Privacy tab in your settings.
Along with the Restrict feature, Instagram is cracking down on certain comments. Instagram will now notify users if their comment might be too harsh. Roasting each other in the comment section might be a tad more difficult. Instagram will notify the commenter before they post their comment if it might have the intention of being offensive.
Did you know that October is National Bullying Prevention Month? Have you noticed Instagram’s new anti-bullying sticker for stories? The Create Don’t Hate sticker promotes Instagram’s new launch of all of its new features. Check out Instagram’s #Advocate series which includes stories about teen experience with online bullying and Jonah Hill’s IGTV addressing bullying.
As Taylor Swift says, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” Thanks, Instagram for helping us put our hater-blockers on and getting rid of all that negativity!
Courtesy: Giphy
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest!