Instagram adding features to show some love and control over comments on your photos

While the popularity and frequency of use on Instagram can bounce a little up and down, it’s certainly not dying yet. In the last few months, they’ve been adding more features to try to expand the platform’s capability. They’ve taken a leaf from Snapchat’s book with Stories, and they even hope the platform will become the future of online shopping.

With over 300 million daily active users and over 95 million photos & videos posted every day, there are, of course, lots of comments. Comments are extremely valuable to the Instagram community. They let you build relationships with your followers, and them with each other. But they’re pretty limited. This is one of the areas Instagram have decided to tackle in this latest update.

Instagram have previously provided the ability to filter comments based on keywords. A great feature for those constantly being spammed by bots, and for preventing brands from having their competitors promoted on their own feeds. We’ve also been able to delete unwanted comments for quite a while now, too.

Comment Love

But what can we do to provide some feedback for those users and comments we want on our images? Until now, the only option is to reply directly to each and every one of them. Soon, though, Instagram will be showing a little heart logo next to each comment, which allows creators to show appreciation for those users who posted them.

This is a great way to build up a good strong community on your channel, as it stops people feeling like they’re being ignored. It also helps to prevent you from worrying that you’re ignoring people. If you end up getting a couple of hundred comments on your channel, responding to each of them individually with a new comment is just unrealistic.

Disable comments completely

Then, of course, are the images we post that we don’t necessarily want comment on. Sometimes we post simply for the sake of posting, and aren’t interested in seeing feedback for it. Or, perhaps the comments section has taken a decided turn for the worst and you’re just sick of deleting offenders. Well, Instagram have an answer for that, too.

We’ll soon add a way to turn off comments on any post. Sometimes there may be moments when you want to let your post stand on its own. Previously this was only available for a small number of accounts. In a few weeks, it will be available for everyone. Tap “Advanced Settings” before you post and then select “Turn Off Commenting.” You can also tap the … menu any time after posting to turn commenting back on.

I guess I must be one of those “small number of accounts”, as the option is already there for me when I go to make a post on Instagram. For the rest of you, if you’re not seeing it yet, then expect it to show up soon. That … menu will also let you turn comments off for any image you’ve posted in the past, too.

Remove unwanted followers

This only works on accounts marked private. Like many, I have more than one Instagram account. One of these accounts is private. It’s only to share things with a few close family and friends. When I first made the account, however, it wasn’t private, so it gained a lot of followers that I haven’t been able to get rid of, unless you completely blocked them.

Now, Instagram have added the option to allow removal of followers from private accounts.

A very welcome addition for those who would prefer to keep their private Instagram life private.

Anonymous self-harm reporting

Finally, Instagram have added the ability to allow anonymous reporting of self-injury posts. If you are concerned about somebody you follow or a friend who may need some help, you now have a way to report this.

As mentioned, it is anonymous, and they will connect your friend with organisations that can help them, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to review these reports.

It’s great to see Instagram doing something to help provide a little control and help toward its users and their various communities. All of these features are with the ultimate goal of making Instagram a welcoming, friendly, and safe place for everybody. That can’t be a bad thing, right?

Have these features shown up on your account yet? Are these new abilities a force for good on Instagram? Or is there still a long way to go yet? What else could they be doing to improve the atmosphere on Instagram? Let us know what you think in the comments.

[via Instagram]