Instagram has had enough – gives users a big stick to beat comment trolls

Lately, Instagram has been making an effort to combat comment trolls on their platform. They are focusing on making Instagram a “safe and positive place,” and they have just unrolled new features to help you manage comments on your profile.

If your profile is public, from now on you’ll be able to control who can comment on your post. It could be everyone, or just groups of people, such as your followers or the people you follow. You’ll also be able to block other accounts from commenting on your posts, regardless of whether your account is private or public.

Instagram launched a filter that blocks offensive comments a few months back. So far it has been available in English, but from now on it will be expanded to Arabic, French, German and Portuguese. They’ll also continue improving the filter over time, in order for “the community’s experience of sharing to improve as well.”

As stated on Instagram Blog, they are continuing to provide mental health resources to their users. From now on, you’ll be able to anonymously report someone during a live broadcast if they seem like they’re going through a difficult time. The person you report will see the message offering help: the options are to talk to a helpline, to a friend, or get other tips and support. Instagram has a team working on this 24/7, all around the world. Personally, this got me the most intrigued; I’d like to see how this works and if it helps anyone.

With the new commenting features, Instagram resembles Facebook and Flickr, allowing you more control over who can comment your content. Since it’s one of the largest online communities out there, features like this are certainly necessary. I have a private account so I am not exposed to trolls on Instagram, but this might come in handy for everyone else who want to display their work publicly and don’t want to deal with hateful or annoying comments.

[via PDN Pulse, Instagram Blog]